pope John Winthrop?

For this final blog, I actually want to turn away from national news and toward The Cowl. In particular, I was struck by a “Tangents and Tirades” article written by Mark Scirocco entitled pope Reminds us of the Foundation of Our Nation. In discussing Benedict’s recent trip to the US and his message for the Church, Scirocco came to the conclusion that “Benedict’s visit has served as a great reminder of American exceptionalism and the important role that God plays in American life.”

Really? The last time I checked Benedict was not a modern John Winthrop. Somewhere in his condemnation of aggressive American wars, the relativism that is taking root in the country and his feeling ashamed of the American clerics who abused their calling by acts of pedophilia, Benedict proclaimed America as exceptional, the pinnacle of world civilization. Sarcasm aside, I’d like to make a couple comments regarding Scirocco’s statement. It seems Benedict’s trip to the US was by no means a journey to affirm the goodness of its culture and political institutions as ends in and of themselves. Simply, he came to tend the flock, a flock that is part of a global church, the Roman Catholic Church. He came to challenge a Church that is not American, and thus to challenge members of the Body of Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven… not the Kingdom of American Democracy.

Yes, Benedict and the Church may have some things to affirm in the US regarding its political system. But, it is by no means a praise of America that focuses on the nature of the country’s institutions – it is not praise for them inherently or as ends of themselves. Rather, this nation’s institutions and culture are good only insofar as they align themselves to what is good – American policies and its democratic institutions are good so far as they respect human rights, provide religious freedom, etc. They are not exceptional because they are.

If anything, he came to challenge the American Catholics and their relationships to the American political system. It seems his trip to America was to remind American Catholics of their membership in a global church, one that knows no borders. Yes, they are American citizens, but the Body of Christ is universal, regardless of gender, nationality, or race, all its members are the children of the Lord. If anything, then, he seems to be undercutting American exceptionalism. For clearly, there are some good things about this country, but there are some bad things as well. Thus, American democracy is not a self-justifying, exceptional good. He simply came to remind American Catholics they are part of a global church that transcends the borders of the US, members of a Kingdom called to the reconciling love of the cross. A church called not to the American dream, per se, but to the cross.