Render Unto Caesar

Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life

By Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap

Archdiocese of Denver

Doubleday

ISBN-13: 978-0385522281

Yesterday (19 October 2008) the Gospel reading for Masses in the Latin Rite was the reading from Matthew that this book takes it's title from. While there are some people out there who would say this is mere coincidence, I don't think so. Given the importance of this election, I think God is trying to tell His people, wake up, know your faith & live it. & in short, that is what God is doing through Archbishop Chaput's authoring of this book.

To start out, I want to applaud the Archbishop for taking his vocation as a Bishop seriously & doing what he can to ensure people learn what the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church is. & this book is a part of his effort to do so. By this book he is helping Catholics to properly form their consciences. Emphasis on proper.

Obviously, there are many people out there who will be upset with his efforts to do so. They scream about the seperation of Church & state. Yet, these are the same people who applaud Catholic nuns who protest war, scream about racism & do other things. Their hypocricy is showing. they know their support of abortion is wrong & they don't want to be reminded they are participating in the support of what is clearly an intrinsic evil.

That having been said, this book is neither liberal or conservative in its views. It is an honest look at what the responsibilities of a Catholic are as a good citizen.

This book is part theology, part history & part philosophy. It needs to be in order to accomplish its goal. That goal is aptly described in the books subtitle. However this is not some long boring tome. Rather it is a lively & interesting read that challenges both left & right as well as moderate & libertarian. It doesn't endorse any party or candidate. As he rightly puts it: "Party loyalty is a dead end."

Archbishop Chaput starts out with an explaination of his 2 reasons for writing the book. The 1st was in answer to a request by a friend of his to write "about Catholics in public service to help people considering a political career." The 2nd & more personal reason sprung from his pastoral experience. He sees the need for plain speaking & clear acting on what the Church teaches on public issues. 1 paragraph in the 1st chapter sums up his philosophy, the book's & mine as well on our role as Catholics in the public life of America. "I believe that our nation's public life, like Christianity itself, is meant for everyone, and everyone has a duty to contribute to it. The American experiment depends on the active involvement of all its citizens, not just lobbyists, experts, think tanks and the mass media. For Catholics, politics---the pursuit of justice and the common good---is a part of the history of salvation. No one is a minor actor in that drama. Each person is important."

The final paragraph of the chapter lays out the challenge he sees lying ahead for him as he writes the book. "Like it or not, American Catholics are a part of a struggle over our country's identity and future. If this book helps some of us rediscover what it means to be Catholic---the purpose of our time in the world, the lessons of our history, the responsibilities of citizenship, and the implications of the Christian faith we claim to believe---then it suceeds. We have obligations as believers. We have duties as citizens. We need to honor both, or we honor neither."

So does he suceed? I'll answer that question at the end of this post. 1st I want to look at what territory he covers in his attempt to do so.

The 2nd chapter is entitled "Men Without Chests". Anyone familiar with C.S. Lewis' writings will recognize the title. It was taken from his book The Abolition of Man. In it Lewis warned about a scientific & technical elite destroying what makes human beings human. Sound familiar? It should, as the Archbishop shows in the chapter, that is exactly what is happenning to us. Why? Because we aren't living as if we really believed what we claim to believe.

Chapter 3 looks at "Why We're Here". In it he summarizes the Catholic Church's mission in the world. He reminds us that the mission is the same today as it was 2000 years ago. "All of Christian life comes down to sharing in the exchange of love within the heart of the Trinity and then offering that love to others in our relationships." This love is at the heart of our basic mission: "bringing Jesus Christ to the world, and the world to Jesus Christ." In a word, evangelization. He shows us that evangelization has to have a part in public affairs. Otherwise we fail to truly be the witnesses we are called to be.

Chapter 4 starts out with a tale of 2 Bishops & the different reception they got for thier actions. In 1956 Archbishop Joseph Rummel of New Orleans set out on the task of desegregating the Archdiocesian schools. In 1962, he was ready to impliment his plan. Several Catholic politicians organized letter-writing campaigns & public protests. Rummel excommuncated 3 prominant Catholics for their defience, a judge, a political writer & a community organizer. The New York Times response: "men of all faiths must admire {Rummel's} unwavering courage". Why? Because he "set an example founded on religious principle and is responsive to the social conscience of our time."

Fast forward to 2004, the place LaCrosse, the Bishop Raymond Burke. He was soon to go to St. Louis. but before he went he asked 3 Catholic public figures who were pro-abortion to refrain from receiving communion. They had voted to force or otherwise supported forcing Catholic hospitals to provide abortions. No excommunication like Rummel, just no communion. The press went ballistic & attacked Burke. Neither bishop sought approval of the press or anyone else. Both Bishops were merely doing what was right.

