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book reviews
Goodness and happiness
in moral theory
the pursuit of happiness—god’s way. Living the Beatitudes. By Servais Pinckaers,
O.P.; translated by Sr. Mary Thomas Noble, O.P. (Alba House, 2187 Victory Blvd., Staten
Island, N.Y. 10314, 1998), 204 pp. PB $5.95.
George Weigel, in an April issue of the Catholic Advocate, says:
William of Ockham is the chief influence on the decline of moral theology since the middle
ages. And his baneful influence continues to misshape Catholic thinking about the moral
life today. Or so argues Belgian Dominican Father Pinckaers in one of the best books
I’ve read in years. . . . Grace, prayer, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the beatitudes
and happiness, in Ockham’s moral theology, all drop by the wayside. “Real
renewal,” Pinckaers writes, “means recovering and developing ‘the freedom
for excellence’ that we find in the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Goodness and
happiness were the keynotes of Thomas’ moral theory, as they were of Jesus’
teaching in the New Testament.”
I read this when I was in the process of reviewing Fr. Pinckaers’
The Pursuit of Happiness —God’s Way (Living the Beatitudes). I see this book on
the beatitudes as part of Fr. Pinckaers’ effort to bring back moral theology to a
consideration of goodness and happiness as the keynotes of moral theology, as in St.
Thomas, and more importantly, as they were in the teaching of Jesus in the New Testament.
In his first chapter on “The Sermon on the Mount” Father Pinckaers says:
“Yet when we consult the classic theology textbooks we are amazed to find in them
merely the briefest mention of the Sermon on the Mount and the New Law. It is the law of
Sinai and its ten commandments, seen as the expression of the natural law, which fills the
landscape and plays the principal role in these books. They are dominated by the
consideration of the obligations and duties determined by the commandments.”
I do not at all quarrel with Fr. Pinckaers’ thesis, but it does
strike me that consideration of the ten commandments is a practical way to assess
one’s spiritual condition. As children we learned the ten commandments and the
precepts of the Church to determine what you would confess. I suppose even moral
theologians would give great weight to commandments in view of the faithful they would
eventually affect. I think it is the job of preachers to explicate grace, prayer, the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, the beatitudes and happiness.
For a preacher like myself, what Fr. Pinckaers has done in this short
book is to point out the overwhelming value of the Sermon on the Mount, with especial
emphasis on the beatitudes. In the first beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs,” Father speaks of the independence of the
wealthy, an impediment to dependence on the Lord. Interestingly he points out that there
are different kinds of poverty, aside from the lack of material possessions. He cites
illness, loneliness, age limitations and weakness, a gloomy future, as in collapsing
female religious organizations, and also sinfulness. He says things possess us and keep us
from the love of Christ. That tells us how appropriate is the vow of poverty for
religious.
In the beatitude, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied,” Father says physical hunger instantly
demands justice even in a religious community. However we are spiritual as well as
physical, and hunger and thirst is the clearest symbol of our thirst for God. St.
Augustine is quoted: “Let us thirst like the deer, let us seek the source of which we
read in another passage of Scripture, ‘in you is the source of life.’” Fr.
Pinckaers concludes this chapter on the beatitude, saying: “We need to learn how to
cultivate this hunger and thirst, this strong desire for the merciful justice of the God
who drives from our hearts the fear of judgment, as it is written: ‘Light dawns for
the righteous, and joy for the upright of heart. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and
give thanks to His holy name!’” (Ps. 97:11-12).
The author has some strong things to say in his chapter on the
beatitude, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” He says:
“Even in the heart of the Church at times the teaching on purity formerly strict, has
been transformed, not without some naivete, into instruction about sexuality.” He
continues: “We are afraid to speak about purity and chastity today. We no longer dare
to preach, advocate and defend it. The attempt to meet and demolish it meets with greater
success.”
