Speaking out

Today is the birthday of Albert Camus (1913-1960), French philosopher, novelist, journalist, and activist who was born in Algeria. His writings have had a major impact on my life. In the mid-1960s I came across this quote from a speech of his, “The Unbeliever and the Christian,” at a Dominican monastery in 1948:

“What the world expects of Christians is that Christians should speak out, loud and clear, and that they should voice their condemnation in such a way that never a doubt, never the slightest doubt, could rise in the heart of the simplest [person]. That they should get away from abstraction and confront the bloodstained face history has taken on today.”

His novel The Plague is one of my favorite pieces of fiction. Interestingly, it was written during World War II while Camus was staying at Le Chambon-sur-Lingon, a French village notable for its efforts to save Jews, led by the pacifist Protestant pastor, André Trocmé, and his wife Magda.

This novel, set in Algeria, explores how people respond to a plague. Written during the Second World War it is hard to see that this is not a metaphor for Nazism and anti-Semitism. I heartily recommend the novel and the set of essays, Resistance, Rebellion, and Death, to challenge people and institutions to respond directly to the evils around us and to be straight-forward, not mincing words, when faced with evil.

I just wish that some sections of the church here in Honduras and the US government were more direct in confronting the evils found here.

What has especially bothered me has been the one-sidedness of the condemnations of the Cardinal and others against Zelaya and the failure of the US to condemn the human rights abuses that have been noted by international groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

This is not to say that Zelaya is exempt from critique. Anyone who knows the history of the last few years here will recognize that he has done enough to deserve judicial proceedings and that Bishop Santos and Jesuit Ismael Moreno and others who oppose the coup were also critical of many of the policies and actions of Zelaya, and even more critical of the way that the Honduran Congress, led by Micheletti, opposed some major changes, especially in the mining law.

What I long for, though, are clear voices, like our bishop and the statements of the priests of our diocese.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

Here in Honduras we wait a lot. Some of this is due to the cultural bias toward waiting for everyone before beginning something – a way to make sure all are included.

But some waiting is due to the poverty. People wait in long lines in banks because there are not enough tellers. You wait for a store to contact a distant city to get a replacement part for your car or you have to go to another store to find it.

Some waiting is due to inefficiency. You wait in line to have one person look at your documentation for residency, then wait for another person to take your fingerprints, another person to take your photo, and then wait for someone to process it. (Now the process is a little more streamlined. I got my card in 20 minutes flat – though it was four months after I began the process. But I know people who’ve had to wait much more.)

But there seems to have arisen another cause for waiting – waiting for a solution to the current crisis. One must not free from blame those who would keep their power intact. So congress won’t come into session to consider the proposal from the agreement that Micheletti and Zelaya signed last Friday about the possible reinstatement of Zelaya as a limited president for a few months. They say they are waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision. But, as I understand it, Congress could call a special session as could Micheletti.

There is so much delay in this matter that it seems as if some just want to avoid change.

In the meantime, the toll has been great - not so much in people killed (though there have been some) but much more in the denial of civil rights and in what the poor have suffered as the economy has worsened.

My question: How long can the people wait for justice and at least an interim solution to this crisis?

When he broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God.
They cried out in a loud voice, "How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?"

Revelation 6:9-10

Economic Inequality

At Sunday Mass and tonight at the Mass for the feast of St. Martin De Porres, Padre Fausto Milla quoted paragraph 66 of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Church in the Modern Word, Gaudium et Spes:

“To satisfy the demands of justice and equity, strenuous efforts must be made, without disregarding the rights of persons or the natural qualities of each country, to remove as quickly as possible the immense economic inequalities, which now exist and in many cases are growing and which are connected with individual and social discrimination.”

That was proclaimed by the Council in December 1965, 44 years ago. Sadly the situation of Honduras (and many other countries) is beset by the same “immense economic inequalities.” In Honduras the richest 10% have 35 times more wealth than the poorest 10%.

Something must be done to remove these inequalities “as quickly as possible” in order that there be real peace with justice and that the people can live with the dignity that is theirs.

