Last month we reported on “An Open Letter to Pope John Paul II,” which Catholics Speak Out hopes to publish, accompanied by thousands of signatures, in The New York Times late this summer. The letter is intended to express the opinion of the “majority” of Catholics on contraception–that it’s fine and dandy.
We’ve since been privy to the full-length letter, part of a fund-raising and signature-gathering appeal. What is remarkable about this letter is how faithful, even traditional a tone it attempts to to strike, how moderate and centrist it attempts to portray its authors. John Paul II, hardly ever called by his title (except in derision) in the publications of groups such as Catholics Speak Out (which is under the auspices of Call to Action), is humbly addressed as “Pope.”
The letter engages in selective name-dropping of sorts, mentioning, but never quoting, the Second Vatican Council and Canon Law as “call[ing] on” and “urg[ing]” the faithful (namely, the letter writers) to address the Pope on the issue. We’re acting within the Church for the good of the Church, it tries to say. It all seems very sincere and thoughtful.
But underneath there’s a calculated agenda. The center is being moved. The letter’s authors, by painting themselves (the pro-contraception, -abortion, and -women-priests crowd) as “moderate,” “faithful, practicing Catholics,” they stigmatize those in line with Rome as “right-wing,” “conservative,” or “reactionary.” Who, then, becomes the “left”? That’s a scary thought.
But it’s not even a question worth pursuing, for political labels cannot, or at least should not, be applied to the Church. G. K. Chesterton noted that there are a thousand angles at which a man might fall, but only one at which he could stand erect. In the Church there can be no left, right, or center. There is only orthodoxy.
Oh, yes. The letter recommends that those who wish to subscribe anonymously add a description to their signatures: “Rev. Anonymous, S.J., Archdiocese of Toronto,” or “Sr. M. Anonymous, Sisters of Charity,” or “Professor Anonymous of Catholic University.
Music fans may have noticed a curious title on the charts lately. “Chant” is an album of Gregorian chant recorded by the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain. The album has been wildly successful, selling three million copies worldwide and spending several weeks on top-ten charts.
But success has not spoiled these ascetic monks. They turned down a reported $7.5 million recording offer from EMI records. “In our community,” explained Abbot Clemente Serna, “we operate under the principle of not needing.” Unhappy with the way international stardom can hinder contemplative life, the monks have decided to retire from the pop music scene, preferring to reserve their melodious chant for the Audience for whom it was intended.
Great Ideas File, Item #26: In Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, the pastor of the local Catholic church is selling copies of the newly-released Catechism of the Catholic Church in the church lobby and actively encouraging people to buy. Acquiring the books at bulk discount, he is able to offer them to his parishioners at his cost, just $13 each–a savings of 35 percent off the retail price. He has ordered 250 copies and will order more if the demand warrants it. After all, why leave it to Waldenbooks and B. Dalton to get the Catechism out?
Prediction: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma is soon to become a hotbed of Catholic knowledge and effective evangelization.
An article in the Wall Street Journal tells of two efforts underway to translate the Bible into . . . Klingon, the fictional tongue of “Star Trek” origin. In 1984 a linguist invented the language for use in the “Star Trek” movies, and since then Klingon (spoken by the alien race of the same name) has been the topic of conventions and publications; thousands flock to Klingon instruction courses and buy “Conversational Klingon” audio tapes. There even have been wedding ceremonies performed in Klingon.
So soon we are to have the KV (Klingon Version) of the Holy Bible. Or perhaps more than one. As in any translation project, there are two schools of thought. One, the formal equivalence school, opts for a literal translation whenever possible, improvising where there is no exact Klingon word (a common problem, since there are only 2,000 words in the entire vocabulary). Thus, “We have five loaves and two fishes” (Mark 6:38) is translated using the Klingon tIrSoj, meaning “grain food,” and biQHa’DIbah, “water animal.”
Another theory of translating strives to achieve cultural relevance, even at the expense of formal accuracy. Call it the dynamic equivalence school. It renders Mark 6:38 as vagh ‘Iwchab cha’ ghargh wIghaj, which any Klingon would recognize as meaning, “We have only five blood pies and two serpent worms.
Some have speculated that the Jehovah’s Witnesses will produce a “New World Klingon Translation of the Holy Scriptures,” and one This Rock reader had a different idea: “Maybe Bart Brewer will start Mission to Klingons Interstellar and leave this planet once and for all. We can only hope.” (For a more down-to-earth look at Brewer, see Victor Claveau’s article on page 11.)