The book concludes with remarks on the commentaries of St. Augustine
and St. Thomas Aquinas on the beatitudes. He brings out “the profound agreement of
the two on essential points which have been too much neglected by later moralists; the
foundation of the morality and the Christian life on the Sermon of the Lord and the
beatitudes; the connection of the beatitudes and the virtues with the gifts of the Holy
Spirit; the predominance of the grace of the Spirit in the New Law, the essential function
of faith in Christ as the source of moral action; and the all-embracing role of the
beatitudes and gifts in the Christian life.”
Fr. Matthew V. Reilly, O.P.
Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary
Summit, N.J.
Institutionalized dissent
WHAT WENT WRONG WITH VATICAN II? The Catholic Crisis Explained. By Ralph M. McInerny
(Sophia Institute Press, Box 5284, Manchester, N.H. 03108, 1998), 168 pp. PB $14.95.
In this book professor Ralph M. McInerny, well known for his many fine books, adds his
name to the long list of those who have tried to explain what happened to the Catholic
Church after Vatican II. He admits, as do many commentators, that the Church under Popes
Pius XI and Pius XII during the first half of the 20th century was a vigorous and powerful
Church.
Then along came Pope John XXIII. One day he got the idea to call an
Ecumenical Council, not to correct doctrinal errors but to develop a more pastoral
approach so that the Catholic Church could speak more convincingly to the modern world.
The hope was that more people would see the beauties of the Church of Christ and be moved
to become members.
The council did not proceed, however, along the lines sketched out by
John XXIII and his Cardinals. The northern European, more liberal, churches took control
and pursued an agenda strange to John XXIII. He died in 1963, shortly after the close of
the first session. It was up to his successor, Pope Paul VI, to guide the Council to its
conclusion in 1965.
The title of McInerny’s book does not exactly correspond to the
contents. The reason is that, unlike many others, he does not find anything wrong with the
Council itself; he does not criticize any of the sixteen documents of the Council; he sees
them as inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore to be accepted in their entirety by
loyal Catholics.
Actually, “what went wrong” for McInerny was the way in which
the Council was interpreted and used by dissenters after the Council. For him the
watershed of dissent in the Church was the rebellion of the theologians against the Pope
and Magisterium because of the content of Pope Paul VI’s letter, Humanae Vitae, the
famous 1968 letter on birth control. Such massive dissent against the Magisterium was
unprecedented in history on the part of Catholic theologians who claimed to be loyal to
the Church.
Once the principle of the moral legitimacy of dissent was established
by the rebels, the dissent spread to other areas of morality like abortion, extra-marital
sex, homosexuality, sterilization, and so forth. And it was not long before the dissent
moved into the area of Catholic doctrine regarding key points of Christology, Mariology
and the Sacraments.
In the 70s, 80s and 90s Popes Paul VI and John Paul II anguished and
complained about this, but they did not do much about it. A few knuckles were rapped in
the cases of Hans Küng, Charles Curran, Matthew Fox, and Leonardo Boff, but almost no one
was excommunicated or even suspended from the priesthood.
Professor McInerny gives us a clear and concise overview of the
problems from 1968 to the present. He makes the important point that, since 1968, dissent
has been institutionalized in the Catholic Church, in the sense that well-known dissenters
control the “switching points” of the Church, namely, universities, schools,
seminaries, many religious orders and congregations, official publications, and diocesan
chancery offices.
What is lacking in this book is an explanation of why the authorities
in the Church—from Pope to bishops—did not use their authority right from the
beginning to discipline the dissenters, to force them either to obey or to get out of the
Church. He is correct in saying that the dissenters have caused great confusion in the
minds of most Catholic people. This confusion has come from the fact that the dissenters
have operated openly, have contradicted official teaching of the Church, have urged
Catholics to ignore the Pope and to “follow their own conscience”—and in
spite of this the authorities have, for all practical purposes, done nothing.
So McInerny summarizes the problem by saying that the crisis is a
result of conflicting authorities in the Church—the Pope and bishops say one thing,
while the theologians say something else. That has been the situation since 1968—and
it is still the situation in 1999. The solution of the crisis, as suggested by our author,
is threefold: a change of heart on the part of dissenters, prayer and penance on the part
of all. Prayer and penance are always to be recommended, but I do not see any signs of a
“change of heart” on the part of the dissenters. They control vast parts of the
apparatus of the Church and they simply are not going to go away. It seems to this writer
that a strong dose of the use of authority, as we witnessed recently in the Diocese of
Lincoln, Nebraska, would help immensely in producing the wished-for change of heart on the
part of the dissenters, no matter what their position in the Church might be.
