Asymmetry of Man and Woman

 Asymmetry is a lack of similarity, balance, or proportion between two parts. It suggests a tension, a dissonance. For example, your left and right hand are largely symmetrical as they face each other in different directions but one is dominant as in left-or-right-handed.

In the Catholic world we are highly aware of the complementarity of man and woman: that we balance and compensate each other to make a more complete unity in marriage and family and beyond. This is true enough. Our seven children would agree that they benefited from the contrasting masculinity/femininity of my wife and I. But that spousal communion never reaches a climax of harmony, serenity and balance. There remains always frustration, misunderstanding, annoyance, conflict. Part of the mystery of gender is this very tension/dissonance that is not resolved in this life. We will soon celebrate 56 happy years of marriage. The tension does not diminish with age; in fact it heightens in some dimensions with decline in physical/psychological stamina, energy and resilience. It is essential that we clearly accept the inevitable asymmetry between male and female. It is not a negative, but a fruitful tension if handled in wisdom, charity, patience and faith.

A minor example: the humor of the male, as in teasing,  is often aggressive, crude and even sexual. To the woman this is at best childish, at worst offensive and repugnant.  This dissonance does not resolve itself but tends to persist despite good intentions for mutual sensitivity.

Men and women do not think alike. For example, in moral thought and behavior, women are compassionate, intimate, intuitive, generous. Men are more detached, objective, rule-and-principle oriented. No, these realities are not to be dismissed as stereotypes. They are part of reality.

The two mature at different paces. Teaching CCD to 7th graders, I marvel at the disparity at age 12: the boys are little boys, physically and emotionally;  the girls mostly tower over the boys in height but even more in emotional maturity. The boys will catch up, but it will take a very long time.

Women in large part do not understand men. Innocent but naive young women with curvaceous figures cluelessly dress in fashionable tight-fitting clothing. If they could read the minds of men who see them they would be horrified.

Men in large part do not understand women, especially in their sensitivity and vulnerability. We do not know the harm we have done with our infidelities. I exhort my brothers: Let us pray passionately for purity of heart, that we clearly see our women in all their preciousness, that we repair the harm we have done!

From this fundamental asymmetry definite truths emerge.

- The biggest possible error is the romantic illusion that a lover will satisfy, complete and fulfill you. The idea of a "soul mate" who matches you in perfect symmetry. This is a recipe for disaster. Big reason about half marriages fall apart. In popular culture this is the dominant myth. It prevails also in the delusion of "gay marriage."

- Men and women each need strong, close, sober friendships with their own sex. These have to satisfy much of the emotional need we all carry. We of the same sex naturally understand each other; can support each other properly.

- The Catholic practice of same-sex education, especially in high school, makes a lot of sense. Educators can address the specific needs of men and women. The distractions of attraction, flirtation and jealousy are helpfully diminished. Focus is on learning, friendship, sports and other activities.

- It is extremely rare for a man and woman to sustain a very close (BFF) relationship over a period of time. In the famous When Harry Met Sally argument, Sally won the argument as they did not maintain a longtime non-sexual, non-romantic relationship. They fell for each other, sexually and romantically. But another reason such a relationship is unlikely is the asymmetry: men and women rub each other the wrong way, much of the time. Without contrary attractions of sex/romance and the mission of family, social pressures and expectations, not to mention shared faith in Christ, it is very rare for such a relationship to prevail over time.

- Homosexuality, lacking the fruitful tension of asymmetry, is a fraudulent, deceptive mimicry of conjugality: not complementary, not unitive, not fruitful, not asymmetric; it is a monotonous, violent, pathological symmetry, like Narcissus gazing at himself in the pond. As a cultural movement...pride, parades, podcasts, flags...it is flamingly histrionic and self-righteous. Inherently, it is sterile and self-destructive.

- Finally, a realistic approach to marriage is to anticipate great joy and satisfaction, but along with that misunderstanding, hurt, disappointment, and conflict. In the catechesis of Kiko Arguello, couples are guided to expect mutual crucifixion: we crucify the ones we love, the ones closest to us. On our own resources we cannot overcome such sin and suffering. If we each draw close to Christ, in conversion and trust, we receive from the Holy Spirit the ability to ask for forgiveness, and to give forgiveness. In this we overcome the asymmetry and draw each other deeply into the love of the Holy Trinity which alone satisfies and completes us.

Our Church Polarized, Confused, Betrayed; and the Loyal Catholic Resistance

Now almost 18 months into his papacy, we see that Leo...prayerful, slow, cautious, deliberate,  steady, serene, irenic...is true to his word: he is continuing the program of Francis.  This is a sadness, a disappointment for many of us. We are betrayed in crucial areas of our received Catholic faith. But first, a thumbnail review of five recent papacies (the most recent both dual-pontificates.)

Postwar Stability and Expansion. Pope Pius XII, 1945-58. Especially in the USA, the Church was steady, thriving, confident, expansive; united against the global adversary, atheistic Communism; moving across the globe, especially the global South, in missionary fervor, cultural influence, and aid to the suffering. Time-tested, stable institutions stood serenely as alongside them, in full view, movements of renewal quietly flourished: ecumenism, Scripture, social justice, role of the laity, centrality of religious freedom, acceptance of pluralism, dialogue with Judaism and world religions, and positive engagement with modernity.

Vatican Council Renewal. St. Pope John XXIII and St. Paul VI, 1958-68. Tremendous church change within even greater cultural revolutions.

Confusion and Chaos. St. Paul VI, 1968-78. Widespread catechetical/theological confusion; progressivism takes charge of Catholic academia; loss of vocations; decline in church participation; widespread collapse of institutions. At the same time, lay renewal movements gain in strength. 

