Litany of Resistance

Download a copy of the Litany of Resistance

The True Vine

     
       Bellow is a write up on this painting from http://www.lcaruana.com/webtext/mort.html

      The evolution of this painting began in the Spring of 2006, during a two-month trip through Mexico and Guatemala. I came across an Aztec sculpture which struck me to the core of my being; its image seemed to pull me out of a dream. I saw the face of death, but in this case, life's closure also became the opening to unexpected mysteries. 

      By transposing this motif to painting, I freed it of the opaque clay of its earlier incarnation, and so the image acquired a certain transparency. It did not strike me as odd to transpose this motif to European culture since Christ, as far as I'm concerned, is also a mythic image of death and transcendence. 

Then, during an all-night ceremony led by Native peoples, I ingested ayahuasca for the first time. Over the course of six hours, I reviewed my life, confronted my own death, and experienced a kind of personal Last Judgment. 

      Toward early morning, this personal vision-quest transformed into a more archetypal vision. Wherever I turned my eyes, I saw the sacred patterns which constitute (so it seemed to me) the interconnected space and substance of our very souls.
Weeks later, I was amazed to discover that the Shipibo-Conibo tribes of the Amazon, who treat ayahuasca as a sacrament, sew these same patterns onto all their ceremonial vestments, recognizing them as 'patterns of the soul'. 

In this way, mixing my own experiences with the established motifs of several cultures, the painting achieved its final form. 

It was shown in Paris at Galerie Arche de Morphée for an exhibition on Death called La Mort Transfigurée with a marvellous poster by Michel Henricot.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

via http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/social_justice/sj00193.html

The Compendium goes on to outline a number of priority areas for action.

— Service to the human person, by affirming the inviolability of human life, from conception to natural death. Human dignity also requires freedom of conscience and religious freedom, as well as the defense of marriage and the family.

— Service in the area of culture, broadly intended. The Compendium notes the problems with a consumeristic lifestyle and the emphasis placed on superficial appearances. We need to recover the genuine sense of human growth, and develop our capacity to communicate and relate with others.

— Encouraging the participation of Catholics in social and political life is another priority. Involvement in public life is necessary in order to present in an efficacious way the proposals stemming from a Catholic vision of social life.

— Preserving the ethical dimension of culture is another important task. Culture can become sterile and decadent, or it can be a means to enriching people's lives. Ensuring the latter requires people who are prepared to use their capacities "for self-control, personal sacrifice, solidarity and readiness to promote the common good" (No. 556).

— Specifically, within today's culture, the Compendium outlines a number of fields where action is particularly needed: guaranteeing the rights of each person; ensuring a commitment to truth; working to ensure that the religious dimension of culture is respected; and using correctly the mass media.

— Service in the economy. The Compendium calls upon Christians to remember the centrality of the human person. It also urges a better harmony between the demands of economic efficiency and the requirements of social justice.

— Service in politics. Pursuing the common good in spirit of service should inspire the Christian laity, the text recommends. The text also insists on an adequate attention to the moral dimension in political life and for an increased Christian witness on the part of politicians.

A civilization of love

The closing pages of the Compendium are dedicated to the theme of building a "Civilization of Love." People are searching for meaning in their lives, the text notes, and the Church responds with the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ. Through faith in God and Jesus Christ, Christians can obtain inspiration regarding the principles that should order private and public life.

Bringing about a renewal of society to ensure justice and solidarity is no easy task, and we should not be led into thinking that there is some magic formula to solve problems. Our salvation does not lie in such a formula, but in the person of Christ, found in the Gospel and in the Tradition of the Church.

And even if believers know that there will never be an earthly paradise, their hope founded in Christ gives them confidence in the building of a better world. In this effort we should be guided by the principle of the primacy of love. Love, the Compendium adds, should permeate every social relationship and be the highest norm for all activity.

The commandment of love contained in the Gospel should be for Christians a message that transforms them and leads them to reject egoism, individualism and selfishness. This love in turn requires the practice of justice and inspires us to self-giving. Fitting words to close this synthesis of the Church's social doctrine.

