Calling all Cardinals

I remember when Margaret Thatcher was applying a meat cleaver to decent society in the UK in the early eighties. She vindictively picked fights with unions, dismantled much of the welfare state and progressive taxation and seemed to think that making society safer required locking lots of people up and reducing civil liberties.

It was an ugly time. I also remember where the resistance came from. Labour was in disarray after the winter of discontent and the subsequent election of unreconstructed lefty Michael Foot. The traditional wing of the Conservatives were bullied and cowed. The EU was weaker then and muted in its criticism. There were protesters – students, feminists, everything – but Thatcher successfully portrayed them as extreme representatives of past failure. But a surprisingly effective source of challenge came from the Church of England, and the then Archbishop of Canterbury Ronald Runcie. He spoke out for decency, humility and acceptance. Thatcher hated it.

I recalled this after enduring the first days of the Trump presidency, portending something much uglier and more dangerous than Thatcher. Where can we look for resistance?

There are similarities. Democrats are licking wounds, Republicans are cowed and bullied, foreigners are belittled, and protesters run the risk of strengthening the emerging hateful regime. So where is the Church?

On Sunday, I went to mass, as usual. The readings were typical. The first one exalted us to be humble and just. The psalm focused on how the Lord gives food to the hungry, sets captives free and protects strangers. St Paul noted that the early apostles were men of lowly birth and limited education. And the Gospel quoted the beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, are meek or hungry or merciful, are clean of heart and are peacemakers.

Whether or not we believe in afterlives or Eucharistic rituals, it is easy enough to deduce a life code from these readings. Because the life code is sound, and because it works, not just in some theoretical future life but also in the real one we are living now, it has endured for two centuries. Most religions can be boiled into similar life codes.

And now the antithesis of this life code is sitting in the White House. In two weeks we have seen brazen lying, petulance, vindictiveness and intolerance. And this is just the beginning.

Yet where are the cardinals? The Pope has spoken up and will do again – he is a courageous man clearly guided by the gospels. But the local Churches appear to be silent so far, especially the Catholic one.

The national Church has input into the prayers of the faithful used in most churches each Sunday. This week’s included the usual formulation about national leaders respecting the rights of humans from conception until natural death. That is the code used as a plea to restrict abortion.

Sadly, abortion has consumed the Catholic Church in the US. The Church has almost reduced itself to a single-issue lobby group. Almost every time the Catholic Church seeks publicity, it is about abortion. My Church does a lot of good locally and internationally, but the only regional or national campaign to which I am ever asked to give my energy is the one against abortion.

Now I am not saying the Church is wrong about abortion. It is a tough issue. Plainly making it too easy to terminate a late pregnancy is disrespectful of human life. Whether that applies as early as conception is moot, and the balance of policies to reduce unwanted pregnancy, share the burden on fathers and help children born into tough circumstances is difficult. What I will say is that the formulation from the prayers of the faithful indicates an imbalance of priorities. If life is precious from conception to natural death, where are the Catholic marches against capital punishment or gun violence?

I’m also not condemning Trump’s policy program, though I personally hate most of it. He won the election and is implementing what he said he would do. Some of it might even work. He has shown he will stand up to the venality in Congress. China should be called to account for trade abuses. Supporting communities ravaged by the loss of manufacturing jobs is an excellent goal, even if his means seem unconvincing. Immigration control is a valid goal – indeed, the rule of citizenship by birth is astoundingly generous and could reasonably be challenged. Entitlement programs do need to be put on a sustainable basis. He could make progress on some of this, whereas Obama could not and Clinton could not have.

No, his policy deserves a fair opportunity; it is his attitude that is reprehensible. Go back to the beatitudes, which speak to good attitudes. One poor in spirit would not consider wealth a key criterion for job applicants. One who mourned (respecting and learning from the past) would reflect on the sad precedents of his nation before announcing a travel ban discriminating by religion. A meek man would not recklessly disregard something as uncertain as climate change. Someone respecting the hungry would not incite white revenge. A merciful person would never, ever, advocate torture. Someone clean of heart would not feel the need to inflate the numbers at his own inauguration, and then double down in the face of evidence. And a peacemaker would never loosely threaten an arms race.

These attitudes are the antithesis of the Beatitudes. Jesus could have used Trump as a case study! Similar policies could have been couched in an acceptable attitude. The attitudes displayed now should not be acceptable to any Christian leader (or any religious leader), since leadership provides attitudinal role models to the led, setting a tone.

So again, where are the cardinals? Where are the local priests too? The challenge is not just in the USA. Three of the six highest global populations of Catholics attending regular mass are the USA, the Philippines and Poland. Is it a coincidence that recently elected leaders from each of those countries are displaying attitudes so contrary to the gospel?

Sadly, in the US the Catholic Church has largely retreated to the position of a single-issue lobby group. One reason may be money. I suspect many of the key Catholic donors are driving the public positions. But surely another message from Jesus is that church leaders have a duty to rise above that?

These will be tough years, and the world will need people of courage to defend civilised attitudes. I pray that church leaders can find the courage to take on such a role. The current Pope shows the way, but others must follow that lead. Last Sunday, I listened to the readings and shook my head in sadness. I have a horrible feeling that this experience will be repeated week after week for the next four years, or even longer. I suspect many parishioners, priests and even cardinals may be experiencing the same emotions. Let us pray that we then act on them.