The importance of understanding the dignity of the human person

It is not infrequent to see dissent from the Church's teaching on capital punishment hinge on the distinction between innocent life and the life of the guilty murderer. In the context of my recent preoccupation, Saddam clearly falls into the latter category. While such a distinction certainly exists and needs to be recognized, it is not a refutation, nor even a comprehensive rebuttal of what the Church authoritatively teaches. This distinction is recognized, however, in the Church's teaching by the fact that in cases where capital punishment is the only way to safeguard the population from a dangerous person or persons, the state has recourse to this form of punishment. Therefore, while innocent life must always be protected by the State, this absolute duty does not carry over to cases of the guilty.

We turn to The Catechism of the Catholic Church to learn the basis of the Church's teaching on this controversial issue:

2258 Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.

Now, I can see the rejoinder, "But that section deals, clearly, with innocent human life". True enough explicitly, but it implicitly deals with all life, guilty or innocent. This is borne out by the rest of the section on the Fifth Commandment. We see this as regards the sections devoted to capital punishment.

2266 The State's effort to contain the spread of behaviors injurious to human rights and the fundamental rules of civil coexistence corresponds to the requirement of watching over the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime. The primary scope of the penalty is to redress the disorder caused by the offense. When his punishment is voluntarily accepted by the offender, it takes on the value of expiation. Moreover, punishment, in addition to preserving public order and the safety of persons, has a medicinal scope: as far as possible it should contribute to the correction of the offender.

Followed by:

2267 The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude, presupposing full ascertainment of the identity and responsibility of the offender, recourse to the death penalty, when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor.

This caveated in a huge way by what Pope John Paul II taught in Evangelium Vitae, which is quoted in 2267 in the Catechism's second, authoritative edition:

"If, instead, bloodless means are sufficient to defend against the aggressor and to protect the safety of persons, public authority should limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.
"Today, in fact, given the means at the State's disposal to effectively repress crime by rendering inoffensive the one who has committed it, without depriving him definitively of the possibility of redeeming himself, cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender 'today ... are very rare, if not practically non-existent.'[Evangelium vitae 56]

Therefore, the Church's teaching on the death penalty, flowing from her teaching on the sanctity of life across the board- Cardinal Bernadin's Seamless Garment- as well as on human rights, does not find its roots in the distinction between innocent and gulity human beings, but in the dignity of all human persons. If one does not realize this fundamental truth, the tapestry of genuine Christian faith unravels. On a weekend during which we celebrate the prophet, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I take this opportunity to recognize another prophet in our midst, Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ, whose book Dead Man Walking and the resultant film has done much to convict the conscience of our nation that takes pride in being Christian.

Of course, we must not forget the theme chosen by Pope Benedict XVI for this year's World Day of Peace, which we observe each year on 1 January, in conjunction with the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God: The Human Person, the Heart of Peace. In the opening section of his message, the Holy Father writes: "I am convinced that respect for the person promotes peace and that, in building peace, the foundations are laid for an authentic integral humanism. In this way a serene future is prepared for coming generations."

Every human being, innocent or guilty, is ennobled by the imago dei that each of us bears and that sin does not and cannot extinguish. A reality for which we should all thank God, our loving Father, everyday!

What was the Holy See Thinking?

Along with Robert T. Miller, I ask the question: Just what, oh what, was the Holy See thinking when they issued the statement on the execution of Saddam Hussein? I think Magdi Abdelhadi, BBC Middle East Analyst based in Cairo, gets it about right in his article Witness tells of Saddam's last moments, when he writes, before getting to what the eyewitness told him:

"A scarf was used when Saddam refused to wear a hood Saddam Hussein was executed at dawn on the first day of the Eid al-Adha, just as Sunni Muslims were preparing to make their sacrificial offering by killing a sheep to celebrate the end of the pilgrimage season.

"The crass symbolism did not escape them. Many were outraged. And there was further outrage when a new video of the execution was posted on the internet - this one taken with a mobile phone, and with a soundtrack.