Read an online version:
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7209

Catholic Five Non-negotiables and Catholic Social Teaching

About Vox Nova

http://vox-nova.com/

Vox nova in terra viventium
Christians must be conscious of their specific and proper role in the political community: they should be a shining example by their sense of responsibility and their dedication to the common good; they should show in practice how authority can be reconciled with freedom, personal initiative and with the solidarity and the needs of the whole social framework, and the advantages of unity with profitable diversity.
-Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, 75

On the national and international planes the field of the apostolate is vast; and it is there that the laity more than others are the channels of Christian wisdom. In their patriotism and in their fidelity to their civic duties Catholics will feel themselves bound to promote the true common good; they will make the weight of their convictions so influential that as a result civil authority will be justly exercised and laws will accord with the moral precepts and the common good.
-Vatican II, Apostolicam Actuostitatem, 14

The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. She cannot and must not replace the State. Yet at the same time she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument, and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper…[t]he direct duty to work for a just ordering of society, on the other hand, is proper to lay faithful. As citizens of the State, they are called to take part in public life in a personal capacity. So they cannot relinquish their participation ‘in the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common good’ (John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, 42).
-Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, 28a-29

Do away with the obstacles to the Christian spirit; revive and make it strong in the State, and the State will be healed. The strife between the classes and the masses will die away; mutual rights will be respected. If Christ be listened to, both rich and poor will do their duty. The former will realise that they must observe justice and charity, the latter self restraint and moderation, if both are to be saved. Domestic society will have ben solidly established under a salutary fear of the divine commands and prohibitions; and so likewise in society at large, the precepts of the natrual law will prevail, which tells us that it is right to respect lawful authority, and to obey the laws, to do no seditious act, nor contrive anything by unlawful association. Wherever Christianity rules over all without let or hindrance, there the order established by Divine Providence is preserved, and both security and prosperity are the happy result. The common welfare, then, urgently demands a return to Him from whom we should never have gone astray; to Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and this on the part not only of individuals but of society as a whole. Christ our Lord must be reinstated as the Ruler of human society. It belongs to Him, as do all its members. All the elements of the commonwealth; legal commands and prohibitions, popular institutions, schools, marriage, home-life, the workshop, and the palace, all must be made to come to that fountain and imbibe the life that comes from Him.
-Pope Leo XIII, Tametsi Futura Prospicientibus, 12

Vox Nova is a response to the ecclesial mandate to promote the common good in every sphere of human existence. We come from varying backgrounds and carry diverse social outlooks, traversing a wide range of demographics and political sympathies. Vox Nova is free, to the furthest extent possible, from partisanship, nationalism and demagoguery, all of which banish intellectual honesty from rational discourse.

United in our Catholic, pro-person worldview, yet diverging in our socio-political opinions, we seek to provide informed commentary and rigorous debate on culture, society, politics and law, all while unwaveringly adhering to, and aptly applying the principles of Catholic doctrine. We are not intellectually wedded to any single political ideology. Following the example of the rich tradition of Catholic social doctrine from Pope Leo XIII to Pope Benedict XVI, we do not forge artificial blockades between “faith and morals” and “social judgments.” We do not and will not filter Catholic doctrine and morality through contrived categories in order to morph our Catholic faith and practice into some ideologically acceptable form.

We understand that the grace of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of humanity, extends to and permeates every human act, however private or public, and that the only viable path to peace, prosperity and justice in the world is to recognize that grace saturates, sanctifies and perfects every aspect of nature. Thus, faith informs and grace affects the full scope of human effort, from the deepest devotion of spirituality to the most mundane activity in the social sphere. Vox Nova seeks to be a herald of this glorious truth and its manifold implications for culture, society and politics.