Discussing space aliens reminds us of . . . Texe Marrs, famous for his crusades against New Age influences, such as the ones he thinks he espies in C. S. Lewis’s Narnia books. Now Marrs has released two tapes exploring the UFO phenomena. The tapes reveal “the astonishing truth about the greatest of all puzzles and deceptions–the manipulation of mankind by the dark forces behind the invasion of UFO’s!”
The advertisement for the tapes promises to tell the story of “scientist J. J. Hurtag’s UFO trip to `heaven,’ where he was taught that the aliens are regularly programming the minds of men and women on earth with `pictographs,’ using the electrical sequence for the number 666.” Also revealed are “numerous accounts of visitations and prophecies by a mysterious UFO alien calling himself `Ashtar.’ Ashtar predicts the rapture and rescue of human beings by UFO spaceships to escape a coming series of monstrous calamities on planet earth.” Marrs’s thesis, so far as we can make it out, is that UFO aliens are part of some kind of demonic/government/New Age plot to kill/enslave/scare the heck out of “true Christians.” No word yet on the involvement of the Jesuits.
Michael and Tammy Kelly began CREDO (Christians Renewing Ecumenical Doctrinal Orthodoxy) as a source of edification for Evangelical Protestants, providing, as its mission statement says, “a connection with the ancient church and the entire historic body of Christ.” Credo Magazine is a forum for conservative Protestants to discuss issues touching on Christian history and theology, placing special emphasis on liturgy and sacramentality, the communion of saints, and episcopal church government.
Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote that to be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant, and he hasn’t been proved wrong in this case: The Kellys have decided to “pope.” Aided in part by dialogue with Catholic Answers’ Patrick Madrid, Michael and Tammy are soon to enter into full communion with the historic Christian Church. Our congratulations and prayers go out to them.
Our readers in Canada may want to examine The Trumpet, published in Victoria, British Columbia by layman Mark B. Toth and his wife, Kathleen. The Trumpet‘s mission is to bring the light of Catholic truth to Western Canada. The articles we’ve seen are well-written, pertinent, and solidly orthodox. For subscription information, write to The Trumpet, P.O. Box 6398 Depot C, Victoria BC V8P 5M3 Canada.
Not as highly recommended is a book advertised in the National Catholic Reporter. The Creation of Kindness, by Cora E. Cypser, is described as “a new vision of our ongoing creation seeing how the roots of the Bible extend far back in time and space to Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, India, and to geologic eras . . . how legends and ancestral prototypes from many cultures are used in the Bible . . . how the Bible stories have greater depth than ever for everyone . . . how all humankind are [sic] The People of God in a common process of creation.”
Surrounding the advertisement are pictures of a crucifix, Buddha, a dinosaur, a volcano (an allusion to L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics?), a rocket orbiting earth, and a prison tower enclosed in a barbed-wire fence.
Now back to the recommendable: Layman Frank Pollicino publishes the new Resource Directory for Catholics. “It lists over 300 organizations providing products and apostolates for your spiritual growth and apostolic mission,” he explains. “It’s a must-have item for Catholic evangelists, apologists, and those in ministry (especially pro-life).” We’ve discovered organizations and publications we hadn’t heard of before. This is a fine tool for orthodox Catholics who want to network. For a copy, send $6.00 to Authentic Roman Catholicism, P.O. Box 245, Smithtown, NY 11787 or call (516) 366-4928.
If you’d like to be simultaneously an activist and an armchair apologist (did you catch those alliterations?), try explaining and defending the faith through your computer. All you need is a modem and a communications program. Many newer computers come with both, and older computers can have then added for under $100.
You might log on to a local bulletin board system–many carry discussions about religion–but probably the most fertile ground for your work will be the national online services such as CompuServe, America Online, and Prodigy. These have discussion forums on religion, often with subforums on the Catholic faith. For a sample of the lively discussions you can find, see Fr. J. Michael Venditti’s article on page 25.
Does this kind of give-and-take work? You bet it does. Another writer in this issue, Mark P. Shea, credits online discussions with helping him become Catholic.
When you’re online, you might come across some of our staffers and writers. Every night Karl Keating checks for his electronic mail. While you explore the religious forums, why not drop him a line? His addresses are 70603,2777 on CompuServe and kkeating on American Online.
And don’t forget to join the Catholic Resource Network. See the advertisement in last month’s issue for information.