Restoration. St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, 1978-2013. Grounding of the Council reforms in continuity with tradition. Catholic Catechism. An extraordinary body of papal teaching from both pontiffs. Lay renewal movements continue to surge in influence.

Return of Confusion and Polarization. Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV, 2013-Today.  Impulsive, incoherent campaign to reconcile with theological progressivism and Chinese communism. In this they have betrayed fundamentals of Catholicism.

1. Chinese Church has been abandoned into the hands of the Communist Party. The underground Church, loyal for 80 years to the Pope, has been betrayed. The Party now unilaterally designates bishops and controls them. John Paul and Benedict, knowledgeable about communism, refused to sign such an agreement. This is a disloyalty of enormous proportions. I can recall no comparable abandonment of so many Catholics into the hands of such a  hostile enemy. Cardinal Zen stands as a solitary witness against this.

2. Spousal-Sexual Ethos ... centrality of chastity and conjugal fidelity...  of John Paul and Benedict, traditional and yet fresh, is renounced in favor of a truce with cultural progressivism, including feminist and LGBTQ militancy.

3. Latin Mass, center of Catholic life for 1500 years and source of inspiration for young families, is dictatorially crushed.

4. Deconstruction of the Episcopacy.  Synodality continues to replace bishops' authority with a group-process parliament of endless grievance, introversion, and progressive manipulation. Meanwhile, in important Vatican offices,  lay people assume positions of authority and governance traditionally reserved to those in holy orders.

5. Clerical Intrusion into the lay domain of politics. As the laity are clericalized into Church governance, the Vatican assumes a global  role as "caliph" responsible for world peace, justice and order. And so, the hierarchy intervenes on contentious, chaotic, prudential and properly lay policy affairs including immigration, borders, war, economy, climate and other. The distinct missions of clergy and laity are convoluted.

6. Just Use of Lethal Force of State to defend the common good and the innocent...in war, police work and capital punishment...as always understood by the Church is replaced by a vague, vacuous pacifism s in denial of the hard realities of evil.

Loyal Catholic Resistance

It is imperative that those of us who know and love our Catholic legacy resist the Francis/Leo hegemony and that we witness to Truth received... always in loyalty, humility, clarity, decisiveness and love.

The clearest resistance to date has come, at least in the USA, from the laity: First Things, EWTN, etc. In the hierarchy we have Zen, Burke, Scola, Mueller, Sarah, and more. The best example of such truthful resistance is the clear, absolute refusal of the entire African episcopacy to cooperate with blessing of homosexual unions. Another encouraging incident: Bishop Barron recently corrected Cardinal Vesco who said we do not want to convert Jewish and Muslim believers. We need more of such virile candor, courage, confrontation and correction from our prelates. We are in fact in a war within the Church, even a holy war on behalf of Revealed Truth handed down to us. We can no longer "make nice" with deference to the Pope and avoidance of conflict. "I have come to bring the sword" is the way Jesus put it.

In Outliers, (2008) Malcolm Gladwell considered the horrible safety record of Korean Airlines in the 1980-90s. Their accident picture was 17 times worse than that of American Airlines despite comparable training, competence and mechanics. The problem was the culture of extreme deference to hierarchy and authority: subordinate pilots would not confront or correct their superiors out of a dysfunctional respect. Their accident picture corrected itself with the introduction of a more direct, confrontational, less hierarchical safety culture.  Something like this has to happen with our Church. We need from our bishops virile, vigorous candor and confrontation.

Big Picture

The institutional hierarchy is essential to and constitutive of the Church. But it is not everything. The Church is best understood as the Mystical Body of Christ, the Communion in holiness of saints (militant on earth, suffering in purgatory, triumphant in heaven), as our Mother, as the Bride of Christ.

Christ, in the Holy Spirit, is intimate with his Church in so many ways besides the hierarchy: primarily the prayer and charity of saints, including the humble, anonymous ones; ordinary priestly ministry and parish life; and an infinity of works of mercy, religious life, gatherings in prayer, holy families, and so forth.

I return always to my "Fr. Burke Principle." Fr. John Burke (you recall dear Reader), pastor of my parish from before my birth until when I left at age 18, was rarely seen and when seen was odd. Was it alcohol? Emotional distress? Unknown. But what was clear is that the work of the Church went on smoothly: priests, brothers, sisters, families, school, sacraments, births and deaths. Distress and dysfunction of priest/bishop/pope does not stop the workings of the Holy Spirit.

In my single positive experience with physical therapy I learned that the weak, wounded bone would recover slowly as the adjacent muscles were strengthened by exercise. And so, with the Church: dysfunction in the Vatican and in much of the episcopacy need not discourage us. Our Lord is present to us in so many ways. We open our hearts, minds, and action to the Holy Spirit in our distinctive places and missions. Our Lord will correct the hierarchy in his good time.

Let us pray that Truth, in Love, prevail across the entire Church, especially in the Vatican and the episcopacy!

 

Catholic Eccentrics and Centrics

An eccentric is someone "off center," different, odd, idiosyncratic, non-conventional, weird, not a normie. Sometimes it is used positively in the sense of entertaining, endearing, comical, and refreshing. By "centric" I here mean one who is properly centered, grounded, and balanced. We will see that the two do not exclude each other.

