By SHAUN KENNEY
One of my favorite things about this column is that readers so often send me their thoughts to add to the conversation. The mention of Solzhenitsyn sent readers to the mailbox (my favorite means of communication, it must be said) and I couldn’t be happier to place your thoughts alongside my own.
First, I am exceedingly grateful to Mr. D — for mentioning that Solzhenitsyn’s last work has yet to be translated into English. There is some indication that the work is a bit too sensitive for American ears, as it deals with Russia’s relationship with the Jewish people through the February Revolution and up to this day. The book has been translated into French and German, yet apparently Solzhenitsyn’s appeal on this topic seems to be ebbing a bit.
There is another recently published book by Paul Hanebrink out of Rutgers University entitled, A Specter Haunting Europe: The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism that explores a roughly similar theme, where Judeo-Bolshevism prior to the Second World War seemed to exist as a more-than-latent de facto starting point across both Europe and America.
After the Second World War, the Jews experienced a sort of transition where Judeo-Bolshevism transitioned into the Judeo-Christian framework we hear repeated so often today — one designed to include Protestants, Jews, and yes even those squirrely papists and mackerel-snappers. The book seems resigned to the idea, but only for the moment as it watches anti-Semitism return to the political landscape of Europe. Good while it lasts seems to be the sentiment. . . .
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In another letter, I am exceedingly grateful to have received a letter from the great Mr. Bob Bird of Illinois, currently living in luxurious and self-imposed exile in Alaska (I may be laying it on a bit thick here, but stick with me).
Bird is a fellow traveler with the likes of Patrick Buchanan, Judie Brown, and Joe Sobran, among others, who very nearly succeeded in establishing the Alaska Independence Party with a near-run U.S. Senate campaign against incumbent Ted Stevens. A committed pro-lifer, Republican stalwart, and a fan of Solzhenitsyn himself — what’s not to like?
Mr. Bird takes up the question of Roe v. Wade and the desirability of overturning the U.S. Supreme Court decision. The question isn’t over ending abortion (we all want that), says Bird, but rather whether returning the question to the state governments is the proper constitutional path to assert the basic human right to exist. In short, according to his letter, does the federal government have the right to determine such questions in the first place?
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Thus my conclusion that the solution to the crisis of abortion culture in America will not be a political one for the simple reason that the problem itself is inherently non-political, but spiritual.
The Blessed Mother — when asked — has ended similar scourges: secularism in Portugal (Our Lady of Fatima), Communism in Austria (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception), Communism in Brazil (Our Lady of Fatima again), the Turkish Navy at Lepanto (Our Lady of the Rosary).
What has the pro-life movement yet to do? It has not yet asked the Blessed Mother to end abortion in America.
If not now, when? If not, why not?
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Then there is this wonderful exchange from Mrs. B — from Wisconsin where we touched on all sorts of things: our children (they are awesome), the efficaciousness of CCD classes (they aren’t), our worries about whether our children will remain Catholics (she’s doing well, I’m just putting my little ducklings into the pond), missed vocations (thank you), traveling to Ireland (one day!), and the condition of Catholics under-40 and our lack of knowledge of all things Catholic.
This last part still gnaws at me. For those of us under 40, we are still excavating the wreckage, so to speak. Some traditions ought not to be lost, and rediscovering that knowledge is a wonderful thing. “Why did we stop doing that?!” seems to be the refrain . . . but alas, we only know about it if others show us.
So again — good examples of Catholic living remain so critical for the rest of us, and I am very glad and personally blessed that Mrs. B felt encouraged to share hers.
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Pope Francis has finally decided to open the Vatican Archives on the pontificate of Pope Pius XII, a man who has been irresponsibly slandered by the pseudo-historian John Cornwell — whose time at the Vatican Archives composed of 15 minutes and the retrieval of three papers. From this, conspiracy theories are born. . . .
The good news here is that Pius XII has been by and large vindicated both by those with a vested interest in defending his legacy and those who are merely interested in the question writ large. The conversion of the Chief Rabbi of Rome after the city’s liberation and the preservation of the Hungarian Jews should all be credits to Pius XII’s character; the post-Lateran Treaty condition of a papacy under the fascist boot should be noted as well.
Pius XI’s Mit Brennender Sorge was a forceful condemnation of Hitlerism, one into which Eugenio Pacelli — the future Pius XII — as Papal Secretary of State would have had input.
The smuggling of 300,000 copies to Catholic priests across Germany to have the encyclical read from every pulpit on Palm Sunday 1937 is reminiscent of the samizdat smuggling that Catholic priests helped encourage during the Soviet era — and for those of us cautious enough about the panopticon of the internet, still do today.
In short, the enemies of the Church — much like today — love a good headline. But truth like any other seed has a funny way of enduring and working its way to the sunlight.
Also, be sure to read Courtney Grogan’s (Catholic News Agency) report on the opening of the Pius XII archives, on page 3A of this week’s issue! In her article, Grogan explains how “the pontificate of Pius XII has been often misunderstood.”
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First Teachers encourages readers to submit their thoughts, views, opinions, and insights either via e-mail or by mail. Please send any correspondence to Shaun Kenney c/o First Teachers, 5289 Venable Road, Kents Store, VA 23084 or by e-mail to svk2cr@virginia.edu.
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