Correspondence
What really happened Neuhaus on Weakland Shakopee, Minn. To the Editors: Thanks for Norman F. Cantor's "The Idea of a Christian Commonwealth" [November 6]. With polemics against the...
...Neuhaus himself (on page 137) talks of such discontinuity when he notes that Pope John Paul II in Centesimus annus quotes the major works on social doctrine of his immediate predecessors— namely, Pacem in terris, Mater et magistra, and Populorumprogressio—only seven times...
...What the pope is defending is the "task of the state to provide for the defense and preservation of common goods such as the natural and human environments, which cannot be safeguarded simply by market forces...
...It is the result of innate American stinginess to its own— a stinginess raised to the level of principle in the past twelve years...
...These references should be sufficient to show that Neuhaus's interpretation of Centesimus annus is in discontinuity with previous Catholic social teaching, including that of the present pope...
...Cuomo's Notre Dame speech on the topic was based on a profoundly Christian understanding of communal justice: a law the wealthy can flout with impunity, though the poor must obey it, is a bad law...
...He writes: "But, as in previous papal documents on social justice, the key is inequality...
...He discusses Laborem exercens only once, and does so negatively...
...Canada, $66...
...Bible study, spiritual formation, social concern, pastoral care given in a loving context where people join in to sing, to pray, to read Scripture, to testify of their diverse experiences of God's action in their lives, to worship, to be exhorted, and to share with others from their own abundance no matter how meager, cannot help but make a stronger church and a dynamic force for God in an increasingly secularized world...
...Fully two chapters of the book are devoted to explicating continuity in the development of doctrine...
...Karl Stern's life story, The Pillar of Fire (Harcourt, Brace, 1951...
...What makes Michael Hunt's criticism of the governor's stance ["Really Catholic but Electable," October 23] even more debatable is that Helmut Kohl, one of his exemplars of the Catholic politician, is pretty much in accord with Cuomo in matters of abortion...
...I bolster my assertion by the fact that Neuhaus in his interpretation seldom refers to the present pope's own earlier works...
...Like Cleary, I was taken aback by the strong language ("rapacious wolves") the pope used in his reference to the sects and pseudospiritual movements in his address to bishops in the Dominican Republic...
...REV...
...As the one who presided over the production of the 1986 pastoral letter, Economic Justice for All, the archbishop perhaps had to overcome a measure of understandable defensiveness, since he believes that my argument is critical of that letter...
...He cites my statement (not in the book but in a newspaper column) that Centesimus annus must prompt "a careful, and perhaps painful, rethinking of the American pastoral...
...Microfilm from Vol...
...CECIL M. ROBECK, JR...
...foreign, $41...
...Finally, for all the pleasant things it has to say about my book, the review ends by recommending a Roman interpretation of the encyclical appearing in La Civiltd Cattolica...
...In the nineteenth century, the century in which the human mind began systematically to rule the material forces of the universe, the church began to extol the Little Way, the mystic life in hidden 'little people.' This is the only logical answer to the threat of a coming managerial age...
...The term is easily misunderstood at the grassroots level and by many in the secular media...
...I suppose it is possible that the discontinuity that bothers the archbishop may be between Centesimus annus and Economic Justice for All, although I treat the latter document only in passing...
...Copyright © 1992 Commonweal Foundation...
...In the last chapter, "Letter to My Brother," he makes this observation on the phenomenon of saints: "The gospel is always the same...
...It may well be that some Pentecostals engage in proselytism, but if proselytism is defined as stealing the sheep of another church the overwhelming majority of Pentecostals are opposed to it...
...REV...
...Similarly, the charge of proselytism against Pentecostals is misinformed...
...foreign, $72...
...and at additional offices...
...But neither are they seers who could have anticipated what the pope would say six years later...
...It is my impression that that is a purpose sometimes championed by the archbishop of Milwaukee...
...Father Neuhaus may not have noticed that passage...
...Christ always has the appropriate answer, and he gives it to his saints...