We were blessed in our family of nine (with another two fosters) by a mother and father who were strongly centric: grounded in their Catholic faith, tested and tried in youth by the Depression and WWII,  ever in love with each other. Everything else fell into its proper place. We were additionally graced with eccentric family members. My maternal Uncle Billy was a purple heart WWII vet, studied at Columbia University,  and spent his adult life as a mendicant entrepreneur in South America. All the time he was also an agent for US army intelligence, a spy. He lived a double life and never told a single family member. He was highly intelligent, hilariously funny, immensely idiosyncratic, a story teller, and a fascination for us. My paternal Uncle Jack was different: he fought with Patton and may have been  post-trauma. He was a loner, avoiding family functions; his wife,  agoraphobic, stayed home. He was in his 50s and still caddying when I started at about the age of 14. He had a job and so was not what we called "a rummy"... a drinker that caddied to pay rent and buy booze. He was affectionately called "duck" because of how he walked so I was nicknamed "little duck." I was not insulted; he seemed to elicit a quiet, respectful affection. Our great-aunt Agnes was a spinster who lived next door and was close to us. She was also "a character." She loved Robert E. Lee. This made sense as her father (my paternal great-grandfather) had fought for the confederacy upon arrival from Ireland, taught for a while as a Christian Brother, and started a dairy farm in West Orange, NJ.

I have delighted in a range of friendships over the years but am particularly drawn to eccentrics. For example, I have written about "maverick priests" whom I particularly cherish as interesting, insightful, afflicted, intuitive, entertaining, loving and lovable. I find them and they find me.

Here we will identify significant eccentrics and centrics of the last 80 years in the Church. 

Top Catholic Eccentrics 

These are important influencers within Catholicism whose thought was "off center" or different but in a way that was enriching, if not entirely balanced. Recall, please, that all our great reformers were eccentric in their time: Jesus and the apostles, Anthony, Benedict, Francis, Dominic, Ignatius and so on. These are prophetic figures who lean heavily and fruitfully into some reality of our faith, perhaps pushing the boundaries of our Catholic reservation in some way, but remaining overall loyal and offering us great enrichment. 

Kiko Arguello and Carmen Hernandez. Kiko left  bourgeois life and buried himself with the gypsies, taking his bible, guitar and ten dogs for heat. With Carmen, he developed an entirely creative, radical, orthodox, alternative Catholicism.

Ralph Martin and Leaders of Charismatic Renewal. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, (in my view), in the wake of the Council starting in 1967, these integrated from Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism religious resources to create a distinctive Charismatic Catholicism which contrasted strongly with the dominant progressivism of the time.

Ivan Illich. Primarily a cultural critic rather than a theologian, he troubled the Vatican with his views but was voluntarily laicized to pursue his controversial advocacy. His was a most profound, broad critique of modernity (and the Church institution) as bureaucracy and technocracy. Similar views were advanced by non-Catholics Ellul, Berry, Goodman, Holt as well as Catholics Schumacher, Chesterton, Belloc.

Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. Maurin was an itinerant, self-taught wise man who instructed Day in a distinctive, radical, love-the-poor Catholicism. They were hardcore Catholic but politically anarchist and pacificist and so eccentric within our Church. A charming, convincing disciple today is Larry Chapp, a "communio" theologian who left academia to start a Catholic Worker farm. He is a favorite of mine for several reasons. He is by far the most comical, entertaining, living Catholic theologian. He influenced my daughter and her husband in college. He is triply eccentric as anarchist, pacifist and universalist. But his love for Christ and the Church somehow overcome these flaws.

Rene Girard. With his groundbreaking, revolutionary anthropology of mimetic desire he has in effect created a new "center" for Catholic thought that is basically consonant with and enriching of our legacy. His thought has been wonderfully presented by his disciple Gil Baile. He is  more significant a contemporary thinker than Freud, Marx, Darwin or Nietzsche. 

Adrienne von Speyr and Hans Urs Von Balthasar. Balthasar is the most profound, encyclopedic, creative Catholic theologian of the 20th century. He deferred to his collaborator, the controversial mystic Adrienne von Speyr as more significant, especially for her annual Holy Saturday "descent into hell" which informed his theology of hell.

 E. Michael Jones. A cranky conservative Catholic, Jones is a brilliant cultural analyst and historian. His work is flawed by a pronounced anti-Judaism which returns to earlier Catholic bias and is much too close to antisemitism. He is especially prescient in criticism of Catholic conservatisms including Neoconservativism, Pentecostalism, and Marian apparitions at Medjugorje. He is second only to Jaki in combativeness.  

 Simone Weil. A brilliant mystic, she died out of solidarity with the poor and suffering in WWII, having refused baptism despite her love for the suffering Christ. She is strongly "out of center" but left us tremendous insight.

Paolo Freire, Oscar Romero, Gustavo Gutierrez, Don Camara.  These are the shining stars of a "liberation theology" which remains (precariously) within Catholic boundaries. They pushed our faith strongly into solidarity with the poor. Camara was archbishop in Brazil for 21 years and Mendez of Cuernavaca for 30 years. They had affinities with Illich. Cardinal Mueller, protege of Ratzinger, whose Catholic discernment is impeccable, strongly endorses liberation theology in the form offered by Gutierrez. Romero is a canonized saint.  

Top Catholic Centrics

These are Church leaders and influencers who have been centered, profound, orthodox, balanced in their teaching and witness, including their demeanor/style/action. Important leadership positions in the Church especially require strong centric personalities and thinkers. Representatives: 

Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Paul VI, John XXIII, Pius XII.

Theologians Dulles, D.L. Schindler, DeLubac, Danielou, Congar, Boyer, Gilson, Maritain, Hildebrandt, Stein, Pieper, 

Cardinals Cantalamesa, Burke, Sarah, Mueller, Scola, Cooke, Suenens, O'Connor, George.

Bishops Varden, Barron. 

