As of August, 1963, I was drowning in what now, I see, falls under
the rubric of “new theology”, when an angel sent from on high in the
form of Dr. Herbert Thomas (as in St. Thomas Aquinas) Schwartz
came into my life and transformed it. Thereafter, unless I was doing
research or some such, I never read anything but the Bible, or the
writing of a saint. (I should note that I was in no way whatsoever at
any time tempted to read the “new theologians”, inasmuch as I had
a scant couple of years prior to this been thrown out of Georgetown
Univ. grad school for taking issue with them.)
Prior to that time the writings I had been formed by were Therese of
Lisieux, Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, and
John of the Cross – in that order. Herbert was a Jew who, when he
was doing this doctoral thesis on Aristotle, discovered Aquinas and in
time became Catholic – and this under the influence of the very same
saints.
Until his repose in 1980, I, with my family, lived in the community,
Mt. Hope, of which Herbert was the staretz. He was drawn to the
eastern saints, loved the Philokalia, but even so, I think it was due
to Salinger’s Franny and Zooey that the Jesus Prayer became an
integral part of our lives.
Herbert most forcefully forbade my use of foreign terms or theological
jargon. When, after his repose, I matriculated in another graduate
program – which I also got thrown out of - I saw his point: by that time
I was used to speaking and writing just like everybody talked, so that
everyone understood just exactly what I meant, in fact, that’s why
they got rid of me! They thought I was thumbing my nose at them,
because what they were teaching sounded so idiotic, expressed
in plain everyday language! Although when we call liberation
theology “contextual” – we have to use this somewhat esoteric term,
recognizing how remote what at this time passes for “theology” is
from anything common sense, normal, everyday, comprehensible to
the average intelligence, or to superior intelligence, or – enfin! – to
any intelligence at all!
Moreover, absolutely everything we thought or did with Herbert
was “contextual”, and it was for this reason that it was most often
worked out within the context of popular writings, the latest films, and
the like.
Let me preface what follows by noting that Father Congar was the
one and only “new theologian” I was drawn to – and very much so!
He was among those I wrote to when I planned to spend summer
1963 in Europe with my children – in the slim hope of finding a
mentor (hopefully even a spiritual father) more congenial than those
at Georgetown and environs!!! Fr. Congar’s response was very
warm, but he was spending the summer somewhere as a guest
professor; so as things worked out, it was providential, because I
met Herbert – and the families living with him, and we very soon
became a substantial community, a “polis” in the Aristotelian sense,
definitely a “context” in liberation theology’s usage of the term!
From:
“Katolic Revue” from the Czech Republic interviews Atila Sinke
Guimarães on different topics
“I remember that I asked Cardinal Congar if he could indicate
to me the model for the Church of the future. He gave a curious
answer that I reproduce with my own words. He said: You should
look to your own continent and your country. The future of the
Church will move in the direction of the Liberation Theology of
South American theologians like the Brazilian Leonardo Boff and
the Peruvian Gustavo Gutierrez. Congar was a well-informed and
serious man; he was not just trying to be amiable and please me by
praising Brazil and South America. He was quite convinced of what
he was telling me. When I analyze the direction the Church is taking
today, I often am reminded of Congar’s view of the future Church.
“The recent election in Brazil of a Catholic and Communist, Lula, a
man who owes his entire political existence to the Basic Christian
Communities, which are cell-groups that spread Liberation Theology,
gives a new actuality to this current. Let us see what will happen
there and if this election will have an influence on the direction of
the future Church. At any rate, this recent fact draws attention to
Congar’s prediction.”
So does another recent fact, and in a fresh news item:
Economies in Latin America Race Ahead
The New York Times
By SIMON ROMERO
June 30, 2010
LIMA, Peru — While the United States and Europe fret over huge
deficits and threats to a fragile recovery, this region has a surprise
in store. Latin America, beset in the past by debt defaults, currency
devaluations and the need for bailouts from rich countries, is
experiencing robust economic growth that is the envy of its northern
counterparts.
Strong demand in Asia for commodities like iron ore, tin and gold,
combined with policies in several Latin American economies that help
control deficits and keep inflation low, are encouraging investment
and fueling much of the growth. The World Bank forecasts that the
region’s economy will grow 4.5 percent this year.
Recent growth spurts around Latin America have surpassed the
expectations of many governments themselves. Brazil, the region’s
rising power, is leading the regional recovery from the downturn of
2009, growing 9 percent in the first quarter from the same period
last year. Brazil’s central bank said Wednesday that growth for 2010
could reach 7.3 percent, the nation’s fastest expansion in 24 years.
After a sharp contraction last year, Mexico’s economy grew 4.3
percent in the first quarter and may reach 5 percent this year, the
Mexican government has said, possibly outpacing the economy in the
United States.
Smaller countries are also growing fast. Here in Peru, where
memories are still raw of an economy in tatters from hyperinflation
and a brutal, two-decade war against Maoist rebels that left almost
70,000 people dead, gross domestic product surged 9.3 percent in
April from the same month of last year.
“We’re witnessing what are probably the best economic conditions
in Peru in my lifetime,” said Mario Zamora, 70, who owns six
pharmacies in Los Olivos, a bustling working-class district of northern
Lima where thousands of poor migrants from Peru’s highlands have
settled.
Vibrancy mixes with grit around his pharmacies. A Domino’s Pizza
vies for customers with Peruvian-Chinese restaurants called chifas.
