A Lost Catholic Moment in American History
A Review of Varacalli, Dr. Joseph. Bright Promise, Failed Community:Catholics and the American Public Order. 200. It is interesting to read the 2000 text of Catholic scholar Dr.Joseph Varacalli's Bright Promise, Failed Community in the wake of therecent controversies that have swept the nation regarding Catholicpoliticians, such as the doctrinal Catholic criticism of the pro-choiceliberal Democratic Senator and probable contender for the presidency JohnKerry, and the decision of New Jersey governor McGreevey not to takecommunion, because of the latter's support of stem cell research. In bothexamples, rather than the diversity of American Catholicism, the authorsees evidence of a lack of community cohesion and thus a potential unifiedvoice lost to the American political culture. Joseph Varacalli believes that Catholic America has essentially failedto shape the American Republic in any significant way and that Americaremains an essentially Protestant nation. "Catholic America," he writes,
But he also believes the church has an important role to play inaiding Americans in need. But theauthor believes that American society has never experienced such a positive'Catholic moment' because, unlike for example the Solidarity Movement inPoland, the Catholic Church and other American Catholic socialorganizations have never come together in a singular community and voice. In fact one could argue that the diffuse natureof American geography and the intense individualism of the American spirit(in contrast to European nations) makes such a religious sense oforganization fundamentally anathema to it. (16) Yet is it really possible for a Catholic America to emerge' AlthoughAmerica might be a Protestant nation, that Protestantism is founded upon alack of institutional hierarchy and pluralism of Protestant identity. But is it so wrong that AmericanCatholics seem to wish to define their religion on their own terms'Perhaps the fact that only 33 percent, for example, of American whoexplicitly identify as Catholics state that they believe premarital sex iswrong is not a failure of Catholicism as an institution, but endemic to thestress in America of reevaluating morals on individual and cultural, ratherthan on doctrinal terms, a tribute to American critical thought as well asa lack of adherence to doctrine. Thenotion of singularity of leadership and institutionalization that is sointegral to Roman Catholicism and its social organizations has never hadmuch currency in America. (15) The Catholic politicians of notetoday who identify themselves as Catholics span the range from PatrickBuchanan and the American Catholic Lawyers Association and Catholics for aFree Choice, as well as Kerry and McGreevey. This is not to say thatCatholics cannot dwell within the American fold quite happily, but thatCatholicism will have an individualistic ethos to it not present in othernations-an ethos perhaps embodied within Kerry and McGreevey's resistanceto become Catholic politicians in even a liberal sense. Vacarelli admits that thesecular, Protestant ethical system is to "blame" as well as Catholicinstitutions within America themselves. (13) He would also attribute even the recentcontroversies to the ineffective and dissent-ridden set of organizationalarrangements of American Catholic organizations that focus more ondifferent doctrine rather than creating a community with a singular socialprogram of compassionate Catholic change. Vacarelli hopes that Catholicism will infuse American individualismwith more compassion. Varacalli is hardly a social liberal in the sense that he supports forthe most part the Catholic Church's position on abortion and pre-maritalsex. Catholics have a vital role to play in shapingthe nation's moral and also its social and compassionate life. The closest such a community came into being was during the aftermathof the World War II era, where the economic and moral reconstruction ofEurope became the community's common concern.
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Acceptance Essays