"For Arab public opinion, which had long believed that the trial was unfair, filming the execution was triumphalist and in bad taste.

"The shouting of Shia religious slogans and hurling of abuse at Saddam Hussein as he was stepping up to the gallows was, for many, evidence that this was closer to a lynching than the orderly execution that the government had described."

With Miller, I ask (Yes, I am being very sarcastic), where's the evidence to back up Fr. Lombardi's empirical claim that executing Saddam risked being a cause of escalating violence in Iraq? Where, asked the blind man? The question is not, Was Saddam Hussein a brutal, ruthless, pitiless tyrant? He clearly was that and more. The question is more about what kind of Iraq will emerge from the smoldering ruins.

I am happy that this 200th post of my blog is on a matter of faith of morals as urgent for the United States as it is for Iraq.

The Strange Case of Archbishop Wielgus

If you are a Church geek, like I am, you may be wondering about the very strange goings on in the Polish Church over these past few weeks, which resulted in the resignation of the Holy Father's choice to succeed Josef Cardinal Glemp as archbishop of Warsaw, a mere forty hours after canonically taking possession of the Diocese of Warsaw. The photo below is a picture of Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus, archbishop emeritus of Warsaw, after what has to be the shortest reign ever, in St. John's Cathedral at what was to be his installation Mass, not sitting in the cathedra, or bishop's chair.

Apparently the Holy Father is, understandably, not very happy about the way things happened, both in Poland and at the Vatican to the extent that it seems there will be some repercussions. Wielgus announced his resignation at the Mass which was to be his installation Mass. To make a local comparison, it would be tantamount to our new bishop announcing at his installation Mass in March that he was resigning to a congregation expecting to see him installed. Wielgus resigned because Pope Benedict XVI told him to do so, despite it putting the Pontiff in an embarrassing light, which only goes to show the extent to which he is committed to doing the right thing.

For the real story on such matters, I refer you to two sources, both of whom are Italians, one lives in Rome and one in Philadelphia. So, for you like-minded Church geeks, check out Sandro Magister's The Wielgus Case: The Reasons for His Resignation and The Tablet's man in the U.S., not to mention a bright, shining star in the galaxy of the Catholic blogosphere, Rocco's Wielgusopoli, which contains a long extract from Robert Mickens' column from Rome. There is much to be gleaned from reading about these strange events, not least among which is that it shows both the humanity and the institutional strength of the Church. Stand-by for more allegations and denials among the Polish clergy and episcopacy. I was happy to hear this afternoon that the Polish bishops have set up a commission to review the activities of all 45 current bishops during the Communist era. Let us pray, as Pope Benedict did on his visit to Karol Wojtyla's homeland earlier this year, as he knelt before the tomb of the late Polish Primate Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski and pointing him out as a model for all.

In the words of Sandro Magister, the Holy Father "asked of the bishops, priests, and faithful . . .
– 'humble sincerity' in admitting the errors of the past;

– magnanimity in judging the faults committed 'in other times and other circumstances';

– pride for all the many good achievements of those years, in resisting a form of totalitarianism that 'generated hypocrisy.'"

Let us all pray that the model Church of Poland can do what our common faith requires of us, especially when it is difficult, forgive and be reconciled.

Is Friday Good for You?

Liturgically it is now Friday. How are you observing this day of penance? Are you fasting, either from food or from something else (i.e., TV, computer, etc.)? Are you abstaining from the meat of warm-blooded flesh animals, which is the traditional practice for Fridays? In lieu of or in addition abstaining from meat, are you abstaining from sweets, alcohol, caffeine, or something else? As you observe Friday, are you making an effort to pray more. For instance, the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy? Are you asking Christ, in the light of his crucifixion to shed His light on the dark areas of your life?

Just a few thoughts.