Special Cases

Popes Francis and Leo.

Bergoglio was a real eccentric: intense, volatile, impulsive, intuitive, emotional, intellectually incoherent. He was his own man. Creative and insightful, he was an excellent homilist and spiritual director, but a trainwreck of a pope. Above all a pope must be centric: holding everyone together, holding the Gospel truth in all its dimensions together. 

Prevost is deeply centrist in temperament, demeanor, and governing style. He looks for stability and especially unity in the Church. Theologically he is influenced by the progressivism of Francis and lacks depth, clarity and decisiveness in orthodoxy. 

Holy Ones Who Go "Catholic Weird"

Padre Pio, Mother Theresa, all stigmatists, healers, bi-locators, levitators, exorcists, hermits, and postmortem in-corrupts.

Eccentric Centrics 

The following were deeply centric in thought and life as they were eccentric, idiosyncratic and immensely entertaining in personality.

Blessed Fulton Sheen: flamboyant, histrionic; famously fought with powerful Cardinal Spellman over money for the missions;  and got in trouble late in life for his zeal for racial justice.

Mother Angelica: Immensely influential with EWTN as down-to-earth, populist, crusty Italian Catholic.

Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete: Sophisticated, NY, priest, writer-speaker celebrity; leader of American Communion and Liberation; hilariously entertaining; spent the last years of his life caring sacrificially for his disabled brother.

Flannery O'Connor: Immensely creative and entertaining; fiercely Catholic.

Fr. Stanley Jaki: Brilliant scientist/philosopher famous for his fierce combativeness.  

Elizabeth Anscombe: Protege of Wittgenstein; cigar-smoking, custom-defying, Humanae Vitae endorsing, atom-bomb condemning, mother of seven. Probably the most eccentric of all! 

Caryl Houselander: Inspirational writer who suffered anxiety and had an extraordinary, non-professional gift for helping those suffering mental and emotional anguish.

Heather King: Recovering alcoholic, convert, a contemporary Caryl Houselander.

Founders of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal were largely eccentric centrics: Groeschel, Sudano, Fortuna, Pio, and Apostoli. 

The John Paul Institute for the Family in Washington DC seems to attract eccentric centrics: Adrian Walker, Paolo Prosperi, Michael Walker  and others are balanced by sound centrics like Healy, Schindler, Antonio Lopez and others.

Stephen Adubato, curator of "Cracks in Modernity," a friend, and the most promising up-and-coming eccentric centric.

Conclusion

Notice that most of these were alive and active during and after the Council. Those were the years of my own adolescence and early adulthood. There were times of immense ferment in the Church. These significant figures are orthodox theologically, but moving zealously into prayer, contemplation and the mystical side of Catholicism. Many of them identify strongly with the poor and marginalized. They also include critiques of modernity as technological/bureaucratic/meritocratic. They coinhere in a traditional yet contemporary Catholicism that is renunciatory of cultural progressivism without being a retreat to a Church of the past.

Do you, dear Reader, share my delight, admiration, and gratitude in considering these inspiring, entertaining, radiant persons?  It has been a wonderful time to be Catholic!

Praise God!

Exult!

 Recently, when I ask our Lord what he wants from or for me, I receive a single word: Exult!

Question: When I receive this word, is this a natural, psychological process, a kind of auto-suggestion? Or is it heavenly and supernatural, a movement of the Holy Spirit?

It is both; it is not an either/or. It is natural, ordinary, psychological. This word comes to me much as any random, meaningless word might: stone, boy, loud. It is not miraculous and unnatural like bilocation, stigmata or incorruption after death. But the fruit of it is that I feel very happy in relation to God; I experience a surge in confidence, zeal, fervor, fierceness, strength, courage, and longing for God. "By their fruits you will know them." So, with joy I receive and cherish this Word. The natural is oriented to, receptive of, and collaborative with the supernatural or spiritual.

Try this, dear Reader. Prayer is friendship with God: PAL...Praise and thanks; Ask...for yourself and others; Listen...for God's voice. So I invite and encourage and exhort you:  Ask Jesus what he wants for you or from you. Then sit quietly, peacefully, patiently, hopefully. And wait.  And wait.  And wait. You may or may not hear a word. If you do, that word may well be random and meaningless. But it may also be a comforting, healing, strengthening Word from God.

"Exult" is an interesting word: it means to rejoice, to experience and manifest extreme joy, often after a victory.

The Latin root "exsultare" means literally to leap out. It means to "jump for joy." It is interior but manifests physically, powerfully and spontaneously. 

We see this in sports. Your basketball team wins the championship with a jump shot at the buzzer in a third overtime. Fans and players all spontaneously jump for joy. Victory! Triumph over the opponent! Sheer joy!

It is associated with military victory. Imagine El Cid and the Reconquista; the victory at Lepanto; the images of VE Day on May 8, 1945. 

It is close to the word "exalt" which is to praise and glorify someone. The etymology: Latin "exaltare" which means to "lift up." This clearly occurs mostly in liturgy in which we glorify God, especially recalling his marvelous deeds. We remember the Israelites as they see the waters destroying the hostile Egyptian chariots. We share in the Resurrection Joy of the apostles and disciples in that 40 days of glorious presence. 

As I write this, dear Reader, I am not quite sure if the word I heard was "exult" or "exalt." What I understood was the intense joy of exult joined with glorification of God. And so, I think (again): it is not either/or but both/and.  It is intense, manifest, fierce Joy, in God's goodness and works.

