Wisdom Wednesday | September 25th

Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday September 25, a search for meaning amid weapons and words of violence. Some good news: Catholic agencies all over the world are helping to welcome new arrivals seeking refuge from homeland violence, and interfaith leaders stand with Haitians in Ohio. It’s almost October and the Synod session is coming soon.

EXECUTION IN MISSOURI
Marcellus Williams executed in Missouri amid strong innocence claims: ‘It is murder.’ The execution came despite one of the prosecutors in the case saying that Williams’ life should be spared because DNA did not connect him to the case. Critics are calling the execution murder.

ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORT

Israel and Hezbollah traded fire again on Tuesday — including a new Israeli airstrike on Beirut — as the death toll from a massive Israeli bombardment climbed to nearly 560 people and thousands fled from southern Lebanon with the two sides on the brink of all-out war. Get updates HERE.

PAPAL PRAYERS

Pope Francis appeals for continued prayers for those who suffer in countries at war and upholds the rights of prison inmates.

PAPAL PLANS

Pope Francis set for visit to Luxembourg and Belgium. The director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, offers details of Pope Francis’ 46th Apostolic Journey abroad, saying the visit bears the theme of peace “at a time when the continent risks being pulled into conflict again.”

“Accumulation is not virtuous. Distribution is. Jesus did not accumulate; He multiplied,” the Pope recalled, referencing Christ’s teachings on not storing up treasures on earth but in heaven.

Pope urges Cardinals to renew commitment to economic reform. In a letter to the College of Cardinals, Pope Francis calls on its members to support the ongoing economic reforms of the Holy See and stresses the importance of financial transparency, responsibility, and solidarity.

What’s on the pope’s agenda? Here’s a look at his September schedule.

Defending Migrants

LETTER FROM OHIO BISHOPS, defending Haitian migrants: “The arrival of Jesus Christ in human history confirms the dignity God has given to each of us, without exception.”

OHIO COUNCIL OF CHURCHES decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.

CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST:  “It’s gone on far too long, and we won’t be silent anymore,” said civil rights champion the Rev. William Barber II.

Other topics

OPINION by Tom Reese: Five things to watch for in the upcoming October synod. The pope wants the delegates to focus on the topic of synodality rather than controversial topics like LGBTQ+ Catholics and women deacons.

ZOOM on GOSPEL NON-VIOLENCE: The mission of the new Catholic Institute for Nonviolence is to make nonviolence research, resources and experience, more accessible to Catholic Church leaders, communities and institutions in order to deepen Catholic understanding of and commitment to the practice of Gospel nonviolence. The inaugural event will take place in Rome on Sunday, September 29, at 4:00 pm CET. Info and Registration HERE.

NEW BOOK; Sexuality Within the Biblical Story” a highly anticipated book coauthored by preeminent New Testament scholar Richard Hays and his son, Christopher, himself a respected Old Testament scholar, in which they seek to make a biblical case for same-sex relationships and marriage.

PODCAST: Interfaith Action at the State Level: Florida, North Dakota, Pennsylvania

September 24, 2024. State of Belief host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush talks with leaders of Interfaith Alliance affiliates in Southwest Florida, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania about their work bringing together people of diverse beliefs around shared values and vision for their communities.

CARE FOR CREATION

“Saving Money and the Environment by Recycling and Donating.” AUSCP website visitor Sarah Jackson sent us a link to some tips on how to make your home eco-friendly.

ELECTION SECTION

SURVEY: Are Trump and Harris Christian? That’s not what most Americans would say. Few Americans see the presidential candidates as particularly Christian, according to a new survey conducted Sept. 12-16 by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. Only 14% of U.S. adults say the word “Christian” describes Harris or Trump “extremely” or “very” well. Vice President Kamala Harris is a Baptist who was influenced by religious traditions in her mother’s home country of India. Former President Donald Trump grew up a mainline Presbyterian but began identifying as a nondenominational Christian near the end of his presidency. 

OPINION by Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin: Anti-Semitic remarks in American history are “mild in comparison to what we heard this past week when former President Donald Trump stated ‘if he didn’t win the election,’ then “the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss.” Salkin points to the irony: “He said those words at a campaign event that was centered on denouncing antisemitism.”

OPINION: Project 2025 is a death sentence for religious freedom. The conservative vision proposes turning the United States into a religious monolith.

ANALYSIS: A very old political trope. The racist US history behind Trump’s Haitian pet eater claim. The Guardian offers analysis, concluding “Trump’s bizarre rant about pet-eating Haitians is just the latest in a hoary US tradition of scapegoating immigrants.”

DEPORTATION: AP compares Trump’s and Biden’s immigration and deportation records as president.There are an estimated 11 million people the United States illegally says Homeland Security. Former President Barack Obama carried out 432,000 deportations in 2013, the highest annual total since records were kept. Deportations under Trump as president never topped 350,000.

YARD SIGNS: An Ohio sheriff is under fire for a social media post in which he said people with Kamala Harris yard signs should have their addresses recorded so that immigrants can be sent to live with them if the Democrat wins the presidency. Good-government groups called it a threat and urged him to remove the post.

ENDORSEMENT: More than 700 national security officials endorse Kamala Harris for president. The public letter calls Harris a candidate who “defends America’s democratic ideals” and says Donald Trump is “unfit” for job.

ABORTION: Euphoric two years ago, US anti-abortion movement is now divided and worried as election nears. “The tide has turned, and the pro-life message is now considered a political liability that could prevent President Trump’s victorious return to the White House,” wrote Troy Newman, head of anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.