Embryonic Stem Cells Redux

I have and remain very critical of our President and his administration on a variety of issues. On this blog I have been up-front about those issues and free with my criticisms, which have never devolved into the ad hominem nonsense that comprises a lot of political commentary these days. However, I pride myself on being first and foremost a Catholic. Hence, I do not see myself as being overly ideological, but then who doesn't consider themselves a non-ideological moderate? It is best left to others to judge. Nonetheless, I am always happy to give credit where credit is due. There are two issues in particular on which President Bush and his administration have been steadfast and correct. These two issues are support for marriage and family and opposing the expansion of embryonic stem cell research beyond the lines that were in circulation when President Bush, just prior to 9/11/01, in a nationally televised speech, issued his policy. Of course, the President's policy articulated in that speech was not a 100% solution, but was, on my private view, an acceptable political compromise.

Today, our Congress, the House of Representatives in particular, is voting on a Democrat-sponsored bill that will make federal funds available for the highly immoral practice of harvesting embryonic stem cells from aborted fetuses and the creation of embryos for the express purpose harvesting these cells for research. Such a reversal of federal law would only contribute to the culture of death. This will be the first opportunity for the so-called Blue Dog Dems, who are socially conservative, to show both their color and their species by opposing this legislation, thus calming fears about a Democratic-controlled Congress enacting a lot of far-left, often called progressive, but which is frequently transgressive, legislation. Sadly, Orrin Hatch, one of Utah's two Republican senators, is an enthusiastic supporter of embryonic stem cell research. Now, I know that Hatch is a senator and not a representative, but there is a seperate bill in the Senate, that is similar, of which Hatch is a sponsor. A conference committee will produce a bill that will, by all indications, wind up on the President's desk. So, write your representative and our two senators and let them know that you oppose the creating and taking of innocent human life for any purpose whatsoever. We are fortunate that President Bush has promised to veto this legislation.

It seems odd to me that this bill is part of the Democrat 100 hour agenda, especially in light of the recently publicized possibility of extracting embryonic stem cells from amniotic fluid. This crucial late-breaking development should, if prudence were to prevail, result in pulling back this divisive, controversial, and immoral piece of legislation. The Church has already given its moral approval to extracting stem cells from amniotic fluid in the person of Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, who "said the discovery showed medicine can progress without destroying human embryos".

Lest you doubt my word, I refer you to a leading expert in the field, Dr. Maureen Condic, who has written a number of articles on this matter for non-experts in the journal First Things. I compiled links to her articles in an earlier post on this blog. You can access these articles for free and without registration: Embryonic Stem Cells: Why not?

In the Archives

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! I feel bad that I have been blogging this long and not mentioned a person whose value, as is that of most archivists, is too easily and too often overlooked, Dr. Gary Topping, Archivist and Historian of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Dr. Topping took over his duties from Bernice Maher Mooney, who left big shoes to be filled. During her many years on-the-job, Bernice oversaw the writing and publication of a comprehensive history of Catholicism in Utah, Salt of the Earth, and a most remarkable, not to mention lovely, book on our beloved Madeleine: The story of the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

Gary is also a Professor of History at Salt Lake Community College, and, until recently, a member of the Board of the Utah Historical Society, to whose quarterly he has contributed many great articles, not a few of which are on aspects of Catholicism in Utah. Dr. Topping is a wonderful person, an extremely competent historian and archivist, and an exciting teacher. He is also the author and editor of several books. The works of Dr. Topping I most appreciate are Utah Historians and the Reconstruction of Western History , in which he profiles Juanita Brooks, whose granddaughter I dated and courted for awhile in the late 1980s. Our first date was me driving to BYU in 1987 so we could attend a lecture given by former President Gerald Ford. How's that for romance?