In this life on earth we are never entirely in the victory, in the way when the buzzer rings and our team is up by one or when Germany and Japan surrendered officially. We are always in the battle. But, by anticipation/expectation/hope, we already exult/exalt. We are like the underdog team that is down but fiercely determined to win. By anticipatory exaltation/exultation, we are zealous, energized, hopeful, fervent, confident, fearless, reckless, already-exultant-exaltant. 

I invite, encourage and exhort you, dear Reader, let us together exult-exalt in the Lord, his works, his intentions!

Foundational Virtues of Virility

 "The defining catastrophe of our time is the crisis in masculinity."    Fleckinstein

Our "virtue" and "virility" both derive from the Latin "vir" which refers in the Roman world to a freeborn masculine person, as distinct from "puer" (boy) and "homo" (human person). It connotes honor, dignity, strength and goodness. Virility...or manliness or masculinity...indicates the masculine as good: as strong, generative, paternal, protective, energetic, forceful. 

The core aim of the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s was, among other things, to deconstruct virility as a form and as a representation of God the Father. It has been fabulously successful. We are suffering a catastrophic crisis in masculinity. 

The final aim of masculinity is paternity: the fatherly giving of life as representative of God our heavenly father. This includes but goes well beyond the merely biological. It begins as filial reception and response: of son to father and mother both. This develops into fraternity, friendship and brotherhood with both men and women. Then spousal or "groomal" (a rare but real word) intimacy with and loyalty to the bride. Finally, fatherhood: physical, emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual. And so we see the itinerary of virility: filial, fraternal, spousal and finally paternal.

The virtues which configure goodness in a woman and in a man are similar, but they take a different gestalt as there is distinction in identity, destiny and mission. For example, vices like vanity or timidity are less damaging to the character of a woman; but lack of empathy or generosity would be less ruinous for that of a man. 

Masculinity is, more than femininity, a discipleship, an itinerary, a process, an achievement. It requires deliberate rites of passage, tests, discipline, encouragement, competition and finally ordination. So it is important to be clear on the most significant virtues to be encouraged. The following seven virtues mutually infuse each other to form the interiority of virility.

1. Loyalty.

Loyalty is arguably the primal masculine virtue; infidelity the worst vice. Abandonment or betrayal of wife, friends, family, country or faith is the abolition of virility. This theme runs through all of culture, literature, and history. What is required, above all, is the proper hierarchy of loyalties. For example, mob movies are obsessed with loyalties: to the gang, the boss, to the brotherhood. However, since there is no underlying faithfulness to virtue, truth, charity, and God, the plot inevitably leads to dramas of betrayal. Likewise, dramas about men in other forms of conflict...police, military, etc...often center on loyalty to the brother that conflicts with fidelity to truth, justice or charity. Loyalty at its best of course is the martyr who dies for his faith or the hero who gives his life for his people.

2. Humility.

The final aim of virility is to image the Fatherhood of God. It is representational. Therefore, the foundational virtue is humility by which the ego of the person is deflated that his Self may reflect the glory, the honor, the love and the mercy of the Father. Problem: in the real, post-original-sin world, the strongest feature of masculinity is pride, the inflated and fragile male ego. And so, the ego must be reduced in order that the genuine Self, in Christ, resplendent in holiness and strength, be manifest.

3. Fortitude.

Virility as paternity images God as strong, protective, life-giving. Fortitude is both passive and aggressive. It is passive as patience, endurance, long-suffering and peaceful in adversity and suffering. It is active as courage, assertiveness, zeal, fierceness, valor, confidence and authority.

4. Chastity.

Purity of heart, including specifically sexual chastity, is required of virility lest it abuse  its power in toxicities of lust and covetousness or emasculate itself in fantasy flight from the real.

5. Sobriety and Serenity.

In addition to freedom from irrational enslavement to inebriation, lust, anger, anxiety, greed and ambition, sobriety here is interior peace that allows for contemplation, wisdom and prudence. Such deep, strong tranquility is a font of stability, energy and fruitfulness.

6. Justice. 

 The male mission ensures the objectivity, the harmony, the integrity of order. It is to do the right thing. It is distinct from Mercy: it does what is due; it does the right thing. Ultimately, in God, Mercy and Justice must infuse and inform each other.

7. Prudence.

Practical wisdom: the fruitful pursuit of the good through all the complex, dense, random and convoluted circumstances of life.

Conclusion

The great failing of Western civilization since 1965 is that we have failed to guide our young men on a path to these virtues. These might make the core curriculum of an itinerary into mature masculinity.

Note that we do not here address the essential theological virtues: faith, hope and love.

Other virtues are arguably as important as the above. Specifically, the core of the relationship of man to woman is tenderness and reverence. These entail compassion, kindness, generosity as well as esteem. These will flourish spontaneously, fluidly, organically in the mutuality of man-and-woman when there is interior to the man the foundation of the seven virtues here denoted.

The Good News: even in the catastrophic insanity of Cultural Liberalism, virility and femininity are irrepressible. There are ever resurging. They are inherent to the created order. 

Let us exult in our masculinity and femininity!

: compassion, gratitude, kindness, generosity and more. These will flourish fluidly and spontaneously when the above are firmly in place.

Good news: even in the insanity of cultural liberalism, we see the resurgence of virility, along with femininity. They are inherent in the created order. They are irrepressible. They reflect the splendor, the truth, the holiness of God. Let us exult in them!

Top Ten USA Catholic Prelates of the Last 80 Years

 Considering holiness of life, breath of influence, competence, theological depth and clarity, my list:

1. Blessed Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Unrivaled for holiness of life, evangelical reach, intellectual brilliance.