Let us close by considering the words of Karol Wojtyla on the social implications of Jesus Christ, delivered in the presence of Pope Paul VI. Without ever reducing Christ to a mere social liberator, the soon-to-be Pope John Paul II nevertheless speaks powerfully of the social impact of the Gospel:
“Who is Jesus Christ for all the different continents of the world, for all the different societies, traditions, cultures, political structures? Jesus is the symbol of liberation from unjust structures both social and economic, but he is also the sign of liberation for people who are denied freedom of conscience and religious freedom, or who have those freedoms drastically curtailed at crucial points. He is in every way a reproach to affluent, acquisitive consumer societies. But he is the touchstone of identity for the African nations which are moving towards independence. He is a Word of divine wisdom for the ancient spiritual traditions and cultures of the East. Here in the Vatican, we are at the very centre of the Church, at the point where Peter’s reply to the question: “Who is Jesus Christ?” is formulated. Let us first listen to what is said by individual men and women and by whole peoples. They all testify to the fact that in Jesus ‘the way, the truth and the life’ are wide open, that great highway ‘along which–as the Council asserts–life and death are sanctified and take on fresh meaning’ (Gaudium et spes, 22).” -Karol Wojtyla, Sign of Contradiction, 109

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Catholic Five Non-negotiables and the Seven Key Themes of Catholic Social Teaching

How do the Catholic Five Non-negotiables measure up to the Churches teaching on Social Teaching? Is it possible to vote for the same candidate and follow both of these ideologies?

I have posted an entry here on the Catholic Five Non-negotiables. So as not to repeate myself, I shall only list the Catholic Five Non-negotiables in this post. If you need background info please visit the above mentioned blog post.

Catholic Five Non-negotiables

• abortion
• euthanasia
• embryo stem cell research
• same-sex marriage
• human cloning

Major Themes from Catholic Social Teaching

via: http://www.ccfj.org/catholic.htm

1. Dignity of the Human Person
Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God. All people are sacred. People do not lose dignity because of disability, poverty, age, gender, or lack of success, race or ethnicity.
2. Community and the Common Good
Human dignity is realized in community with others and with all of creation. The human person is both sacred and social. Society must be shaped to contribute to the individual and the common good through our economic, political and social institutions. Promoting the common good is not compatible with homelessness, hunger, unemployment, and injustice.
3. Rights and Responsibilities
People have a fundamental right to life, food, shelter, health care, education and employment. People have a right to participate in the decisions which affect their lives.
4. Option for the Poor
The moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. We are called to look at public policy decisions through the eyes of persons who are made poor and kept poor. A just society is achieved only when the needs of the poor in society are given first priority.
5. Solidarity
We are one human family. Our responsibilities to each other cross national, racial, economic and ideological differences. The interconnection among all peoples calls us to value and respect the experience of all. We are called to work globally for justice.
6. Dignity of Work
People have a right to decent and productive work, fair wages, private property and economic initiative. The economy exists to serve people, not the other way around. Work provides a person with an opportunity to contribute to the common good and to participate in the social and economic order. Living wages with benefits and good working conditions are essential.
7. Care for God’s Creation
Our stewardship of the Earth is a kind of participation in God’s act of creating and sustaining the world. In being responsible partners with the Earth, we learn about and respect its resources and systems. In our use of resources, we must be guided by our concern for the welfare of others, both around the world and for generations to come.

It is my opinion that if the Seven Key Themes of Catholic Social Teaching are followed, the Catholic Five Non-negotiables become  a moot point. I also see the Catholic Five Non-negotiables as a  way to try to align Catholics with the Right Wing politics of the United States, which is ultimately in support of corporate rule and the exploitation of humans and the environment for short term profits. How are all these things reconcilable?

Catholic Five Non-negotiables

I was listening to Catholic radio this afternoon and heard a presentation on what they are calling the “Five Non-negotiables.” Very interesting I thought. Something always troubles me though when Catholics align themselves or are encouraged to align with Global Corporate Rule. Something tells me that the policies that create the conditions so many of the worlds population finds itself in are aided by those candidates who would be aligned with these Five Non-negotiables.

I can’t help but think that if there were a more socially just regime in power, that the conditions that are encouraging these Five Non-negotiables would lift and then  the Five Non-negotiables would be a moot point.

