Week of 8/5/24–8/10/24: Caring, Weirdness, & 2 Kinds of Catholicism

August 5, 2024: Joe Biden’s Vatican II Catholicism vs. J.D. Vance’s Other Catholicism

Sixty-two years ago, Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council, which came to articulate a new set of Catholic values that were revolutionary for that time. Among the new directions were interfaith or deep ecumenism, apologizing for antisemitism, and becoming more involved in social justice around the world. Today’s American elder statesmen, such as President Joe Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, were raised Catholic in the wake of Vatican II. Those values have always guided their public and private lives. Biden in particular has done more than any other president to address the climate crisis. This contrasts sharply with vice-presidential candidate and Catholic convert of five years, J.D. Vance, whose positions on climate change depart from the teachings of Pope Francis’s Laudato Sì. Also his attitudes toward immigration and labor rights.

August 6, 2024: Biden’s Catholicism in Contrast to that of J.D. Vance, continued

J.D. Vance converted to Catholicism only five years ago, but his beliefs align more with Hungarian dictator Viktor Orban than with Pope Francis. Like Orban, Vance’s faith hinges upon a Christian nationalism that refuses to live in a pluralistic culture or practice religious ecumenism. Both men, along with Trump and venture capitalist Peter Thiel, believe democracy is passé, and favor a one-party state. Vance embraces the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and should he become vice president, the Opus Dei Catholic conservative Justices on the Supreme Court would have an ally in the executive branch. When Vance gave a speech at Franciscan University, other speakers at the same event promoted the idea that the government should be subordinate to the Catholic Church.

August 7, 2024: An Excommunicated Papal Nuncio & VP Religious Allegiance

Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI both went out of their way to elevate Opus Dei, an order founded by a Spanish fascist priest who supported dictator Franco. Opus Dei is the wing of the Catholic Church that seeks to undo and reverse the advances of Vatican II. Members of Opus Dei ignore Pope Francis’s Laudato Sì by denying climate change and a “preferential option for the poor,” favoring unfettered capitalism instead. Other prominent members include Leonard Leo, who sponsored all six far-right members of the Supreme Court, and Kevin Roberts, architect of Project 2025, the blueprint for a fascist takeover of the United States. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vignano, former papal nuncio to the U.S., was recently excommunicated by Pope Francis. But the conservative bishops whom Vignano appointed remain in place. What damage did he do as ambassador, that will take generations to undo?

August 8, 2024: VP Nominee Tim Walz: The Man Who Called Weird “Weird”

When presidential candidate Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate, Americans quickly discovered Walz is a down-to-earth straight talker. His values and policies put people first, and as governor of a farming state who grew up in a Nebraska small town, he understands the interdependence of climate, soil, food, and humans. But he became best known as the man who described Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance as just plain “weird.” How weird is it to be caught lying 33,000 times while president; to run for president with 34 felony counts; to summon his own personal paramilitary to overturn election results; to sell “patriotic” Bibles and sneakers; to praise and cozy-up to dictators and warmongers?

August 9, 2024: Election Time Weirdness: Is Caring the Opposite of Weird?

Is it weird to be a Catholic (as J.D. Vance claims to be), but ignore the Pope’s teachings about climate change? Is it weird to call women without biological children “cat ladies,” and claim that people with children should have more votes than people without children? Is it weird to prevent school systems from teaching the truth about slavery and indigenous genocide, or about the varied forms of sexuality found in both humans and other species? Synonyms for “weird” include: strange, odd, bizarre, peculiar, uncanny, eerie, creepy, unusual, uncanny, unearthly, abnormal. Opposites to these terms, include: normal, everyday, usual, standard, regular, ordinary, typical, customary, common, average, natural, habitual, routine, conventional. But these seem rather flat and boring. Perhaps caring should be considered the opposite of weird in the political sphere: caring about the common good, individuals, Mother Earth, justice, and the weakest among us.

August 10, 2024: Caring: The Opposite of Weird? continued

Non-caring is weird. Not caring about oneself; not caring about others; not caring about global warming, nor its effects such as wildfires, floods, droughts, and hurricanes. Caring is the opposite of weird. Another word for caring is compassion. Caring and compassion are unweird. Self-awareness and honoring the dignity of others is unweird.  Seeing others exclusively in the light of envy and competition? That’s weird, although it’s also common. One politician was so weird and self-serving, he tried to burn down our democracy by inciting his followers to riot, rather than admit he lost the election. Such an underdeveloped human being needs prayers, not votes.

Banner Image: Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota signs the PRO Act (Protect Reproductive Options) on January 31, 2023. Photo issued by the Office of Governor Tim Walz & Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. Wikimedia Commons.

Recommended Reading

The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved

The Pope’s War offers a provocative look at three decades of corruption in the Catholic Church, focusing on Josef Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. The final section in the book focuses on birthing a truly catholic Christianity.
“This book should be read by everybody, not only for its ferocious courage, but also for its vision for what needs to be saved from the destructive forces that threaten authentic Christianity.” ~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope.
“In the gripping The Pope’s War, Matthew Fox takes an unwavering look at the layers of corruption in the Catholic Church, holding moral truth against power.”   — Jason Berry, author of Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II

A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice

In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register

Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth

Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.