Kenneth Baker, S.J.
Fairfield, N.J.
A spiritual
and intellectual giant
expositions of the seven penitential psalms. By St. John Fisher; in modern English with an
introduction by Anne Barbeau Gardiner (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, Colo.
80522, 1998), 284 pp. PB $14.95.
“In the morning of June 22, 1535, John Fisher, chancellor of
Cambridge University, bishop of Rochester, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, was
beheaded on Tower Hill.” Thus begins the Introduction to the first modern English
rendering of Saint John Fisher’s first book, his exposition of the Seven Penitential
Psalms. Coupled with a most excellent introduction to the life and writings of Saint John
Fisher by the translator and respected Catholic scholar, Anne Barbeau Gardiner, Ph.D., the
book offers modern readers scriptural-based exposition of a depth and scale rarely read or
heard in today’s Church.
As one of the true heroes of the Roman Catholic Church, Saint John
Fisher engaged chiefly in pastoral work in his role as priest, bishop and cardinal. He
ardently desired to raise the level of preaching in England which was the probable reason
for this first book on the Psalms in which he “promoted a Scripture-based
spirituality and a greater use of the Sacrament of confession.” Further, Saint John
Fisher sought preachers who would “provoke deep sorrow for sins and impel the
ordinary person to strive for holiness.” Juxtapose such expectations with the
perspective of Milwaukee’s archbishop Weakland in a recent article in America (April
18, 1998)!
Fisher “salts” his expositions of the Penitential Psalms with
such terms as sin, compunction, penance, contrition, satisfaction for sins, as he seeks to
awaken the minds and hearts of readers who had succumbed to the tides of Protestantism and
incestuous behavior of Henry VIII and all that reprehensible behavior represented in the
gradual destruction of the true Faith among English Catholics. Though soon to be
overwhelmed by this tide of sin and destruction, Fisher continued to prick the English
conscience with his unwavering commitment to Catholic truth and willingness to take a
public stand for the Faith. Further, his “great learning made him a virtual one-man
counter-reformation in England, first against Luther, and then against Henry VIII.”
As the only Roman Catholic bishop who took a public stand for the
Catholic Faith, he paid the ultimate price in martyrdom. Fortunately for us he left behind
this exposition of the Penitential Psalms which speak as forcefully today as when they
were penned and preached. Sadly, parallels exist between the state of the Church at the
beginning of the 16th century and at the end of the 20th century. The singular lack of
solid scripture-based preaching on Catholic truth from pulpits, the number of bishops
unwilling to stand up against the gradual dilution of Catholic truth are but two examples.
This book is a beautiful expression of one man’s trust in God and
belief in Holy Mother Church and her Sacraments to lead the faithful back to Christ. While
very readable, the book is not quickly read. The spiritual depth and quality of Saint John
Fisher’s use of the English language, coupled with his immense knowledge of scripture
makes for a spiritually enriching reading experience.
Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz (Lincoln, Nebraska) offers the following
reflections on the book: “The English-speaking world is richly blessed by this new
publication in the modern idiom of the great work by heroic Bishop Saint John Fisher.
Although the college of Bishops of England and Wales accepted the schismatic work of King
Henry VIII, Saint John Fisher courageously opposed both his brother Bishops as well as his
evil sovereign.” This book, read with faith and an open heart and mind, will enable
the reader to recapture the spiritual riches contained in the seven penitential psalms,
especially as reflected on by the spiritual and intellectual giant Saint John Fisher.
Michael G. Allen, Ed.D.
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, Georgia
All things Italian
THE LAND AND THE SPIRIT OF ITALY. The Texture of Italian Religious Culture. Revised and
Expanded Edition. By John Navone, S.J. (Legas, P.O. Box 040328, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11204,
1998), 223 pp. PB $16.00, plus $2.50 for P&H.
