Summer Part I: Tertio Millenio Seminar in Krakow in Poland

As is customary for American seminarians that study in Rome, I did not return to the States this summer. Instead I spent the summer learning more about the social doctrine of the Church at the Tertio Millennio Seminar at Krakow in Poland and gaining valuable pastoral experience at the cathedral parish of Lancaster in Northern England.

Tomb of Saint Hyacinth, who brought the Domicans to Poland. Centuries later they became a center for resistence to the Third Reich, and later the communists, using their cloister as one of the few spheres of freedom in Communist Krakow.

Krakow is the beautiful old royal capital of Poland and the home diocese of John Paul II. This was my second visit to this holy city. It provides an interesting context to study the social doctrine of the Church, because the ancient market squares and onion-spired churches of this city have witnessed so much social change. At first were the foreign occupations of Poland by Austria, Russia, and Prussia. They divided the Polish land among themselves, but the Polish nation did not die. It lived on in its language and culture, above all support by the Roman Catholic faith of the people. It was the vigor of this culture that allowed a new Polish state to rise up after the World War One. Although the occupation of the Third Reich and than the imposition of communist rule soon came in an attempt to once again extinguish the Polish nation.

Inside of the Dominican Church, which is dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity. This was also a bit of national propaganda as the statues of the Father and of the Son resemble two great Polish kings, and the Holy Spirit is not so much a dove, but the Polish eagle.

These were the years that John Paul II was a priest and bishop in Krakow. He saw the oppression that these foreign powers had over the Polish people. This was his school on the social doctrine of the Church. It was the lived experience of living under repressive regimes. This is important to keep in mind, since it shows that when the Church teaches on social issues they are not proclaiming “pie-in-the-sky” ideas, but explaining what we have learned through practical experience. The communist regime fell. It was truly a revolution, but unlike most revolutions this was truly peaceful. There was barely any bloodshed, almost no violence, and little if any vengeance. In his social encyclical, Centisimus Annus, John Paul II presents this revolution in light of the teachings of the Church. From a historical perspective this makes sense, and in the two decades since the revolution even secular scholars acknowledge the great role that the Church has played in bringing about the collapse of communism in Europe due to her moral and intellectual authority.

Walking inside the Domincan cloister, which also oddly enough doubles as their cemetrary (do you think this lady knows she is walking over the corpses of literally thousands of Dominicans?).

There are however questions about the future of Poland now that it has developed its free-market economy. The nation identity that allowed Poland to reemerge after World War One and resist the nation crushing policies of the Nazis and communists was dependent on a strong Catholic identity. Will Poland remain Catholic as it becomes more prosperous and more integrated with the European Union, which is very often hostile to the legitimate insight that all Christians, and especially Catholics have to offer? If they do not remain Catholic, will the Polish nation erode and what would the consequences be for society? These are not just questions to ponder about some country far away, and seemingly insignificant, but also questions that as Americans we must answer. Historically we cannot deny the role Christianity has played in the formation of our own country. This is clear in the Declaration of Independence, which grounds all our cherished rights in the gifts of the Creator-God, but also in fairly modern times with the essential role that Christians and Catholics played in the civil rights movements. Who after all can forget that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Protestant minister or the images of nuns and priests walking arm in arm with African Americans during the many peaceful protests of those years that brought about necessary social changes? Can America maintain her commitments to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness if she does not remain faithful to the Christian conscience that gave rise to them?

John Paul II, when he was still Karol Cardinal Wojtyla

To ponder this question I return to Krakow, to the brick-gothic Church of the Dominicans on a Sunday evening for the university students’ Mass. As the time approaches for Mass to begin the students come in. Soon the pews are filled, next the choir stalls and folding chairs, and soon there is only standing room left. Even this is taken up as students find their places for Mass in side-chapels and even empty confessionals. This is the sign of hope for the Polish nation, as these students see that the best way to be good citizens of the world is to be first be good Poles, and the only way to do this is to be good Catholics. They come to the Church because this is where they are truly feed more than what the world can offer, and catch a glimpse of the greatness that is promised to them by a God that loves them. The Church here and now offers the same to each of us, if we can allow ourselves to be feed and to be awed.

Why one cannot be privately pro-life, but publicly pro-choice:

I came across this following quote from Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City: When you talk about protecting innocent human life, this is something that we need to do as human beings. And the fact that the Church has a voice on this issue and a position on this issue, doesn’t mean it’s an imposing of our beliefs or values, anymore than the effort to break down segregation by the Church was an effort to impose some kind of religious doctrine on the culture or society, but it was us standing up for a fundamental human right.

Nancy Pelosi, D., Speaker of the United States House of Representitives.

The origin of this quote depends on to distinctions involving doctrine and morals, and also the seperation of Church and state.

Seperation of Church and State: This principle that the civil laws of a land should not impose the religious beliefs of any group of people on the whole of civil society. This principle is enshrined in both the United States Constitution and in the the Social Doctrine of the Church (see Centisimus Annus). A Catholic politician cannot by either the principles of our constitution, nor by the principles of our own religion pass laws that require the assent of civil society to such doctrinal beliefs such as revelation through scripture and tradition, the infallibility of the Pope on matters of faith and morals, etc.

Based on this distinction many a Catholic politicans, like the above pictured Nancy Pelosi, attempt to be "privately pro-life, but publicly pro-choice," since in their view imposing the moral teachings of the Church is also imposing the doctrinal principles of the Church on civil law violates the seperation of Church and state.

Doctrine and Morals: The teaching on pro-life though is not exclusively a doctrinal issue, but also (and more importantly) a moral issue. As such for a politican to be a proponent of civil laws that correspond to Catholic moral principles is not a violation of the seperation of Church and state.

The basis of this can be found very recently in Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) of John Paul II, of blessed memory. It is the same principle that is found in Church teachings down through the ages, from Scriptures through the Fathers to the present day. While the moral teachings of the Church correspond to the teaching of the Lord in the Gospel, and is founded on that Gospel, they are also written in the human heart. This is the principle of natural law. So the moral teachings of the Church are binding on all, Catholics and non-Catholics alike. This is not an imposition of the Church beyond its borders, but a reflection that these moral teachings can be discerned by all who seek the truth with an honest and open heart.

This may seem like a very nice Pollyannish sentiment, but the pro-life movement provides a clear example that this is true. While Fr. Richard John Neuhaus is right to indicate that the pro-life movement started as primarily a Catholic movement, it has expanded greatly in the three decades since Roe vs. Wade. It now includes Christians of all stripes, Jews, Muslims, and others including agnostics and atheists. The March for Life in Washington, D.C. each spring has become perhaps the largest annual ecumenical and inter-religious gathering. The reason for this great diversity within the the pro-life movement is that the principle that the moral teachings of the Church are available to all men of good-will in an honest search for the truth, is true. It is more than a nice sentiment of the Church.

For this reason all politicians are responsible for supporting the common moral heritage. This is especial true of Catholic politicians since they benefit from the teaching office of the Church.

As a final thought I leave you with a comment from Francis Cardinal George of Chicago: The unborn child, who is alive and is a member of the human family, cannot defend himself or herself. Good law defends the defenseless. Our present laws permit unborn children to be privately killed. Laws that place unborn children outside the protection of law destroy both the children killed and the common good, which is the controlling principle of Catholic social teaching. One cannot favor the legal status quo on abortion and also be working for the common good.