Saint Martin de Porres

Today the Catholic Church remembers a saint from the Americas – Martín, son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed black slave. Despite the prejudices of his time he was allowed to become a lay brother in the Dominican friary in Lima, Perú. There he took upon himself the humblest tasks but was also noted for his knowledge and practice of healing. Trained as a barber which included learning about medicine, he also knew natural medicine. Many regarded him as a miracle worker.

There are many stories about Martin, some of his ability to be in two places at once (bilocation), others of his love of animals and his power to have a dog, a cat, and a mouse eat together from the same bowl. But there is one I especially like.

Martin would take the poor from the streets of Lima to his cell in the friary and let them rest on his bed as he cared for them. His superior ordered him to stop. But Martin continued to care for the poor in his cell. When his superior found out, he severely reprimanded Martin, who humbly responded, “Pardon my error and please be so kind as to teach me. I did not know that the command of obedience takes precedence over the command of love.” Henceforth, Martin was able to care for the poor and sick as he saw fit.

St. Martin de Porres is thus rightfully the patron saint of social justice as well as race relations. He ought to be the patron saint of natural medicine as well.

It is fitting that the first reading for the liturgy today happens to be from Romans 12.

As I read it this morning, I could not help but be struck by Romans 12: 10:

Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.

As I often do when I find a particularly moving passage in the lectionary readings, I check out several translations. The one above is from both the New American Bible and the New Revised Standard Version. The Spanish versions were weak, but the Jerusalem Bible really struck me:

Never be condescending but make real friends with the poor.

That’s been the gift I’ve received here in Honduras – to be able to make real friends with the lowly – with Gloria, Ovidio, Jesús, and so many others who have accepted me into their homes and have shared their lives with me.

As I ponder this verse, I also think that those who come to Honduras to help should take this in mind, especially the admonition to “never be condescending” and the final part of the verse “do not be wise in your own estimation.” So often we think we have something to give to these poor people, forgetting that they too may have deep wisdom and knowledge to share with us.

It was for this reason that I began several of my presentations in Iowa last month talking about the richness of Honduras, especially the richness of the Honduran people. It is condescending to just talk about them as "the unfortunate poor." They are a people with dignity and with resources and resourcefulness. If I had as little as some of them have, I would never survive.

I also think of the current crisis here in Honduras. If only all those involved really associated with the lowly, the resolution would be very different.

And so I pray that I may take to heart the way of life that Paul commends in Romans 12. And may all who live here and all who come to help see the wisdom of the God found there.

***

The story from St. Martin de Porres's life is taken from Robert Ellsberg's All Saints, a book I heartily recommend for its short accounts of the lives of holy men and women from all traditions.

I took the photo of the statue of St. Martin in the friary in Lima where he lived.

Catholic News Service article

There's a new article from Catholic News Service, "Catholic officials laud agreement to end Honduran crisis," which is not bad, except for two serious errors.

It states that many countries of the world refused to recognize the "interim" government. I believe that NO country in the world recognized the de facto regime of Micheletti even though, I believe, the US, Israel, and Taiwan continued to have ambassadors in the country.

But, more seriously, the article repeats the unproven assertion that, when Zelaya called for poll on having a ballot question in November on whether to call for a national Constitutional Assembly (the Constituyente), this was done so that reelection of the president for a second term would be permitted. This is unproven.

Yet, what is most interesting now is that, according to a recent poll, 55% of those polled think the constitution should be amended to allow for re-election. In addition, there has been growing interest in a "Constituyente" - a Constitutional Assembly - growing among the people. Even though Zelaya agrees in the current accord to drop the call for a constitutional assembly, I wonder whether this might be an issue for which the civil society, especially those connected to the Resistance to the coup, will continue to press. The coup, I think, signified a break down of the Honduran constitutional order and so something must be done.

Also of note: in an effort to begin a process of reconciliation, a number of diocesan Caritas offices has begun to hold public forums, not to argue or to dialogue but to listen to the people. There may be other efforts to ease the intense polarization that Honduras has experienced this year, even before the coup. But I hope efforts also address the polarization that can be found at the heart of Honduras where there is great economic disparity as well as racism and classism that make many of the poor feel inferior and that keep them from participating in their society.