EDITORIAL from The Guardian, regarding Trump’s attacks on migrants: “smirking racism is no less dangerous.” Haitians escaping violence at home now face it in their refuge in Ohio thanks to the extreme right and the Republican presidential campaign. Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance continue to lie because it allows them to focus, in a hateful way, on immigration.

OPINION: Vance is factually challenged – and morally deficient

RFK and the whale: A federal law enforcement agency confirmed it’s opened an investigation into Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he allegedly cut off the head of a dead whale and took it home two decades ago.

VOUCHERS: Some churches are launching new Christian schools on their campuses, seeking to give parents more education options that align with religious values. The demand for church-affiliated schools, they say, rose out of pandemic-era scrutiny over what children were being taught in public schools about gender, sexuality and other contentious issues.

OPINION ABOUT MOTHERHOOD: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders bragged about her humility at a campaign rally Sept. 18, taking a dig at Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris for being a stepmother and not a biological mother. You can walk into a room like this where people cheer when you step onto the stage and you might think for a second that you’re kind of special,” Sanders told the crowd. “Then you go home and your kids remind you very quickly that you’re not that big of a deal.”

CATHOLIC CONVERT CELEBRITIES

ANALYSIS: The Catholic Church has a cult of personality problem. Controversial Catholic converts raise questions about the influence of celebrity in the church.

COLUMN by Peter Feuerherd: Catholic convert celebrities.In recent years, the growing number of Catholic convert celebrities reads like a “Who’s Who” of MAGA and conservative thinkers, advocates and cultural figures.

CATHOLIC ELECTION GUIDANCE

What’s promoted? What’s prohibited? Following is a sampling of state and diocesan policies, typically based on the USCCB’s Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. If you haven’t received such information from the Church in your state, these samples may be useful.

• The Ohio Catholic Conference says non-partisan voter registration drives are excellent opportunities to educate parishioners about the Church’s teaching regarding the importance of civic responsibility and active citizenship. But don’t conduct voter registration slanted toward one party or distribute a biased candidate survey.
• The Indiana Catholic Conference forbids candidate surveys, publication of incumbent voting records and endorsement of a candidate or political party.
• The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference has produced a voters’ guide, which includes quotations from political candidates on abortion, locker rooms and restrooms, criminal justice and other matters
• Archdiocese of Atlanta cites the USCCB and affirms that the threat of abortion “remains our pre-eminent priority.”
• Florida’s bishops urge Catholics to “Vote “No” on Amendment 4” — an abortion rights measure.
• Colorado bishops urge Catholics to oppose a ballot measure on “Right to Abortion” and another “Protecting the Freedom to Marry.”

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• INTERVIEW: “What does it mean to be church amid these very harsh circumstances?” asks Bethlehem pastor Munther Isaac. Just 2 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank are Christian. What are the challenges and opportunities of doing ministry in a place where you’re such a small religious minority? “We’re not an ethnic minority. We’re Arabs, and you would not be able to tell who’s a Christian and who’s a Muslim by looking at us. Not from the dialect, not from the food, not from the traditions. We’re part of the Palestinian people, and we’ve been living together as Christians and Muslims for 1,400 years.”
• HINDU SUPREMACY? Anti-Modi activists protested the Indian prime minister’s New York visit. More than 300 activists, many representing faith groups, came out to protest Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s September 22 visit to New York.
• POPULIST ELECTED: In Sri Lanka, Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake won Sri Lanka’s presidential election, the Election Commission announced Sunday, after voters rejected the old political guard that has been widely accused of pushing the South Asian nation toward economic ruin.
• MEDUUGORJE: Vatican greenlights devotion to Marian shrine at Medjugorje. After 40 years of studies, commissions and contradictions, the Vatican finally approved the spiritual devotion of the faithful at the Marian site at Medjugorje, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in a document issued on Thursday.
• CATHOLIC SOCIAL PROGRAMS: Catholic-inspired organizations are implementing a series of social programs in Spain, assisting those arriving from Africa to enter Europe. One of the greatest challenges is the fight against human trafficking which exposes women to forced prostitution. One of a series of articles from Vatican News, with individual stories of migration and the assistance of Catholic agencies.

U.S. RELIGION NEWS

• SBC HEADQUARTERS FOR SALE. An investigation into how leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention have dealt with sexual abuse by clergy has cost more than $12 million over the past three years, causing the nation’s largest Protestant denomination to put its Nashville, Tennessee, headquarters up for sale, the SBC’s executive committee has announced.
• FAITH AND DEMOCRACY. Two hundred faith leaders, including some luminaries of progressive Christianity, have signed a new statement on Christian faith and democracy calling for renewed attention to eight key principles. “Democracy stands embattled, facing new threats within our nation and new challenges around the globe. The witness of ‘the faith once for all delivered to the saints’ stands distorted and corrupted — especially to a new generation.”
• EQUAL JUSTICE USA The already dying American capital punishment system could be eradicated much sooner if evangelical Christians would stop supporting the practice, a Christian death penalty abolitionist said during a Sept. 10 webinar hosted by Equal Justice USA. A leading falsehood especially prevalent among evangelicals is that executing condemned prisoners is OK with God while “many different faiths throughout the world have spoken out against the death penalty.
• SOLAR MAKES SENSE. In sunny Arizona’s Tucson Diocese, solar power makes moral, economic sense. From National Catholic Reporter.
• POLYGAMY A minister in St. Louis said that one way for him to avoid sexual temptation was to marry multiple women, reported Christianity Today, quoting two ministers who were in the conversation. Pastor and seminary professor Vince Bantu announced that he thought polygamy was biblical and he was talking to his wife about marrying more women. According to the ministers, he told them he had two in mind.