Category: Blog

By Br. Steve Herro, O. Praem.

Jesuit Fr. Matt Malone recently wrote that 65 percent of U.S. voters live in congressional districts in which either President Trump or Secretary Clinton won the district by at least 20 percent of the vote.

San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy cited a survey that said 40 percent of Americans today would be upset if their child married someone from the other political party—compared to only five percent feeling that way in 1960.

If you observe legislative voting patterns in your local community, state, or U.S. Congress, are lawmakers able to timely advance significant legislation to promote the common good?

For example, Wisconsin has not passed a biennial budget on time in the last four or five cycles; at the federal level, who does not know the meaning of the term “continuing budget resolution”—a temporary fix to prevent the federal government from shutting down because the president and Congress have not been able to agree to a budget in seven months of negotiating?

Are you as exhausted as I am about the political polarization in the U.S. today? Does Christianity provide hope—an answer—to this vexing problem?

According to David Michael (“Alan Jacobs: a Christian intellectual for the internet age,” America, April 28, 2018), Christian public intellectuals grazed the scene 50 years ago by interpreting, bridging cultural gaps, mediating, and reconciling. Can they return?

Perhaps Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought’s “Though Many, One: Overcoming Polarization Through Catholic Social Thought” (June 4-6, 2018) can help advance Christian thought on breaking polarization in our legislatures. As Initiative director John Carr explained:

This is an attempt in a more focused and strategic way to look at how this unnecessary and unhelpful polarization reduces our ability (as Catholics) to make a difference in a really divided country.

We’re not going to debate economic issues or this controversy or that controversy. We’re going to explore the causes, the costs and how to overcome polarization which undermines (the church’s) public witness.

The beauty of Catholic social teaching is it connects things that are not connected in politics-as-usual and we want to help make those connections.

We’re high on building relationships. It’s hard to prejudge people that you’ve met.

Besides academic conferences, polarization can be met head-on by placing museums, art centers, libraries, and other educational venues in the midst of a point of disharmony. How many hearts have been touched, how many minds have been enlightened, when people have visited the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee (the very site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968), or the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Alabama, where Dr. King wrote, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”? The Church can promote the establishment and participation of such organizations through financial contributions and incorporating visits by Catholic parish and student groups.

Do you know who wrote:

It is the responsibility of the State to safeguard and promote the common good of society. Based on the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, and fully committed to political dialogue and consensus building, it plays a fundamental role, one which cannot be delegated, in working for the integral development of all. This role, at present, calls for profound social humility.

If you guessed Pope Francis, congratulations! Number 240 of The Joy of the Gospel is followed by #241:

In her dialogue with the State and with society, the Church does not have solutions for every particular issue. Together with the various sectors of society, she supports those programmes which best respond to the dignity of each person and the common good. In doing this, she proposes in a clear way the fundamental values of human life and convictions which can then find expression in political activity.

Pope Francis’ choice of the words “social humility” and “together with various sectors of society” jump out at me. Humble people don’t breed polarization; nor do people or organizations who cannot act multilaterally.

Several years ago, I volunteered with “Dan” on a regular basis. Besides sharing a desire to serve our community in our cathedral’s ESL program, we enjoyed talking about current events (as do a lot of people in Washington, D.C.!) and the Catholic Church. I learned that Dan had a past college internship working for one of the wealthiest political action committees (PAC) … and that this PAC funded many candidates that I probably would never vote for. Today, Dan is working for a national legislative leader of whom I share very few political preferences. Nevertheless, when my LinkedIn message announced his job to me, I congratulated him.

Are we willing to congratulate one on his or her good fortune … even if the accomplishment is totally contrary to our own political leanings? It might seem like a minor gesture toward dismantling political discord in the U.S., but I am glad that I e-mailed him, anyway.

DISCLAIMER: This blog represents Br. Herro’s own opinions and experiences. It does not represent an official position or opinion of St. Norbert Abbey or of any other Norbertine.

By Br. Steve Herro, O. Praem.

On January 8, 2018, Pope Francis, in his annual address to international diplomats working in the Vatican, said, in part:

The Lord Jesus himself, by healing the leper, restoring sight to the blind man, speaking with the publican, saving the life of the woman caught in adultery and demanding that the injured wayfarer be cared for, makes us understand that every human being, independent of his or her physical, spiritual or social condition, is worthy of respect and consideration. From a Christian perspective, there is a significant relation between the Gospel message and the recognition of human rights in the spirit of those who drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I was particularly attracted by the link of Catholic social thought to Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads:

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Sadly to say, how are these rights threatened by the proposed Wisconsin Works for Everyone reform plan? Amongst other things, the plan seeks to force Wisconsin FoodShare recipients to increase their number of weekly hours worked from 20 to 30 and requires a drug test for FoodShare recipients. People’s schedules can be complex; maybe some adults cannot or should not be “punched in” 30 hours a week. For example, I don’t see the plan accounting for the possibility of a parent’s time to transport a child to school, or a middle-aged son’s time to transport a loved one for weekly errands and appointments. Furthermore, the plan may hamper a child’s nutritional growth on account of a parent’s work schedule or drug use.