...Neuhaus also refers to Gaudium et spes of Vatican Council II only twice in his book, once because the pope cites that document himself (page 183) and a second time where he cites it negatively (page 168...
...Serials Data program No.: ISSN 00103330...
...To the Editors: Thank you for running Edward L. Cleary's article "John Paul II Cries "Wolf" [November 20] with its treatment of important issues affecting the relationship between Roman Catholics and Pentecostals worldwide...
...His answer was that the country offered a woman every inducement it could—e.g., maternity leave, money, housing help, etc.—to persuade her to bear her child...
...such responses rarely raise the level of discourse...
...MOST REV...
...Factors such as the shortage of priests, the lack of personal formation, inconsistency in the lives of some pastoral leaders are cited as contributing to this reality...
...It may be helpful, however, to elucidate my assertion that his interpretation of Centesimus annus is in discontinuity with the rest of Catholic social teaching, including Pope John Paul II's previous contributions to that body of doctrine...
...Commonweal's columns make that point clearly...
...p. 13, Ross, Rothco...
...Pentecostals worry about the need for decisive evangelization, continuing discipleship, and an abundance of fruit, indicative of the transforming power of God in the lives of Christians...
...In short, despite the unfortunate reference to "rapacious wolves," there is very little to distinguish the pope's recommendations to his bishops from the policies Evangelicals and Pentecostals would urge on them if given half a chance...
...Thus, Catholic politicians who take both their faith and their profession seriously must seek instead to mitigate the ruling in as persuasive a way as possible...
...What the pope said Pasadena, Calif...
...p. 18, African Designs from Traditional Sources, Dover, pp...
...JERRY LOGAN New York, N.Y...
...Yearly subscriptions, U.S., $36...
...Canada, $39...
...But if she still thought she could not, the state helped her to an abortion...
...To the Editors: I am grateful for Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland's generous words ["Pontifex Maximus Abridged," November 6] on my most recent book, Doing Well and Doing Good: The Challenge to the Christian Capitalist...
...Again, Cleary's concern over the misuse of the term "sect" when applied to all Pentecostals is well taken...
...23,31, Baloo, Rothco...
...To the Editors: Father Richard Mazziotta' s article ["When the Saints Went Marching Out," October 23] prompted me to dig out my rather worn copy of Dr...
...Thus, to read Mario Cuomo and Pat Moynihan out of the club for their stands on abortion is, at least, shortsighted...
...In that context those terms are used to distinguish two historical periods...
...I fail to see in paragraph 40 of Centesimus annus that Pope John Paul II is approving of "new" as opposed to "primitive" capitalism...
...I would recall that Pope John Paul deals with distributive justice in paragraph 8 of Centesimus annus...
...With polemics against the Christian presence these days, it is good to reflect upon what happened in its complexities, learn from what is happening, and not just lament that history was not frozen on a particular date when all was apparently more happy and just...
...I've never read Moynihan's justification for his position, but his work for a society that provides for all of its citizens would, if carried through, do quite as much to limit abortions as does Operation Rescue—indeed, more...
...1,1924, to current issues available through University Microfilm, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 and on Microfiche from Bell & Howell, Wooster, Ohio 44691...
...RICHARD JOHN NEUHAUS (Continued on page 30) Commonweal is indexed in Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, Catholic Periodical Index, Index of American Periodical Verse, Book Review Digest and Book Review Index...
...But the majority of the Pentecostal movement, I would contend, is not sectarian...
...I am puzzled by his complaint that I embrace a "principle of discontinuity" in Catholic social teaching...
...I refer the reader to, for instance, section 40 of Centesimus annus in which the pope compares "primitive capitalism" with "the new capitalism" that he recommends...
...The archbishop asks, "Were the American bishops so illinformed...
...The life of the gospel at the height of the Middle Ages...is perceived in Saint Thomas...
...Cuomo has a hard time finding that many inducements, but that's not his fault...
