I’ve been posting about the response of the bishops of Chile to the oppression of the Chilean people under the Pinochet regime. This post is about another emergency and another group of bishops. Now it’s in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Here the bishop’s response to the way we oppress the natural world comes in a document advocating an integral ecology. “Minnesota, Our Common Home” it’s theologically profound, but, Like the initial actions of the Chilean bishops, it’s also timid,... Read more
Torture and Eucharist, Chapter 3 In the 1970’s under the cruel Pinochet regime, the Church in Chile came to realize that its ecclesiology was inadequate to the circumstances. William T. Cavanaugh, in Chapter Three of Torture and Eucharist, explains the origin and fate of that ecclesiology. On Chapter Three of Torture and Eucharist: Theology, Politics, and the Body of Christ, sixth in the series on William T. Cavanaugh, a Catholic theologian who writes about the Church and its role in culture, politics, and economics. Introduction to... Read more
Torture and Eucharist, Chapter Two: The Church Learns How to be Oppressed William T. Cavanaugh’s second chapter in Torture and Eucharist is a history of the troubles of the people of Chile under the Pinochet regime. The plot of the story, however, revolves around the developing ecclesiology of the Chilean Church. Its concept of itself, its relation to the oppressed people of Chile, and its role in their world all changed in the years from the military coup in 1973 to the regime’s end in 1990. What... Read more
“I want you to panic” about climate change — Thunberg Donald Trump declares a state of emergency when he can’t get what he wants any other way. Some of us recognize true emergencies that have nothing to do with allegedly porous borders. Pope Francis wrote the encyclical Laudato Si, raising the Church’s level of concern about the environment, including climate change. Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg, with her school strikes for climate change, has raised peoples’ awareness around the world and brought... Read more
William T. Cavanaugh writes about the brutal regime under Pinochet in Chile. He documents its effects on individuals and the even more ominous consequences for civil society. The aim and result of Pinochet’s repression was the fragmentation of social bodies. The regime tried to eliminate any intermediary between the individual and the power of the state. Toward this end the state used torture and the neo-liberalism Chilean economists learned at the University of Chicago. On Chapter One, Sections Two and three of Torture... Read more
Chapter One, Part One of Torture and Eucharist by William T. Cavanaugh Torture in Pinochet’s Chile did not only attack individuals. It was part of an assault on society. It aimed to create a certain perception of reality. The state wanted people to imagine enemies, which torture would create and from which the state would rescue society. Torture itself would be one of the necessary means. On Chapter One, Part One of Torture and Eucharist: Theology, Politics, and the Body of Christ, third in the... Read more
It has occurred to me to wonder about Jesus’ suffering during his trial and execution. How would it compare to the pains that many others have had forced on them? What would Jesus’ sufferings mean for you if you actually suffered more than Jesus? William T. Cavanaugh begins his Torture and Eucharist, on the Chile of the Augusto Pinochet regime, with that question. This is the second post on William T. Cavanaugh’s book Torture and Eucharist: Theology, Politics, and the Body of... Read more
Introduction to the Theologian and his Book Torture and Eucharist William T. Cavanaugh is a Catholic theologian whose interests, besides theology, include economics and politics. The role of the Church in the world of politics and economics is central in his thought. He has been a professor of Catholic studies at DePaul University since 1910. Before that he taught at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology.... Read more
Praying the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary on Holy Saturday was a little premature, but it seemed the right thing to do. It also reminded me to write this post. Thinking back over the series of posts on the mysteries of the Rosary and reviewing the Scriptures these mysteries call up, I realize I have some favorites: Joyful Mysteries. The favorite has to be Mary’s Magnificat at the Visitation. Luminous Mysteries. Here it’s the Proclamation of the Kingdom — “This is the time of fulfillment. “... Read more
On Good Friday I stood with the congregation in church playing my part in the dramatization of the Passion story according to the Gospel of John. No need to identify the year; it was the same every year on Good Friday. We get to the part where Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd and I cry out along with everyone in the pews: CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM — just as that Gospel of John says the Jews cried out on the... Read more
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