The rest of chapter 4 & the next 2 chapters look at the history of the Catholic Church & its relations, good & bad with the political powers that be over the centuries. He takes us up to Vatican II. Chapter 7 looks at "What Went Wrong" after Vatican II. he places the blame right where it lies, & names names, like Fr. Charles Curran & Fr. Francis Xavier Murphy. He also presents a true picture of Blessed Poe John XXIII, not the indulgent Italiano nonno (grandpa) that those who want to pervert Vatican II claim he was to justify their attempts to change the Church. He also looks at the damage JFK did with some of his actions.

Chapter 8 goes from Stephen Colbert to Martin Luther King Jr. to show what out public debate should be & what it is. He refers to Colbert's comments that now-a-days all that matters is perception (from personal experience, I have found this all too true, esp in higher education). Language has decayed & become Humpty-Dumpty like (Through the Looking Glass) meaning what the speaker means it to mean. Archbishop Chaput decries this & calls for us "to recover and insist on the real meaning of our public vocabulary." He uses the term "brutalized" to describe the damage done. Harse, but true. The Archbishop goes on to call for a Catholic maturity so we can form a political response "rooted in courage". We need to show the same courage as the Rev. King did.

Chapter 9 "A Man for All Seasons" begins with a look at St. Thomas More. The title is from the 1966 film about his life. He recommends seeing it, I agree(I have a review of the movie in the works). While the movie doesn't give a full picture (no movie could) of St. Thomas More, it does give us an idea of who he was & how he lived out his faith. More showed the courage of living your faith, even at the loss of political power, or your life. He then goes on to look at 2 Catholic Democrats, both governors, & how they did, or didn't follow More's example. He looks at Mario Cuomo's I'm opposed but won't impose my views stand, showing what was wrong with that. Then he looks at Robert Casey Jr. Casey publicly decried the Democrats stand on abortion. As Archbishop Chaput says: "It's fair though to observe that one man said no to the direction of his party, and the other did not. It may also be fair to argue---as many do---that one man gave the party what it needed, and the other, what it wanted."

Chapter 10 looks at "What Needs to be Done". This chapter is the challenge for us to truly live our faith. He pulls no punches looking at the current state of the Church, what is wrong & what we need to do. The answer is simple: "For Catholics, every new beginning must start with a return to Jesus Christ, the Gospel, and the church." He then asks several hard questions we need to honestly answer, "Do we believe....?" Ouch!!!!!!!!! But needed. He goes on to make it clear that everything we do is, as Pope John Paul II reminded us "an instrument of evangelization". The Archbishop reminds us of the real reason for the Catholic Church "The Catholic Church exists to make Jesus Christ known; to bring the will of men and women into alignment with God's will through a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God." It can only do this by proclaiming "the whole council of God" (Act220:27) Are we willing to live & die for our faith?

Chapter 11 looks at being "Faithful Citizens". This chapter looks at Matthew 22:15-21 from whence he drew the book's title & how it applies to us today. This chapter could stand as an essay on its own. But as a part of the book it is the summit of everything he has been building up to throughout the book. It challenges us to fidelity to our faith. & to accept the consequences. He reminds us that"We are citizens of heaven first." But "The more truly we love God, the more truly we serve the world."

Chapter 12 is an afterword that contains his final thoughts. He deals with the issue of Communion. & the issues that raises. As well as the difficulties. He also deals with the question of voting for "pro-choice" candidates. He makes it clear he can't. "I know of nothing that can morally offset that kind of evil." He makes it clear that we MUST fight for the sanctity of the human person from conception & throughout life. "Otherwise we become what the Word of God has such disgust for: salt that has lost its flavor."

So we are now back to the question, does this book suceed in achieving what Archbishop Chaput set out to do? There are 2 answers to that question. The 1st answer is yes, in so far as he lays out what is needed to "rediscover what it means to be Catholic". He does an execellent job of stating the facts & laying out his case.

The 2nd answer depends on the reader. If the reader takes what he writes to heart, if the reader lets it challenge him/her to grow in his/her faith, if the reader is willing to put into action the challenges to live the faith, then yes it does suceed. But, if the reader rejects what he says, if the reader refuses to speak out on the important issues of today, if the reader rejects the Church's teachings on such issues as abortion then no, it doesn't suceed. But that isn't the fault of Archbishop Chaput, it is the fault of the reader for failing to hear the voice of Jesus speaking through 1 of His shepherds. Archbishop Chaput has done his part. The rest is up to the reader.

I conclude by saying "Mille grazie" to Archbishop Chaput for his willingness to take on the difficult task of writing this book. As I said, I think he suceeded in the task he set out to do. Now it is up to me to put what he taught into practice.

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Archbishop Chaput is a Capuchin Franciscan. He was born 26 September 1944 in Concordia, KS. He joined the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, St. Augustine Province, in 1965. He was ordained to the priesthood on 29 August 1970. Appointed by Pope John Paul as Bishop of Rapid City, SD, he was ordained a bishop on 26 July 1988. He was appointed Archbishop of Denver on 18 February 1997. He is a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe. He is the 2nd Native American Bishop & 1st Archbishop.