Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday as we enter the month of June. Articles this week – no surprise – examine the challenges facing Pope Leo XIV. We have reports of tensions over the war in Gaza, border security and immigration. Away from the hot-button issues, items this week include a brief examination of Nostra aetate, tensions among Southern Baptists, hope among European Evangelicals and a review about the latest book from Richard Rohr in which he suggests we take a deeper look at the example of the biblical prophets who understood “the soul must weep to be a soul at all.”
Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo navigates the tensions of church, Judaism, and the war in Gaza, says Tom Roberts. (Roberts is the former editor and executive editor of the National Catholic Reporter, and one of the national news writers who has covered an AUSCP Assembly.) This week, Roberts writes Pope Leo XIV begins his tenure facing a nearly impenetrable thicket of global tensions, none more fraught with dangerous implications for Catholics and Jews than Israel’s ongoing destruction of Gaza.
A Louisiana Black Catholic considers Pope Leo XIV. Dr. Darrell St. Romain examines the history that has led the Catholic Church to its first American pope, a Creole with a complex family background. He is a guest writer at Black Catholic Messenger.
Pope Leo XIV and the wisdom of the margins. Writing for UCAN, Jesuit Father Kuruvilla Pandikattu is Chair Professor of JRD Tata Foundation for Business Ethics at XLRI, Jamshedpur, and was a professor of Physics, Philosophy and Religion in Pune, India. Writing for UCAN, he says Pope Leo “reminds us of what we already knew: God speaks from the margins. We just need to listen.”
‘Pope Leo XIV to families: Be missionaries of the Gospel who walk with other families; be “fishers of families.” Two reports, one from the Catholic News Agency, and another from Vatican News Service.
Vatican’s official website for Papal Magisterium gets a new look. Check it out at Vatican News, to see the Holy See’s new, modern design, presenting papal teaching to the world in a more accessible format, according to the Dicastery for Communication.
Chicago set to celebrate election of Pope Leo XIV. The Archdiocese of Chicago, hometown of Pope Leo XIV, is hosting an event in the city’s Rate Field, residence of its beloved White Sox baseball team, to celebrate the election to the papacy of a native son.
Israel-Gaza
Every Sunday afternoon since Oct. 7, 2023, a peaceful group has gathered for a vigil walk in downtown Boulder, Colorado, to remember the Israeli hostages held by the terrorist group Hamas. This past Sunday, as they marched past local shops and restaurants in the city’s outdoor Pearl Street Mall, eight participants in the group’s activity were firebombed in what the FBI is investigating as an act of terrorism. Denver’ archbishop calls for prayers. From Catholic News Agency.
Immigration tensions
As the Trump administration cracks down on foreign student visas, Catholic universities like Fordham, Notre Dame and Santa Clara say they are actively seeking to support affected students. From National Catholic Reporter.
A partnership between St. John’s University in Queens, New York, and United States Customs and Border Protection to inaugurate an immigration enforcement training center has sparked tensions among the university community. From National Catholic Reporter.
Violence in Kenya
The Benedictine Sisters have closed facilities in the Kenyan region due to violence. The action follows the murders of two priests in the Kerio Valley. From Vatican News.
Leaders appointed
Dr. William Tate IV has been named the next president of Rutgers University, the school announced on May 19. Since 2021, the Catholic-raised academic has served as the first Black president of Louisiana State University. He will be the second Black American to lead the public institution in New Jersey.
Sr Marcia Hall was elected superior general of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the nation’s oldest Black Catholic order. Black Catholic Messenger reports the New Jersey native and former university administrator has been a member of the Oblates, the nation’s oldest Black Catholic order, since 1998.
Denominational News
Proposed Southern Baptist resolutions “throw red meat to the base, avoid key issues.” SBC messengers are slated to address hot-button topics such as “the harmful and predatory nature of sports betting,” banning pornography, the “medical dangers of chemical abortion pills” and international religious liberty. From Baptist News Global.
European Evangelism Congress preaches hope despite rising secular tide. From Christianity Today, writer Ken Chitwood in Berlin quotes Franklin Graham: “God has often chosen the worst of time to do his best work.”
Obituary
Charles Rangel, trailblazing Black congressional voice, dead at 94. Nate Tinner-Williams, in Black Catholic Messenger, notes that the Harlem activist was the first Black chair of the House Ways and Means Committee before an unceremonious exit after facing ethics charges. Born in Harlem to Puerto Rican and African-American parents in 1930, Rangel was raised by a single mother and raised Catholic.
Polish election
Karol Nawrocki wins Polish presidential election with Catholic values platform. Karol Nawrocki vowed to maintain close ties between the Polish government and the Catholic Church.
Essay on Nostra aetate
From Today’s American Catholic: “The Second Vatican Council: A Builder of Bridges.” Attilio Galimberti’s article was originally published in Francesco il Volto Secolare (FVS), the national magazine of the Italian Secular Franciscan Order.
U.S.Catholic Magazine observes 90 years
For 90 years, U.S. Catholic has been constantly evolving to meet the “pain and promise of a changing church.” By the early 1940s, the magazine shifted from focusing solely on St. Jude devotion to educating St. Jude devotees about Catholic social teaching and public policy, covering issues like labor unions, housing, race, and war.
Book Review: The Tears of things
Richard Rohr begins in a familiar landscape: universally experienced human grief, frustration at the evil we see around us, public and private hardships and loss. Expanding on Virgil’s famous phrase from the Aeneid, lacrimae rerum (“the tears of things”), he suggests we take a deeper look at the example of the biblical prophets who understood “the soul must weep to be a soul at all.” In Today’s American Catholic.
OPINION
Michael Sean Winters writes, “Trump’s foreign policy ignores the nation’s values and interests, but he, his family and his pals are at the trough making sure the grift machine is working.” The opinion piece is posted on X.
COMMENTARY
There are “Misunderstandings on Both Sides of the Altar Rail Debate,” according to National Catholic Register. “The theological, liturgical and historical dimensions of altar rails are no longer widely known.”
SURVEY
30% of Americans Consult Astrology, Tarot Cards or Fortune Tellers, according to Pew Research. Most Americans who engage in astrology, tarot cards or fortune-telling say they do it for fun, rather than for insights or guidance on life decisions. Just 6% of Americans say they participate in one or more of these activities at least weekly.
Video: Young adults today are less religious than older adults by traditional measures. But when it comes to spirituality, the differences between young adults and older people are smaller. Watch the video to learn about religion and spirituality among young adults. Learn more about the study at pewresearch.org
BLOG: Justice Bulletin Board
BLOG: Fr. Bob Wenz, on Silence
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