Some callers on radio talk shows have thought that they were undermining my argument by asking what I had contributed to charity.  Of course I have made donations, but my plea is not for an individual to give more but for each of us to work together to have a fairer and more just system. I want systematic change—and since government is the way that we make our most solemn common decisions, I want our laws and our government to be more just and more competent.

In any of these situation, I have found that people prefer the ad hominen attack.  So let me defend a few wonderful people….starting with my grandfather.  Happily, he was a very successful businessman---particularly after he left Boston for New York to escape the strong bias against Irish Catholics.  FDR trusted his integrity as he became the first Chair of the SEC---and built a foundation of rules and regulations that still govern the financial markets. He also Chaired the Maritime Commission, and was Ambassador to Great Britain.  He loved his children and devoted himself to their success.  In addition, he funded the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation—in memory of my uncle who was killed in World War II---which launched Special Olympics.

Some have asked why I remain a Catholic since I disagree with some of the pronouncement by the hierarchy.  The Church has endured for two millennia because of its theology, its hierarchy and its laity.  There are always disagreements.  But that is what makes it so rich---and it allows the Church to grow and endure.  In the fifties, John Courtney Murray was silenced for its advocacy of democracy and freedom of religion.  Less than a decade late, he was recruited by the Vatican to write the Second Vatican Council’s statement on the value of Freedom of Religion.  So, just because one disagrees today, does not mean that the Church will not embrace the very same position tomorrow.  I see my duty to help a male hierarchy know and understand women.

One of the oddest arguments I have heard is that money does not help to reduce poverty.  But of course money—well directed and competently managed has made an enormous difference.  Fifty years ago, the elderly were the poorest part of our population.  Now thanks to Social Security and Medicare, they are much better off.  The proportion of Americans that were poor dropped dramatically after the War on Poverty provided Medicaid, food stamps and other benefits. Tragically, it is under this Republican President that for the first time more than three decades the percentage of poor Americans is rising.  And, they have done poorly not only in providing huge tax breaks for the wealthiest while cutting help for those most in need, but they have disastrously managed government services---ie Katrina, and veterans health to cite two of the prominent examples. I advocate raising the minimum wage, health care for all, strengthening our labor unions, and providing excellent education and training to our citizens, the creation and preservation of public goods such as parks, clean air and water to improve the common good and the well being of our people.

Still, I did find it encouraging that the Pope added commitment to the common good to the list of issues that a Bishop must take into account when he decided who may receive communion. So…inconsistent.  We used to pray that NO ONE was worthy!

Anyway, the good news is that Rome has stepped back from claiming the only non-negotiable issues are the beginning and end of life, or as some have said, “microscopic morality”.  One question is WHY?

My hope is that the Pope will change. After Benedict was criticized for his remarks about Islam in Germany he went to Turkey and prayed with members of the Islamic faith---actions which he had once criticized in his former opinion. By joining the “common good” language with abortion and euthanasia is he signaling however slightly that the Church has a broad agenda? 

Still, I am disappointed that he has agreed to meet with George Bush…Let’s see if he allows himself to be photographed with him. Pope John Paul II had allowed himself to be photographed with President Bush two months before the last presidential election.  While some claimed that this gave the Pope the opportunity to criticize Bush for the War in Iraq, most political observers said that the picture of the two men meeting was a big political plus for the President. The picture being worth a thousand words.  It sent the signal that abortion trumps war.

My hope is progressive Catholics will write the Pope to register our protest.  To be with President Bush will be used by Karl Rove as an endorsement of him, his politics and his power to prolong this incompetent war.

On another note, was I the only one that thought it strange that all the reports about Newt Gingrich uttering mea culpas about conducting an affair while criticizing President Clinton—apologized to God and bemoaned his own short comings but said NOTHING about the effect on his wife.  Are women merely props.  Are we either “occasions of sin” or else useful demonstrations of man’s ability to resist temptation. I ask WHAT ABOUT HER?  HOW DID SHE FEEL?  SHOULDN’T SHE GET AN APOLOGY?

Finally, one of the oddest comments that I heard over the last week was from a radio talk show host who thought that I had missed the point when I quoted John Winthrop’s wonderful speech on the Arabella about the need to “suffer together, “ as laying the foundation for a communitarian ethic.  He said that Winthrop was referring only to Christians.  I still don’t know how that narrow reading jives with the story of the Good Samaritan.  I would think that the God who created the world, who saw that it was good, who asked us to multiply and til the earth would prefer that they would live in peace and harmony.