Ten days after the towers fell, the new prior general preached at Santa Maria del Popolo that hatred grows where 24,000 people die of hunger every day. Twenty-five years later, he is the pope.
Yo, let me sendo you down a rabbit hole. Do you know how Cardinal Newman is Pope Leo's first "Doctor of the Church"? So, read his sermon "During an exposition of the troubles in India" (Oct 11, 1857).
I have often wondered, What if we did not assume we were at war, as opposed to being the victim of a heinous international crime?
What if we had undertaken a worldwide criminal hunt and investigation for the masterminds behind the tragic events?
Did our response from a war mentality create and perpetuate a legacy of unending conflict?
At 25 years, there are very difficult soul questions still to be asked and seriously dealt with if we are to change our current course of hate and destruction instead of getting on with the work to become a ‘beloved community’ on this mortal coil!
Now juxtapose the Gospel readings for the last three days from Luke with last night’s Trump speech and pledge of allegiance to him and his command to CHEAT - a set up for another insurrection (of a different sort).
But, I’d say the questions and challenges posed by Leo and Luke still need for attention to be paid.
I thought the US made progress in the 60s and 70s with human rights. Hatred is fanned by those seeking power who attempt to place blame on the other. Irish, Italian and Japanese had turns in the spotlight. Now it is black and brown humans being persecuted. May we someday realize that hatred is a poison, that we are all on this earth together, that we are the family of mankind. Hatred is a jail of the mind. We need to be free.
I wonder, Chris — and I mean this not as a provocation —, why you left this bits about Bush's actions that week out of your other piece. Why must that piece be only an eulogy to the man responsible for hundreds of thousands deaths in the years following's hability to discern between religious and nationalist violence?
It feels weird. It also feels weird to not mention the victims of War on Terror alongside the victims of 9/11.
I am not a citizen of the US. I am from South America. I am a foreigner asking these questions in good faith — a foreigner who saw those images on television as a five year old. I understood nothing back then, only that it terrified me, which now I know was kind of the point.
That line about refusing revenge ten days after 9/11 is remarkable.
America was practically vibrating with rage, and Prevost was already saying: maybe vengeance is not the same thing as justice.
Twenty-five years later, that still feels like the harder Gospel.
Yo, let me sendo you down a rabbit hole. Do you know how Cardinal Newman is Pope Leo's first "Doctor of the Church"? So, read his sermon "During an exposition of the troubles in India" (Oct 11, 1857).
I have often wondered, What if we did not assume we were at war, as opposed to being the victim of a heinous international crime?
What if we had undertaken a worldwide criminal hunt and investigation for the masterminds behind the tragic events?
Did our response from a war mentality create and perpetuate a legacy of unending conflict?
At 25 years, there are very difficult soul questions still to be asked and seriously dealt with if we are to change our current course of hate and destruction instead of getting on with the work to become a ‘beloved community’ on this mortal coil!
Now juxtapose the Gospel readings for the last three days from Luke with last night’s Trump speech and pledge of allegiance to him and his command to CHEAT - a set up for another insurrection (of a different sort).
But, I’d say the questions and challenges posed by Leo and Luke still need for attention to be paid.
I’m probably going to get some blowback for this, but I would dearly have loved to hear words of consolation from Pope Leo TODAY.
I thought the US made progress in the 60s and 70s with human rights. Hatred is fanned by those seeking power who attempt to place blame on the other. Irish, Italian and Japanese had turns in the spotlight. Now it is black and brown humans being persecuted. May we someday realize that hatred is a poison, that we are all on this earth together, that we are the family of mankind. Hatred is a jail of the mind. We need to be free.
I wonder, Chris — and I mean this not as a provocation —, why you left this bits about Bush's actions that week out of your other piece. Why must that piece be only an eulogy to the man responsible for hundreds of thousands deaths in the years following's hability to discern between religious and nationalist violence?
It feels weird. It also feels weird to not mention the victims of War on Terror alongside the victims of 9/11.
I am not a citizen of the US. I am from South America. I am a foreigner asking these questions in good faith — a foreigner who saw those images on television as a five year old. I understood nothing back then, only that it terrified me, which now I know was kind of the point.
YES! My Mom taught me that people who seek revenge is not a Christian value. God looks down on those who do. Romans 12:19. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Thank you for the newsletter, Chris. The Church of St. Nicolas has been rebuilt in New York. I will pray for Pope Leo and our nation.