The genius of the Italian people has influenced and enriched the whole
world. For Italy has produced more saints and outstanding artists than any other country
on earth. We are all touched by the brilliance of Italian culture—in literature
(Virgil, Caesar, Dante), in painting (Leonardo da Vinci), in architecture and sculpture
(Michelangelo), in music (Italian opera).
This influence has been going on for over 2,000 years—since the
time of the Roman Empire. More recently, Italian artistry in the areas of fashion and food
have tended to dominate in those markets.
Fr. John Navone, though born and raised in Seattle, during the past
forty years has spent most of his time studying and teaching in Italy. Among those who
know him, he is famous for his “walking tours” of Rome. Next to his love for
theology, is his passion for all things Italian. He has carefully researched the major
areas of Italian culture and offers us the results of his study in this charming volume.
The book tells us a great deal about Italy; it also reveals that the author has an
intimate knowledge of Italian life, culture and history.
The book is conveniently divided into three parts: 1) religious
culture; 2) land, landscape and neighbors; 3) people and places.
In the first part the author traces the influence of Catholicism on the
Italian people. Simply stated, Italy is the faith. Thus, the major figures in Italian
history are its many saints, such as Benedict, Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas,
Catherine of Siena, Philip Neri and dozens of others. They were a major factor in the
formation of the people of Italy.
In the second part Fr. Navone describes the landscape or geography of
Italy with its twenty regions. There are some similarities and many important differences
between them, such as the difference between Lombardy and Tuscany and Calabria (north,
central, south).
In the third part the author mentions many important Italians of the
past thousand years. He explains how modern opera was invented by talented Italians and
speaks about the special contribution of certain places, such as Lucca, Genoa, which he
calls the hinge of Europe, and Calabria.
Throughout the book Fr. Navone stresses the extraordinary contributions
to Italian culture of Tuscancy, and especially of the city of Siena. It is a bit
surprising to me that Fr. Navone says so little about the city of Rome, for Rome is the
one city of Italy that most tourists want to see. Perhaps he is saving Rome for another
book.
For those interested in Italian history, the book contains six
appendices which list Italian saints, artists and authors, and details of geography and
Italian history.
The beauty of the book is marred by a number of typographical errors.
If the book is reprinted, those errors should be corrected by a good copy editor. But the
book is a valuable source of information for anyone who wants to understand Italian
culture and its influence on the other countries of the world.
Kenneth Baker, S.J.
Fairfield, N.J.
Bishop, scholar and martyr
SAINT JOHN FISHER. By Michael Davies (The Neumann Press, Rt. 2, Box 30, Long Prairie,
Minn. 56347, 1998), 137 pp. HB $16.00.
In 1535 King Henry VIII required all Catholics of his realm, and that
included all the bishops and priests, to take the Oath of Supremacy, namely, that he was
the head of the Church in England and that the Pope in Rome had nothing to say about
ecclesiastical affairs in England. In effect, he declared himself to be pope. The penalty
for refusal was execution in various barbaric ways, including being hanged, taken down
alive and disemboweled, and then cut in four pieces. There were also other methods, such
as being beheaded or being burned at the stake or being boiled alive.
It is remarkable that all the English bishops took the Oath, but with
one exception. That was John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester. Fisher was a great scholar and
patron of Cambridge University; when he was in his forties he was elected as Chancellor of
the University for life.
When Bishop Fisher was in his sixties he was faced with the challenge
of his life. King Henry divorced his lawful wife Catherine and married Anne Boleyn. He had
drawn up an Oath of Succession that he required the nobles and bishops to take which said
that Catherine was not his lawful wife and that Anne Boleyn was; this meant that the
future son or daughter of Anne would be in line to inherit the throne of England. All of
the English bishops took the oaths, with the exception of Bishop John Fisher. The most
famous noble to refuse was Sir Thomas More who lost his head because of his refusal. The
two great men were executed within a few weeks of each other.