2. Servant of Cardinal Terrence Cook. Competent, humble, holy man.

3. Bishop Robert Barron. Influential evangelist/catechist, first rate theologian, moderately conservative, appealing. 

4. Servant of God Bishop John Ford M.M. First Maryknoll seminarian and missionary to China, he was imprisoned by Chinese Communists, tortured and died a martyr in 1952. He is representative of the Tridentine, pre-Vatican II Church. 

And:  Servant of God Bishop James Edward Walsh M.M. Another pioneer Maryknoll missionary to China, he refused to leave his people and was in solitary confinement for 12 years, returning home in 1971 and dying at the age of 90 in 1981. A man of fierce zeal and immense talent, he served as unofficial representative of FDR to Japan in the years prior to WWII. 

5. Cardinal John O'Connor.  Charming, influential Catholic classic; ally of John Paul; fierce defender of Catholic interests in the culture war and also on behalf of the poor.

6. Cardinal Sean O'Malley.  Humble, holy, talented, Franciscan "man of the poor," he took over the Boston Church in the wake of the scandal and became a key advisor to Pope Francis.

7. Cardinal Francis George. A fine theological intellect, ally of John Paul/Benedict, and defender of religious freedom and Catholic interests in the Culture War.

8. Archbishop Charles Chaput. Much like Cardinal George, profound thinker and fierce culture warrior.

9. Cardinal Raymond Burke.  Formerly an important Vatican figure, he has stood steadfastly as a correction to the Francis/Leo pontificates.

10. Cardinal Dolan. Widely respected, lively, vivacious, intelligent, influential figure.

(You are right, dear Reader, that was actually 11!)

Most Saintly Prelates:

1. Blessed Fulton Sheen

2. Servant of God, martyr, Bishop Ford

3. Servant of God Bishop James Anthony Walsh M.M.

4. Servant of God Cardinal Terrence Cook

Greatest Theologians

1. Blessed Fulton Sheen

2. Bishop Robert Barron

3. Archbishop Charles Chaput

4. Cardinal Francis George

Most Troubled Legacies

Immensely influential and talented, the following made major positive contributions to the American Church, but also had serious negative impact.

Ex-Cardinal McCarrick  Now laicized and deceased, he is the face of the priest sex scandal. Super-energetic, talented, and charming he was a masterful fund raiser, a player in the Vatican, and a collaborator with John Paul when Archbishop of Newark. He became the leading episcopal progressive when he got his red hat and went to Washington DC. Notoriously, he misled the American episcopacy on the letter from Cardinal Ratzinger on the issue of communion for activist prochoice Catholic politicians.

Archbishop Weakland  Another influential progressive, his memory is tainted by the $450,000 settlement involving a homosexual relationship.

Cardinal Law, Cardinal Wuerl, Cardinal Mahoney These were prominent among the many prelates who neglected to address priestly abuse of minors. Otherwise, Law was a widely respected conservative, Wuerl and Mahoney leading progressives.

Cardinal Bernadine Arguably the most powerful American Cardinal since Spellman, he was a moderate, conciliatory, prayerful, immensely intelligent, competent and appealing figure. He is much like our current Pope Leo who came from Chicago. Amazingly he got an episcopal consensus on nuclear weapons. His most significant legacy is the "seamless garment" approach to life. He argued for a consistent approach that reverences human life in all dimensions including abortion, poverty, war, homelessness and so forth. He himself did not equate essential evils (abortion) with prudential judgments (tax policy, etc.) and distanced himself from liberal politicians who used this approach to allow support for abortion. However, since he did not strongly accentuate the difference, this has become a defining rationale for Catholic who support prochoice politicians. 

Other Considerations

Mid-Century Giants

A significant group of powerful cardinals presided over the immense expansion of the American Church in the 1950s into the early 1960. These were political powerhouses, in the Church and society, and competent builders. Often authoritarian. Not always known for theological acumen or piety. They epitomized the confident, aggressive, immigrant postwar Church. 

Cardinal Francis Spellman.  Archbishop of NY for almost 30 years, (1939-67) he was clearly the most powerful prelate of the era. Very close to Pope Pius XII, he exercised power in the Vatican, in American politics and dictatorially in his own realm. Fiercely anti-communist, he endorsed McCarthy and was the strongest Catholic supporter of the Vietnam War. On the negative side, he used seminarians to break a cemetery workers strike. He feuded with Sheen over money for the missions and retaliated by banishing him to Rochester. His legacy is mixed.

Cardinal Richard Cushing. Another long-serving prelate ((1944-70) in Boston, he was again a strong figure, a builder, a presence at the Council, an advocate for the poor/disadvantaged and for ecumenism and yet solid theologically. He was apparently a heavy drinker (which does not make him a bad person, necessarily). He was a close friend to the Kennedys. But this was before that tribe turned against their Catholic values so we cannot attribute blame here. He was (like Kroll) the classic postwar, liberal but rooted Catholic prelate.

Cardinal John Krol.  A little later (1961-88) this Polish Philadelphia Cardinal served at the Council and was a trusted advisor to John Paul. He was a competent builder, a faithful conservative, and president of the bishops conference in the turbulent 1970s. He is said to have been influential in garnering American support in conclave that elected John Paul.

American Prelates at Vatican II

As noted, American postwar cardinals were strong leaders and builders, not intellectuals. Cardinal Ritter of St. Louis and Meyer of Chicago were known as strong progressive voices. Spellman was more conservative but apparently went along with the liberal trend and famously brought John Courtney-Murray S.J. as a peritus on the significant document on religious freedom. 

American Vatican Insiders?