I did a quick search and found an interesting little blurb on Wikipedia concerning the Controversy of the Five Non-negotiables;

Before the 2004 presidential election, Catholic Answers published the Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics. It was produced both in pamphlet form and as an insert to the newspaper USA Today. This publication promoted five “non-negotiable” issues that were also major political questions in the election cycle. The five non-negotiable issues explained and discussed were abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, same-sex marriage and human cloning. The term “non-negotiable” is used by Catholic Answers to describe issues that are “intrinsically evil and must never be promoted by law.” ^[2] Catholic Answers maintains that there are many more “non-negotiable” issues but these were “selected because they involve principles that never admit of exceptions and because they are currently being debated in U.S. politics.”^[2]
“The Voters Guide for Serious Catholics” was criticized for correlating with a Republican agenda. Critics^[who?] argued that the publication did not take into account the full breadth of Catholic Social Teaching, including economic, social justice, or other life issues. Catholic Answers responded that political candidates can have a range of policy stances on issues that are not “non-negotiable” and still be in line with Church teaching. On the other hand, Catholics must not vote for candidates who take the wrong stance on “non-negotiable” issues.
While “The Voters Guide for Serious Catholics” made no endorsements of any candidate or political party, the organization came under strong attack by liberal organizations and Democratic Party candidates as a partisan publication. In 2004 complaints were filed by Catholics for a Free Choice with the IRS claiming that it was in “blatant violation of its charitable status”^[3] in an attempt to revoke Catholic Answers tax exempt status.
An IRS investigation resulted in no action against Catholic Answers, the IRS ruled that the Voters Guide for Serious Catholics could be safely distributed by religious organizations because it did not comprise political intervention:
“[Catholic Answers, Inc.] created, published and distributed the “Voters Guide for Serious Catholics” (“VGSC”). The VGSC asserts that it is intended to help the reader vote for candidates for public office in a manner consistent with Catholic moral teachings. The VGSC identifies five issues it deems to be “non-negotiable” issues and instructs the reader on how to narrow down the list of candidates to those who are acceptable based on the non-negotiable issues. The VGSC does not directly or indirectly make reference to any specific candidate, political party or election. Therefore, the content of the VGSC, standing alone, is not political campaign intervention because the VGSC does not support or oppose any specific candidate for public office [Addendum to Letter 3609P, May 2, 2008].”^[4]
Nevertheless, a new legal entity called Catholic Answers Action was created which has a separate 501(c)(4) tax status. Donations to Catholic Answers Action, unlike those to Catholic Answers, are not tax deductible.
Debate continues as to the effectiveness of the campaign on educating Catholic voters, but Catholic Answers plans to continue the campaign in future elections.^{[citation needed]} http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Answers

Now I am not saying that I am pro-abortion, euthanasia, embryo stem cell research, same-sex marriage and human cloning. I can see the inherent horror in some of these, while others I don’t get at all, and still others are various shades of gray.  What I don’t understand is the encouragement of inhuman regimes to remain in power to exploit Gods people and his creation.

Here is an interesting take that I found on a forum;

Five Non-negotiables and Catholic Dictators
This may seem like a ridiculous question, but I am trying to get a broader social and political context for the doctrine of five non-negotiables. Weren’t the regimes of Catholic strongmen like Francisco Franco, Augusto Pinochet, Papa Doc Duvalier and Ferdinand Marcos just about perfect in terms of the five non-negotiables, for example, no abortions, no euthanasia, no homosexual “marriage” ( no open homosexuality at all) and so on? Does this make such regimes desirable and are such harsh governments worth the cost in social inequalities, lack of free speech, damage to the reputation of the Catholic gospel, etc.?–Rumil                                                http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?p=6962496

This is a more extreme and outdated version of what I though upon hearing this presentation. I am thinking more along the lines of Corporate Globalization and exploitation of God’s creation. Same general idea though, it seems that the Five non-negotiables are sorely shortsided and incomplete.

I would love your input and to discuss these ideas further. How do the Five non-negotiables fit in with the Churche’s social teachings and life in general?

Life

Test run