A human service provider recently asked me what message I would like to communicate to the public about homelessness (and poverty) in our local community. After a slight pause, I replied, “Don’t judge another without walking a mile in his or her moccasins.”

Just two days after hearing a state government official retort, “We also propose putting asset limits on public assistance so people with giant mansions and fancy cars don’t get welfare checks while hard-working taxpayers have to pay the bills. … You see, public assistance should be more like a trampoline and not a hammock,” might we commit ourselves to a relationship of encounter with a person or persons before passing judgement?

DISCLAIMER: This blog represents Br. Herro’s own opinions and experiences. It does not represent an official position or opinion of St. Norbert Abbey or of any other Norbertine.

Pictured: Photo by Jennifer Hardy/Catholic Relief Services (used with permission)

By Br. Steve Herro, O. Praem.

What do an investigator of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office and an international documentarian have in common?

Sgt. Matthew Wilson and Shraysi Tandon appeared in a discussion panel about the documentary Invisible Hands at the Green Bay Film Festival at St. Norbert College (SNC) earlier this year on March 1.

Human trafficking—whether child slavery or sex trafficking—is a popular issue for human rights advocates. As I viewed Tandon’s documentary and reflected on panelists’ comments (three other panelists were Sr. Sally Ann Brickner, O.S.F., a local social justice advocate; Kimberly Sandstrom, a licensed professional counsellor who volunteers at a Green Bay safe house for trafficking victims; and Dr. Elena A. Khapalova, assistant professor of business administration at SNC and an authority on supply chain management), I wondered why we often fail to recognize the sources of challenges facing our global and local communities. I was very touched by the common concern of a male sheriff investigator and females from academia, the counseling profession, Catholic religious life, and cinematography (when was the last time you saw a law enforcement official hanging out with such an assortment?).

As we consider stomping out the use of child slavery used to produce cheap textiles or electronic devices, or harvest chocolate or coffee beans, will we challenge ourselves when we shop for bargain-rate shirts and pants made in Bangladesh? Do we consider purchasing Fair Trade coffee (which has been certified to pay fair wages to those who grew the coffee) instead of the morning jolt from the popular coffee shop drive-through? As we imprison women who have been implicated in human sex trafficking, are we as quick to address the behavior of the buyers?

I left the viewing and discussion comparing the human trafficking issue to another current social debate: immigration and deportation. And this is why the question of supply chain and the basic economic principle of supply and demand is so important: our local and world communities would be further ahead if we examined behavior of consumers rather than just throwing the book at victims—be they child slaves, trafficked women, or immigrant workers.

DISCLAIMER: This blog represents Br. Herro’s own opinions and experiences. It does not represent an official position or opinion of St. Norbert Abbey or of any other Norbertine.

… Today we also have to say ‘thou shalt not’ to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. … I beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor.

—Pope Francis

By Br. Steve Herro, O. Praem.

I came across Pope Francis’ April 2018 Prayer Intention, “For a Just Economy,” three days before “Tax Day.” However, I doubt that the Vatican purposefully scheduled this prayer intention so close to our tax day (believe me, the Vatican has bigger fish to fry than memorizing our secular calendar, despite what some Americans think or wish for).

His words around the prayer intention are not unfamiliar. Andrea Tornielli and Giamoco Galeazzi rocked the Catholic press, the business community, and social ethicists with their 2015 work, This Economy Kills: Pope Francis on Capitalism and Social Justice. That same year, his earth-shattering encyclical Laudato Si’ contained strong words against an economy measured strictly in terms of economic growth, particularly at the expense of environmental justice and human rights (see especially #109). And his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, considered his personal manifesto, spells out, for perhaps the first time, his understanding of an “economy of exclusion” (#53).

In 2015, I participated in NETWORK Catholic Social Justice Lobby’s #TaxPayerPride campaign around Tax Day; it demonstrated citizen gratitude for the benefits of our tax system. Take a moment to consider how our income taxes help provide for:

• public education for all
• nutritious food, warm shelter, and healing medicine for those who cannot meet their own needs, in our country and abroad
• safeguards to protect our communities from the effects of natural disaster

… the examples are nearly limitless.

I recall a conversation with a friend and co-worker a few years ago. I happened to mention that, as a vowed religious, any income that I earned from a Catholic organization was income tax exempt. He wondered aloud how he could get in on this gig in order not to help subsidize the U.S. war machine!

I am sure that no one approves of every single expenditure by our local, state, and federal governments. We must vote for candidates whose budgets priorities are in line with our own. As we embrace the principle of the common good, we accept that we do have a responsibility to contribute toward the benefit of people beyond self and our immediate families. And this is why an income tax system which benefits all of us is also vital to Pope Francis’ model of a just economy.

DISCLAIMER: This blog represents Br. Herro’s own opinions and experiences. It does not represent an official position or opinion of St. Norbert Abbey or of any other Norbertine.