Other than Burke in his conflict with Francis, we do not address here Americans who have wielded influence within the Vatican. The most prominent, obvi: Pope Leo (Robert Prevost). In general, Cardinals in the Vatican do not get a lot of attention from the American press, except from Vatican watchers. (We recall John Allen of happy memory.) Vatican politics is mostly somewhat  quiet. 

Currently, Cardinal Kevin Farrell is strongly positioned in several offices and a progressive in the mode of Pope Francis. Leo clearly favors the Francis clique (Cupich, Tobin, McIntyre) although they are not influential within the American episcopacy. In recent memory O'Malley and Dolan were trusted by Francis. Other important figures: Rigali, Szoka, Levada, and Wright. It seems that generally Vatican service brings with it a degree of social modesty.

Conclusion

Considering our prelates of the last 80 years, we see a rich blend of holiness, human weakness, strong leadership, political maneuvering, and some theological excellence.   In  broad strokes, we can characterize these years:

1945-65 was a time of building with strong, urban, ethnic (largely Irish) figures like Spellman, Kroll, Cushing, Meyer, Cody and others.

1963-5 With exceptions, the American episcopacy was receptive of the Council. All good "organization men," they implemented it competently. Through the Paul VI years, the focus was on renewal and the changes. Powerful progressive forces, within and without the Church, including the media and the academy, drove things beyond the direction of the Council and our bishops. 

1978-Present. By the election of John Paul, the Cultural Revolution was in full bloom and had polarized the Church within itself. And so we might distinguish three models of episcopal leadership. Mediators tried to bridge the emerging gulf: Bernadine, McCarrick, and today Pope Leo and Farrell. Conservative culture warriors defend Catholic values with John Paul and Benedict: Kroll, O'Connor, George, Chaput, and Burke. Lastly, progressives have been encouraged by Francis in a rupture with tradition: Cupich, Tobin, McElroy, Weakland, and others.

We conclude, as in all things, with prayer for our bishops and cardinals.

A Particular Catholic American Politics 2026

 Catholicism does not offer specific political ideologies or policies. It is a big mistake to consecrate some such system as "Catholic." In its social teaching we receive a loose network of principles to be used prudentially, flexibly, fluidly, creatively in different ways by different individuals and groups. They apply to every conceivable situation as they move us to bring all human life under God's grace and free us from evil and sin. These include: absolute dignity of every person however incompetent, the common good, solidarity (especially with the suffering and deprived), the brotherhood of all peoples, subsidiarity (emphasis on the small, concrete, immediate), conditional (not absolute) right to private property, rule of law, democracy, just war, sacredness of marriage/family/gender/sex, prudential balance between regulative state and free markets, and other. 

What follows are my political priorities in USA 2026 at the age of 79. They are not identical with my priorities 30 or 60 years ago. If I live another 20 years they will probably shift in emphasis with history.

1. Subsidiarity, "Benedict Principle" and Decline of Macro-Institutions

The Catholic politics I imbibed with my mother's milk in postwar America knew nothing of subsidiarity as it was enamored of big unions, which countervailed big corporations, which generated immense wealth for everyone, as they were regulated by big government, which triumphed over Nazism and eventually  Soviet Communism in maintaining a prosperous/peaceful global Pax Americana and battling racism, poverty, drugs, and later terrorism.

By contrast, subsidiarity prefers that the smaller social organizations, more immediate and concrete, handle situations when possible. This fundamental Catholic principle has become more important through my adult life with the malignant growth of huge organizations, particularly the nation state and global corporations. These have effectively swallowed up many smaller and intermediate institutions and rendered the isolated individual powerless against social gigantism. Our political left is enabling of an expansive, cancerous state; our left of malignant global capitalism.

Even more toxic is the moral degradation of our bipolar national politics. How could anyone with a head on their shoulders not be today a double-hater? It is my view that our 2020 presidencies, Biden and Trump 2, are by far the worst in our 250 year old history...in strongly contrasting ways. Both are startlingly incompetent, disconnected from reality in quasi-psychosis: Biden in debility and senility; Trump in a blindness of narcissism, resentment, grandiose mania and impulsivity. My personal animus is against Biden in his betrayal of "our family." An Irish, Catholic, working class, family man, he is my "Fredo." (Michael Corleone: "Fredo, you're my brother and I love you. But don't takes sides with anyone against the family, ever again.") Trump is nothing personal to me: he is not one of my own, not of my tribe. He is shamelessly, flamboyantly depraved in character; yet in the public realm he, mostly in his first term, has defended what is precious to our Catholic faith in his defiance of elite power.

And so we happily receive in this our time, from Rod Dreher and Providence, the Benedict Option. As the Roman Empire collapsed, St. Benedict did not defend or renew it, but retreated into monastic life. In time his monasteries spread across Europe and were the foundation of an entirely new, medieval civilization. And so, with the decline of our macro-society, we focus more closely on our immediate communities as we detach (emotionally, spiritually, intellectually) from the toxicities of public life. First, always, is our personal union with God: as we come close and open our hearts/souls to him, we become agents of his grace and mercy. Second, immediate family and closer bonds of mutuality. Eventually, strong families and communities of faith/value become fonts of grace, to enlighten all aspects of society.

2. Culture War

For half a century, from Roe 1973 to Dobbs 2022, our society was thrust into the Culture War around abortion and related issues. This caused many of us Catholics to switch our allegiance from the Democrat to the Republican party. This remains, in my estimation, the defining polarization of our time. This was clearly manifest in the campaign of Kamala Harris who spoke of nothing else but "woman's right of choice." As a single issue this dominates; but it flows into an entire way of life: euthanasia, assisted suicide, technological reproduction, cohabitation rather than marriage, embryonic stem cell research, denial of religious liberties, gay marriage, transgenderism and other. 