...ROBERT HAZEL Saints as icons Rock Island, 111...
...Sollicitudo rei socialis is cited four times, but twice because the pope is referring to his own quote...
...All Canadian and foreign subscriptions must be paid in U.S...
...He has been as consistent in following the principle he enunciated as he has been in vetoing his legislature's demands for the death penalty...
...Apart from the reference to Marian piety, the pope's solution is precisely what Pentecostals and Evangelicals have advocated throughout this century...
...The archbishop is unhappy with my discussion of equality in the pope's argument...
...I was particularly struck by John Paul II's solution to the problem of the fleeing sheep, a problem from which Latin AmerCommonweal ican Pentecostals have benefited...
...I am a little surprised by the archbishop's unhappiness with that statement, since I have always understood him to be a proponent of careful, indeed painful, rethinking with respect to so many aspects of Catholic faith and life...
...Mary Ann Glendon, during her appearance on PBS with Bill Moyers, said that in an interview with Kohl she had asked what Germany did about abortion...
...p. 17, Dredge, Rothco...
...It is true that there are some sectarians within the Pentecostal movement, as there have been in recent years in the Roman Catholic church...
...dollars by International Money Order or by check on a U.S...
...To the Editors: We are not, my friends, going to reverse Roe v. Wade...
...Single Copy, $2...
...Illustrations: cover, Antonucci...
...Readers of Centesimus annus may judge that assertion for themselves...
...Also curious is the archbishop's claim that John Paul II does not use the terminology of the "new capitalism...
...Richard Neuhaus...
...I would only point out that the equality that is mentioned in the encyclical is the equality of opportunity to participate, rather than the equality commonly associated with theories of redistributive justice...
...Special two-year rate: U.S...
...As valuable as that Roman interpretation undoubtedly is, the purpose of Doing Well and Doing Good is to understand Catholic social teaching within the context of American problems and possibilities...
...Cuomo & Kohl New York, N.Y...
...Far from hiding that passage, I discuss it in detail in the very text of the book, as is evident in the archbishop's review...
...Of course not...
...2: 18 December 1992 Commonweal CORRESPONDENCE (Continued from page 2) The reviewer replies: I would not want to reply to the ad hominem arguments of the Rev...
...REMBERT G. WEAKLAND, O.S.B...
...Where the church's presence is dynamic," he observed, "such as in parishes where there is a steady formation in the word of God, where the liturgy is active and people participate, where there is a solid Marian piety, true solidarity in the social field, a notable pastoral concern for the family, youth, and the sick," there is an antidote to the threats that "sects" might otherwise pose...
...Thus, rereading the pope's Santo Domingo speech I was heartened by his clear admission that many Catholics in Latin America are not receiving adequate feeding from their church...
...p. 10, Noel Ford, Rothco...
...bank...
...Permit me to suggest that those who have problems with that have an argument not with me but with Centesimus annus...
...The writer is associate professor of church history and ecumenics at Fuller Theological Seminary and co-chair of the International Roman Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue...
...But the life of the gospel in the turmoil of the fourth century is seen in Saint Augustine...
...MARIAN BURKHART...
...Your author is on target in saying that "the canon [of saints]" should reveal Christ living and dying "in the lives of all the baptized....women as well as men, lay as well as cleric, those from South and East, as well as those of North and West...
...REV...
...I am loath to think that the archbishop is suggesting that I was less than candid when I did not include one of his favored passages (on the need to change lifestyles) in the condensation of the encyclical published as an appendix...
...If Stern's insight is correct, we would do well to recover, in Mazziotta's words, "the church's ancient sense of the saint as icon of Christ...
...Pentecostals in many parts of the world have been concerned about the spiritual welfare of so-called "nominal" or "cultural" Christians, persons who were baptized as infants, perhaps even confirmed, but who appear in church only for their weddings and funerals...
...p. 9, Handelsman, Rothco...
...Second-class postage paid at New York, N.Y...
Vol. 119 • December 1992 • No. 22
