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ENGAGING THE CULTURE
Daring to Hope for a New Flowering
President Bush's opening initiatives make it clear
that adults are back in charge
(March/April 2001)
BY DONNA
M. STEICHEN
POPE JOHN PAUL II has long
promised that the third millennium will see a new
flowering of Christianity. Most of the time, he seemed to
be speaking so directly against the evidence that only a
message from Heaven could explain his saying it.
But history is full of
surprises. As the new millennium dawned, American
believers, Catholics and others, encountered one worth
marking down. It could signal the rebirth the pope has
predicted.
George W. Bush, for whom
some voted merely as "Not Gore," began his
presidential term by acting like a man of his word. His
manner, though poised and amiable, was purposeful without
apology. His rhetoric blended religion and politics, and
he seemed to mean it. After years of listening to
vitriolic defamation of the "religious right,"
conservatives found it heady stuff.
At his inauguration,
President Bush took the oath of office with tears in his
eyes, and his hand on the same Bible George Washington
used. His inaugural speech incorporated frequent
references to God, and they rang true. On our social
obligations, he quoted Mother Teresa: "Sometimes in
life we are called to do great things. But as a saint of
our times has said, every day we are called to do small
things with great love." Later that day, he welcomed
a telegraphed blessing from Pope John Paul II.
Bush also marked the
day—the 28th anniversary of Roe v.
Wade—with an executive order reinstating the
"Mexico City policy" that prohibits tax funding
of any organization that commits or promotes abortion
overseas. Established by President Reagan in 1984, that
policy was overturned by Bill Clinton on January 22,
1993, as the initial and quintessentially representative
gesture of his presidency.
Bush’s opening
initiatives made it clear that adults are back in charge.
While the ears of the abortion faction were still ringing
over his policy reversal, the new president moved on
serenely to other agenda items.
He had the Oval office
steam cleaned, and redecorated with more restrained
furnishings from White House storerooms.
He observed January 21 as
a day of prayer, asking God to grant wisdom, grace and
protection to his new administration. Joining in the
ecumenical service at Washington’s National
Cathedral were Cardinal-elect Theodore McCarrick, Rabbi
Samuel Karff, Protestant Rev. Franklin Graham, Greek
Orthodox Bishop Demetrios, and Rt. Rev. Jane Holmes
Dixon, the Episcopal bishop of Washington.
Next, Bush and wife Laura
accepted a January 25 invitation to dine with Archbishop
McCarrick at his residence—a presidential first.
They were joined by recently retired James Cardinal
Hickey, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, papal nuncio, and
Bishop William Lori.
During his campaign, Bush
said he opposes using federal funds for medical research
on tissue from abortion victims. On January 26, he
reaffirmed his opposition to such research, and mentioned
adult stem cell research as a morally acceptable
alternative.
On January 29, the
president signed another executive order, establishing a
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community
Initiatives, to assist religious groups in obtaining
federal funding for social services. The project provoked
predictable objections from liberals who seem to know
nothing about the history of hospitals or orphan homes
and think it a dangerous novelty that religious
organizations should work to alleviate social problems.
Answering such critics, Bush explained, "We will not
fund the religious activities of any group, but when
people of faith provide social services, we will not
discriminate against them."
Two days later, January
31, Bush discussed the plan with 35 prominent Catholics,
including Francis Cardinal George of Chicago; Archbishop
Edward Egan of New York; Archbishop McCarrick; Archbishop
Charles Chaput of Denver, Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza,
president of the NCCB; Ken Hacket of Catholic Relief
Services; Tom Monaghan of Ave Maria Foundation; and
Father David O'Connell, CM, president of Catholic
University of America.
Deal Hudson, editor of Crisis
magazine, who convened the meeting, said they
represented all the Catholics who manage "the
schools, hospitals, nursing homes, day-care facilities,
orphanages, drug rehabilitation centers, AIDS clinics,
disaster relief services, hospices, and the myriad of
other agencies." Attendees met John DiIulio, the
University of Pennsylvania political science professor
who will head the White House office of Faith-Based
Organizations, and Stephen Goldsmith, chairman of its
national advisory board.
On February 1, at a
crowded National Prayer Breakfast, President Bush asked
Americans for continuing prayer "that everyone in my
administration finds wisdom, and always remembers the
common good." For himself, he said, "I ask only
to be a good and faithful servant of my Lord and my
people."
None of this pleased
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, or
People for the American Way. But major media provided
another surprise: even while John Ashcroft, Bush’s
mild-mannered evangelical nominee for Attorney General,
was being flayed as a "religious and political
extremist" by Senate bigots, the new president was
treated with relative mildness. Outside the camp of
predictable pro-abortion hysterics, he was not
egregiously slandered for his public signals of religious
faith and fellowship.
Bush has a light,
unpretentious touch with reporters, and it is clear that
holding presidential office means being treated with
greater respect. Another factor: after eight years of
fawning indulgence, the media finally lost patience with
the Clintons. The unprecedented excess of last minute
pardons to relatives, collaborators and financial
benefactors somehow tipped the balance, and the New
York Times, the Washington Post, and, tardily,
even the Los Angeles Times, began to denounce the
departed presidential couple.
Long unaccustomed to good
news from Washington, pro-lifers hardly know how to feel
in the face of the religious sympathy they are
encountering there. Are our prayers being answered? Is
this is the real Bush? Is our long national nightmare
over at last?
Admittedly, many political
and religious fissures remain to be repaired in our
social fabric. Americans are still paying for
abortifacient-based population control programs across
the world, and at home they are still paying for surgical
abortions. Hollywood is still targeting the Catholic
Church as the historic enemy of freedom, in loathsome
films like Chocolat. If next week brings
disillusionment, it will be something for which bitter
experience has prepared us.
These are early days, of
course, and the road to a society compatible with
orthodox belief will be arduous at best. But while we
can, let’s dare to hope that God is giving this
nation another chance to achieve its great potential.
[ St. Catherine Review ]
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