Opaque Lucidity

The Truth Of Inhumanity

Cardinal Renato Martino, during a news conference in the Vatican yesterday, called the proposed 700-mile border fence between the US and Mexico "an inhuman program, which is what the construction of that wall and all others is." He said this in response to a reporter's question: is the U.S.-Mexican fence the wrong thing to do? (Which is sort of like the old bias stereotype, "Is it true you beat your wife, Mr. Smith?")

There are many cardinals in the Catholic Church and quite a few of them live in Rome. Whenever someone quotes a Church official in the Vatican, I always look at his title. Many times, the priest, bishop or cardinal is speaking for no one but himself. However, the media reports all statements from the Vatican as being from the Pope himself, in the same way that everything Tony Snow mutters is White House policy. While this may not be fair, it is the way of the world. What makes this statement all the more maddening is the fact that the Cardinal was making a statement in Pope Benedict's name before the question and answer period---if he was just stating his personal opinion, it was hardly the time or place to do so.

As an American and someone who has been Catholic his entire life, it is sometimes easy to forget that the Church strives to represent the entire planet, not just American Catholics. That's why the Church is against the death penalty---we may have a system that ensures only the guilty are executed, but not every nation does. So when a cardinal speaks of walls as keeping humans divided, I can understand what he's saying. However, why is a wall along the US border with Mexico at the top of the offensive list? What about the virtual wall built around Chinese dissidents? How about the walls around North Korean political prisoners? More to the point, how about addressing the situation in Mexico which has created the need for a wall in the first place? His Excellency would do well to notice the lack of walls between the US and Canada.

Non-Catholics look at a statement such as this and become dismissive of the Church. I can hardly blame them. The gap between reality and the socialist fantasies perpetuated by the liberation theologists in Rome is becoming wider and wider, and more and more of us are becoming lost in it.