Juanita Brooks was a very brave woman and, like her forbearers, a pioneer in her own right. In no way was her courage manifested more than by the publication of her book, The Mountain Meadows Massacre, which was based on pioneer diaries, which she oversaw the transcription of during the Depression with a grant through one of President Roosevelt's alphabet soup agencies. The following account was told me by Junita's son, Tony, who lived in Albuquerque when I was there in the mid-1980s. In seeking to publish her book, Brooks met with Joseph Fielding Smith, then of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Church Historian. Joseph Fielding Smith was the grandson of Hyrum Smith, Joseph Smith, Jr.'s brother, who perished with him in the jail (I prefer the English spelling gaol) at Carthage, Illinois. Joseph Fielding Smith later became President of the LDS church.

Anyway, she presented then-Elder Smith with the manuscript of what became The Mountain Meadows Massacre with the intent having it published by Deseret Books, the publishing house of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After reviewing the manuscript he threatened her with excommunication, but did not act on the threat and, of course, refused to allow publication of her manuscript by Deseret Book, Company. Juanita told him she was determined to publish the book. She also said that if, once the book was published, it did more harm than good to the Church, she would voluntarily withdraw her membership. Even though no formal disciplinary action was taken against her, after that interview she was never called to another position in the LDS church, unusual for a well-educated woman who had served diligently in a variety of leadership positions up to that point. Undaunted, she published her book through the University of Oklahoma Press and gave the first truly historical account of this ugly episode in Latter-day Saint history, which she wrote to counteract the far more terrible legends that persisted among southwestern Utah's saints.

Dr. Topping also edited If I Get Out Alive: The World War II Letters and Diaries of William H McDougall Jr. William H. McDougall, of course, got out alive, was ordained to the priesthood, and, as Monsignor McDougall, served for a long time as Rector of The Cathedral of the Madeleine. In the near future at the Cathedral we hope to revive a lecture series named after him, which was inaugurated by another Cathedral rector, and mentor of mine, Monsignor M. Francis Mannion, a Utah and Church treasure in his own right.

What brought all this to mind this evening was my perusal of our Diocesan website and clicking on Dr. Topping's From the Archives link, which is always fascinating and from which I obtained the picture of Archbishop John Mitty, third bishop of Salt Lake City. Like George Niederauer, John Mitty went from being bishop of Salt Lake to becoming the archbishop of San Francisco. Not surprisingly, with the announcement of the Most Reverend John C. Wester of San Francisco as the ninth bishop of Salt Lake City, the topic of the current post is the relationship between the Diocese of Salt Lake City and our Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Francisco, entitled A Tale of Two Cities.

Salt Lake City has been a suffragan diocese of San Francisco for the almost the entirety of our history, except for a brief period of time during which we belonged to the Archdiocese of Denver. So, check it out now and in the future to learn a lot about Utah's Catholic heritage from a person who is well qualified to teach and who does so in a most engaging manner.

Pope Benedict XVI on St. Stephen

At today's Wednesday audience, held inside in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, instead of on the piazza, Pope Benedict XVI dedicated his weekly catechesis to my baptismal patron, who is also a beacon for all deacons, St. Stephen.
"St. Stephen is the most representative figure of a group of seven companions, who concerned themselves with charitably serving the needs of members of the Christian community, whether of Jewish or of Greek origin.

"Tradition sees in this group the origins of the future ministry of deacons," who were set apart by the Apostles themselves by the laying on of hands, a very scriptural gesture, originating in the Old Testament and, the Holy Father says, "has above all the significance of transmitting an important task".

"That this was an important action, to be undertaken following due discernment, becomes clear from a reading of the First Letter of Paul to Timothy: 'Do not be hasty in laying on of hands, nor participate in another man's sins'."

"Apart from his charitable service, Stephen also carried out evangelizing activity among his countrymen, the so-called 'Hellenists'." It was to his fellow Greek-speaking Jews that, in the words of Benedict "he reread the Old Testament in the light of the announcement, death and resurrection of Jesus". His opening the Scripture to them "provoked the reaction of the Jews who perceived his words as blasphemy", which provoked them to violence, urged on by Saul of Tarsus, and led to Stephen's death.