| Politics

Francis Cardinal Stafford gave a well received, theologically insightful and pastorally concerned address.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - On Thursday, November 13, 2008, Francis Cardinal Stafford addressed those gathered in attendance at a scholarly forum sponsored by the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Catholic University of America. As an alumnus of this wonderful Institute I was invited. Though very interested in the topic, my responsibilities made it impossible for me to attend. The event was an opportunity to consider the social and cultural implications of the prophetic encyclical authored by the late Pope Paul VI entitled “Humane Vitae” (On Human Life). This year marks the 40th anniversary of that small in size but huge in impact, powerhouse of an encyclical letter wherein the great Pope of Life, knowing the implications of the descent of the West into Nihilism, warned:

“It is to be anticipated that perhaps not everyone will easily accept this particular teaching. There is too much clamorous outcry against the voice of the Church, and this is intensified by modern means of communication. But it comes as no surprise to the Church that she, no less than her divine Founder, is destined to be a "sign of contradiction." She does not, because of this, evade the duty imposed on her of proclaiming humbly but firmly the entire moral law, both natural and evangelical. Since the Church did not make either of these laws, she cannot be their arbiter—only their guardian and interpreter. It could never be right for her to declare lawful what is in fact unlawful, since that, by its very nature, is always opposed to the true good of man.”

Wow! He sure called that one! In fact, when one considers the reaction of the news media – and some in the pro-abortion on demand activist community- to the address of Francis Cardinal Stafford, the meaning of being a “sign of contradiction” is made very clear. The address given by the good Cardinal was entitled, “Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II: Being True in Body and Soul”. If I did not know it was sponsored by the JPII Institute, I could have told you by simply reading the titles of the talks. The JPII Institute is a global outreach of the Lateran University dedicated to making the profound work of the late Servant of God, John Paul II available to a world desperately in need of what is found within it. Among the many themes of the late Pope studied and passed on by the scholars and students of the Institute are the message of a new and true humanism, the theology of the body, the theology of the gift, the nuptial mystery of and inner truth revealed by spousal love, the primacy of marriage and the family founded upon it as the first society and the path to building a new Culture of life and love. They offer waters of life to a parched desert of an age given over to self idolatry, avarice, the misguided use of power and the treatment persons as property to be used rather than gifts to be received,respected and protected. These themes, found within the body of teaching of the late John Paul II, are also at the heart the modern Magisterium of the Catholic Church. The message they bring to the culture is not “left” or “right”, “liberal” or “conservative”, to use the current tired parlance of political rhetoric. In fact to attribute any of those limiting terms to this message is to cheapen its exquisite beauty and culturally transformative potential.

I had the privilege of studying for a graduate degree at the John Paul II Institute in the 1990’s. I know from experience that it is one of the jewels in the treasure house of the Catholic Church in America. Certainly dedicated to the fullness of the Catholic teaching on the dignity of every human life at every age and stage, it could never be accused of being beholden to any political party or partisan agenda. How fondly I remember the coursework I did under its esteemed Dean, Dr. David Schindler, who presented the fullness of the Church’s Social teaching without compromise. His fidelity to the truth and courageous disregard of those who contended against him earned him back then the animosity of some in the then emerging “neo-conservative” movement. “JP II”, as its students affectionately refer to it, is no Republican stronghold. Nor is it a Democrat stronghold. It is a prophetic stronghold, a place of real power, the power of the truth and transforming grace. It presents the teaching of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, without compromise, and offers its wisdom as a gift to our age in the mission of the new Evangelization proclaimed by the late beloved Servant of God John Paul II. That wisdom is precisely what is needed most if we who bear the name Christian are going to help our fellow countrymen and women to face the challenges of the decline of culture. The Institute offers, as a part of its contribution to the common good, its graduates and scholars as living stones in the hopes of helping to build a new and true culture of life and ...