Reasonably Catholic: Keeping the Faith

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Art historian William E. Wallace, one of the world’s foremost experts on Michelangelo and the Renaissance, says a blockbuster exhibit of Il Divino‘s drawings on view until Feb. 12 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC is “a rare opportunity that probably won’t be repeated within lifetime.”

Wallace, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, has spent his adult life studying Michelangelo and his world. The author of several books on his hero, shown above, he’s just completed another on Michelangelo’s architectural achievements. His series of lectures on DVD, The Genius of Michelangelo, is available through the Lion Library system.

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Film critic Richard Alleva discusses “Novitiate” and Golden Globe winner “Lady Bird.”

Thanks, folks, for donating to WESU’s successful fall/winter pledge drive!

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This beautiful Snowy Owl was named Stormy by Patrick Comins, executive director of the CT Audubon Society, who shot the photos, because the weather for the Stratford/Milford, CT, Christmas Bird Count, on Dec. 23, was frightful. Comins and volunteer birder extraordinaire Frank Mantlik talked birds with Reasonably Catholic in what’s becoming an annual tradition.

Thank you so much to all of you who donated to WESU’s fall/winter pledge drive! Thanks to you, we met our goal!

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Christopher J. Doucot, co-founder of the Catholic Worker community in north Hartford, which is marking its 25th anniversary, has co-authored a book with Shannon Craigo-Snell, No Innocent Bystanders: Becoming an Ally in the Struggle for Justice, a primer for individuals and groups interested in standing with people in marginalized groups. He is shown here with his granddaughter Lilly Dullaire.

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Rev. Jan Carlsson-Bull, minister of the Unitarian Unitarian Church in Meriden, and Diane Szymaszek, of the church’s Chalicelight Sanctuary Team, are providing sanctuary to an Indonesian man who is at risk of being deported despite having lived and worked in the United States for 30 years. Info at www.uumeriden.org 

Christopher Hale, executive director of the Washington, DC.-based Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, recently launched The Francis Project, a rapid response movement for Catholics under 40 which is intended “to disrupt and rebuild.” Find details at https://francisproject.nationbuilder.com.

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Atty Dick Troy and Dr. Bart Troy, brothers raised in Melrose, Mass., reflect on their Catholic upbringing, the changes wrought by the Second Vatican Council, and where they think the Church should go from here.

After the interview, they treated the host to Thai ice cream on Main Street in Middletown:

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Dr. Thomas A. Andrew just retired as New Hampshire’s chief coroner and is embarking on a new career as a Methodist minister. Like his fellow medical examiners, who are dwindling in number faster than they can be replaced, he has been overwhelmed by opiod deaths. His approach to the crisis will be a one-on-one engagement with youth — he intends to work with the Boy Scouts and the Appalachian Trail Outreach Ministry — rather than preaching to the choir in church.

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Yours truly, Maria M. Johnson, talks with Catholic author and blogger Maria M. Johnson in an episode about the latter’s books, My Badass Book of Saints and Super Girls and Halos, both of which shine a light on remarkable women, sainted and otherwise. Why women? “The men are always in our faces,” says the author. “We need to see the women.”

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Mark Your Calendar Dept.:

The Henri Nouwen Society, The Thomas Merton Center, and Yale Divinity School will present a conference, Henri Nouwen and Thomas Merton: Spiritual Guides for the 21st Century, on Nov. 3-4 at Yale Divinity School. Details here: http://divinity.yale.edu/lifelong-learning/henri-nouwen-and-thomas-merton-spiritual-guides-21st-century

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US Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of New Haven, who has served Connectictut’s Third Congressional District since 1991, serving on a number of important committees, talks about her policy memoir The Least Among Us: Waging the Battle for the Vulnerable.

Raised by Italian-American parents, she is still a practicing Catholic and reflects wistfully about the days when Catholicism was synonymous with service. She tells how, to counter misinformation about what she and fellow pro-choice Catholic legislators stood for, she and her Catholic fellow legislators had to get out in front of the issue and clearly define their values of faith and service.

In this excerpt from the book, she describes a meeting with then-Archbishop Henry Mansell:

“In February 2012, I was called to Hartford along with the rest of the Connecticut delegation to meet with Archbishop Henry Mansell, Bishop William Lori, and Bishop Michael Cote to explain why we were aiding and abetting the abortion cause. At the end of this meeting, the archbishop asked me to stay behind so he could speak to me alone. He proceeded to tell me I was married to a Jewish man, who was divorced, and therefore, he asked, how could I present myself for communion on Sundays? I told him I would continue to receive the sacraments, and asked him a question: How could the church be so blind to the fact that healthcare reform could save millions of lives? How was that not a pro-life issue? And where were they when I voted against wars, or to grow programs for the poor? Where were they then? Meanwhile the pedophile scandal wherein senior church officials looked the other way as priests violated boys and girls – why had little been done about that? There was no rapprochement in this meeting. I arrived feeling on the defensive. I left pissed off…

” Then with the election of Pope Francis in 2013, a ray of light appeared. I went to St. Peter’s Square for his installation, along with many of the Catholic members of Congress. Francis gave a stunning homily, one that reminded me of why I got into politics in the first place. ‘[He] must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important.’

“When Francis demoted Cardinal Burke, the one who had threatened David Obey [with excommunication], I called David. I would not call that phone call a celebration, exactly, but we did feel vindicated.”

The Congresswoman will hit the following stops on her book tour this week.

• Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore, 413 Main St., Middletown: https://www.facebook.com/events/1366484563471493
• Friday at 7 p.m. at the La Grua Center, 32 Water St. Stonington: https://lagruacenter.org/event/detail/2017/10/6/6/00/pm/398-bsb_delauro
• Saturday at 1 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 235 Union St., Waterbury: https://stores.barnesandnoble.com/event/9780061883577-0