Significantly, Dobbs moved the issue mostly to the states and so relatively reduced its importance on the national level. Importantly it also returned it to the democratic process. The culture war remains but is not so important for our national politics. Since Dobbs, abortions have actually increased, largely due to the availability of chemical means. It also shows that the issue is rooted deeply in the new culture that exploded in the 1960: abortion, contraception, sterile sex, homosexuality, divorce, pornography, euthanasia, reproductive technology and the systemic abuse of women.\

For the foreseeable future, this remains the defining conflict of our time. We have not won this war; we may not; but it is morally incumbent upon us to fight it.

3. Internationalist

Globally, since childhood I have been a passionate internationalist. At the age of seven I learned of starving babies in China and I paced furiously back and forth in my house I was so troubled. This Catholic intuition of the brotherhood of all peoples has more than anything informed my politics. Through high school I was fascinated by the underdeveloped world, reading Maryknoll Magazine, America and NY Times. For four college years I studied to be a Maryknoll missionary priest. Today I consider myself a Catholic Neo-Conservative: supportive of a strong military, aggressive American posture across the glove, and fervently anti-MAGA out of a moral conservatism. This flows deeply from my Catholic values:

1. Solidarity with all people, especially those deprived and suffering. I was horrified by the Trump/Musk devastation of USAID. We can grant that these programs entailed waste, fraud and WOKE ideology. But the DOGE effort efforts directly deprived the needy even as it weakened our own "soft diplomacy" and global influence.

2. Realities of sin and evil. My worldview was formed by American contests in WWII and the Cold War. The defining binary of decision remains Chamberlain/Churchill. My Catholic faith alerts me to the drastic reality of evil actors. Today this is Communist China, Putin's Russia, Islamic terrorism (Iranian Shite and non-state Sunni), and related totalitarian imperialisms. Our country, in alliances like NATO, is uniquely capable of restraining these forces of evil. In the light of these radical evils, my Neoconservatism rejects selfish, chauvinist, xenophobic MAGA as well as progressive, quasi-pacifist, cosmopolitan delusions that such aggression can be prevented by diplomacy, education, science and therapy. Here I differ with Popes Francis and Leo.

3. Catholic, apostolic, missionary urgency requires that our Church have access to share our faith with every people. Therefore, we are morally required to resist anywhere the repression of religious freedom: Communism and Sharia Law, including that of Saudi Arabia and the gulf states. Generic fascism, often but not always, is not such a hindrance to evangelization. By this perspective, the Biden abandonment of Afghanistan is morally repugnant for many reasons but especially in that it leaves the entire country void of the Gospel, the Eucharist, the Church. 

4.  The dignity of the human person is best protected classic Western liberalism  by the freedoms (religion, speech, assembly, etc.), rule of law, democracy, private property, and markets. As we align ourselves with those who agree with this we serve the good of all peoples and our own interests in a peaceful, prosperous world. This is not cultural liberalism nor post-liberalism, but classic, Christ-based liberalism.

Clearly, my convictions here distance me from the cosmopolitan left as well as the isolationist right. But I am not completely alone. Currently, I am not opposed to our war with Iran as they have been at war with us and will continue to be. But I am nauseated with Trump's diesel fuel deal with Putin and his abandonment of the Ukraine.

Regarding globalized capitalism, I am morally ambivalent. It is true that millions have been lifted out of material poverty with adequate nutrition, water and other. This is not nothing. At the same time, however, corporate capitalism erodes traditional bonds of family, faith, location and community. It richly, inordinately rewards the investor class. It fosters envy, anxiety and resentment. It isolates and elevated the Sovereign Self. 

 But to the degree that it is accompanied by wholesome, family, religious values it can be good.

4. Economically: Moderately Left

In adulthood I have grown in my appreciation for capitalist initiative, market efficiencies and economic freedoms but retain my family's allegiance to governmental care for the poor, a strong safety net, unions, a robust regulatory system and a reasonably progressive tax program. I retain a strong class consciousness as loyalty to the poor and working class, free of resentment of the rich. I strongly renounce identity politics, anti-racism, DEI, and cultural Marxism. In this I align with the emergent Catholic-friendly, populist, culturally conservative, economically liberal New Right. (Sohrab Ahmari, Patrick Dineen, Adrian Vermeule, J.D. Vance.)

5.  "Christian Strategy" of Adrian Vermeule

Looking back to Old Testament patriarchs who served fruitfully in evil empires (Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon), Vermeule (First Things Nov. 1, 2017) proposes a "Christian strategy" by which we deny allegiance to any party, movement or ideology as we collaborate with any and all parties in specific actions for the common good. This is a marvelous strategy for our time. First, it balances the Benedict Option which risks complete detachment from the broader common good. Second, in our age of competing political depravities (of the left and right), it frees us from enmeshment in their toxicities. Thirdly, it brings us to acknowledge the valid good in any politics, even those we generally reject, and move our society in the direction of peace and cooperation.

Conclusion

Catholic social teaching is not a doctrinal system. It does not endorse any polity or ideology. It is fluid, organic, flexible, creative. It allows for the freedom, agency and ingenuity of the person and community in any circumstances. It encourages a genuine diversity of viewpoints.

Gloriously, the Church gathers us in the Eucharist, around the Word and Body/Blood of Christ, in the communion of truth and love, across differences of policy, ideology and viewpoint. Rooted in eternal truths, in stability, in permanence, it nevertheless respects, in prudential matters, viewpoint difference and conflict as fruitful and life-giving.  

As Catholics we can compete aggressively in the political arena, always serene, abiding in our revealed-received Truth and mutuality in Love.