Everyone got the message: submit to Henry or lose your head. Both
saints were admired by Henry for their learning and virtue. He thought that if he could
bring them to his side in the dispute with the Pope over his marriage to Catherine, and
his wish to marry Anne Boleyn, then everyone else would fall in line. When they refused to
acquiesce to his desires, he turned all his cruel fury against them. Fisher was old and a
dying man when he was executed.
Most of us like a good story, whether in a book or on the screen. This
is a good story and it is well told by Mr. Davies. The short book is based on a lecture he
gave a few years ago; at the request of friends he turned his lecture into a book.
Fisher and More were not the only ones to die for the integrity of the
Catholic faith and in defense of the papacy against the arrogant claims of Henry. Eighteen
Carthusian monks who refused to take the Oath of Supremacy were martyred by being hanged,
drawn and quartered.
The story of the life and martyrdom of St. John Fisher, as told by
Michael Davies, is ideal for spiritual reading. There are some endnotes giving sources,
but it is not intended to be a definitive scholarly treatment of the subject. It is an
inspiring story of a good and holy bishop who, at the end of his life, was confronted with
the clear choice of remaining faithful to his Catholic faith and paying for it with his
life, or of denying his faith and finding favor with a tyrant king.
There is an important lesson to be learned from the life and death of
St. John Fisher. There have been untold thousands of martyrs for the faith in the 20th
century under Nazis and Communists. The increasingly aggressive secularism and atheism of
1999 suggests that there will be many more martyrs for the faith like St. John Fisher in
the 21st century.
Kenneth Baker, S.J.
Fairfield, N.J.
The human side of Jesus
when jesus smiled. By Giorgio Conconi; translated by Jordan Aumann, O.P. (Alba House, 2187
Victory Blvd., Staten Island, N.Y. 10314), 147 pp. PB $5.95.
Jesus undoubtedly smiled under a number of circumstances which reveal
themselves in the Gospels. Smiles, however, acquire a concrete sense only in the context
in which they are expressed. This author, a surgeon by profession yet also a prize-winning
Italian novel writer, has selected a series of Gospel passages in which the smile of
Christ becomes almost the key to reading the Savior’s sentiments. In each of these
incidents, the author has provided background to the text and then highlights those
elements which would have led to this reaction from Christ. The author has attempted to
communicate carefully the humanity of Christ as seen through the four evangelists. A few
examples are provided here.
The reader may well recall Christ’s healing of the man born blind
in John’s gospel. Imagine the smile on Jesus’ face when the on-lookers cannot
believe that this now sighted man is the blind man whom they knew so well. One might
readily picture again the smile on Jesus’ face as the now sighted man tries to
convince these people of his true identity. Jesus is certainly again amused when the
sighted man invites the Pharisees, who believe that Jesus is a sinner, to become disciples
of Jesus.
The reader might also recall the woman with the hemorrhage who
approaches Jesus for healing. Jesus is in the midst of a crowd and asks “Who touched
my cloak?” The disciples come back with a simple answer which could only have made
Jesus smile. Why is Jesus worried about who touched his cloak when the crowd is pressing
all around him? Jesus waits for the woman to reveal herself before proclaiming to her that
her faith has saved her. Conconi as a medical doctor notes that Mark’s treatment of
doctors is quite severe: “the woman . . . had suffered greatly at the hands of many
doctors” (Mark 5:25). The impression given is that the woman had suffered physically
in addition to the financial burden. Luke, a medical doctor himself, omits this point,
recalling only that she had this illness for twelve years. As we quibble over the
treatment of doctors rather than the central message to the narration, Jesus must
certainly be smiling from above.
Conconi finds opportunity for Jesus to smile even during the passion
narrative. When Peter proclaims that he will never deny Christ, this could have led to
Jesus’ smile. The Savior wishes Peter to know how difficult it is to believe in him
and suffer for him. At the same time, Christ reveals that he best knows the human heart.
Conconi has provided a very refreshing look at Jesus’ interaction
with a number of individuals, one which may cause the reader to ponder certain Gospel
passages again. At the same time he applauds those men and women who seemingly made Jesus
smile in oftentimes difficult circumstances.
Sr. Madeleine Grace, C.V.I.
Houston, Tex.
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