Motorcycle taxis deliver passengers to nightclubs. Competition, in the
form of a newly arrived Chilean pharmacy chain, looms around the
corner from his main store….
While Europe was gripped by fears of contagion from Greece’s debt
crisis, the credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s upgraded Bolivia in
May, citing its sound public finances.
Latin America’s growth largely reflects a deepening engagement with
Asia, where China and other countries are also growing fast. China
surpassed the United States last year as Brazil’s top trading partner,
and is the second largest trading partner in countries like Venezuela
and Colombia, Washington’s top ally in the region….
Other economists, including Nicolás Eyzaguirre, director of the
Western Hemisphere department of the International Monetary Fund,
suggest that low international interest rates, another factor supporting
Latin America’s growth, will not last much longer. Even so, they
applaud home-grown policies that are supporting growth.
Chile, for instance, saved revenues from copper exports when
commodities prices climbed, allowing it to enact a stimulus plan last
year and rebound from the February earthquake. Chile’s economy
grew 8.2 percent in April from the previous month, its biggest
increase since 1996.
“This time around, the positive shock is probably even better, since
some countries saved at least part of their windfall from the good
years,” Mr. Eyzaguirre said.
Within the fund itself, Latin America’s recovery is translating into new
political sway, particularly for Brazil, which has paid its debt to the
fund and is seeking to enhance its voting stake in it. As Brazil posts
China-level growth, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is nurturing
soft-power ambitions, with ventures like a state television station that
will broadcast to African nations.
David Rothkopf, a former Commerce Department official in the
Clinton administration, pointed to the dozens of embassies and
consulates that Mr. da Silva has opened around the world.
“Like other Latin American countries, Brazil needs to improve its
infrastructure and train more engineers,” Mr. Rothkopf said, “but it
embodies the rise of emerging powers, one of the great themes of
this century.”
Peru, whose economic growth is expected to rival or outstrip Brazil’s
over the next several years, exemplifies the challenges remaining in a
sizzling economy.
The country boasts nimble companies like Ajegroup, founded during
the chaos of the 1980s. Now the company’s soft drinks compete with
giants like Coca-Cola, not just in Peru but in other Latin American
countries as well.
Foreign investment has flowed into Peru, largely in mining. But
this investment reveals both weaknesses and strengths. Mining
accounts for about 8 percent of economic activity, but about half of
tax revenues, creating problems if commodities prices fall, said Pedro
Pablo Kuczynski, a former finance minister here.
Deep inequalities also persist, especially between the capital, Lima,
and the Andean highlands and the forests of the Amazon basin,
where factions of the Shining Path guerrilla group feed off the cocaine
trade. As much as 70 percent of the labor force still works outside
the tax system, depriving workers of benefits and the government of
revenue.
But some of what glitters in Peru’s boom seems to be paving the
way for lasting prosperity. Felipe Castillo, 60, mayor of Los Olivos,
is investing tax proceeds in a new low-tuition municipal university
for 4,000 students. He gazed recently at the 11-story structure, in a
slum that has begun to take on the trappings of a lower-middle-class
district.
“Maybe the students at this institution will look at the mistakes of our
economic policy in the past as the tragic features of a bygone era,”
Mr. Castillo said.
Andrea Zárate contributed reporting from Lima
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Although we see that the newfound prosperity can by no means in
and of itself dispel the moral depravity which was generated and
fed by economic inequity and injustice resulting from self will and
greed, especially when these remain hallmarks of the Church and
what passes for “religious” society – cf. Mel Gibson, who was even
received in audience by Pope John Paull II. Our western society,
and, by and large the religion, Christian or other, (mal)practiced
within it, has by now been for generations radically secularized.
Police: Brazilian goalie watched slaying of former girlfriend
By the CNN Wire Staff
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Bruno Souza refused to answer questions on girlfriend's
disappearance, police say Police say Souza watched as victim was asphyxiated, mutilated and eventually fed to dogs
Attorney says suspect, two others deny allegations
(CNN) -- A Brazilian goal keeper, whom police named a prime
suspect in the disappearance and murder of a woman said to be
his former girlfriend, has refused to answer questions on his alleged
involvement, police said Friday.
Investigators in the state of Minas Gerais said Bruno Fernandes Das
Dores de Souza, who played for Flamengo football club, orchestrated
the murder of Eliza Samudio, 25. Her body remains missing a month
after her disappearance.
Minas Gerais police investigator Wagner Pinto told reporters
Thursday that Souza watched as Samudio was asphyxiated,
mutilated and eventually fed to dogs. He said the details surfaced
during a confession from Souza's 17-year-old cousin.
During the alleged confession, the cousin details how he worked
with two of Bruno's friends -- Luiz Henrique Ferreira Romao,
nicknamed "Spaghetti," and former policeman Marcos Aparecido dos
Santos, known as "Bola." Both men have been arrested in connection
with the investigation.
"They tied her hands, and this other individual strangled her," Pinto
said, referring to Santos. Later they deboned and disemboweled her,"
Pinto said.
The woman's body was taken to an undisclosed location where her
remains were fed to several Rottweilers, police said.
The cousin told investigators that he witnessed Souza watching the
entire incident, Pinto said.
Souza's former attorney, Michel Assef Filho, told reporters Thursday
that "Bruno has only said that he has no knowledge of the facts, he is
astonished and scared by his cousin's testimony and that's it."
Filho stopped representing Souza when the Flamengo Club
suspended Souza's contract, as the attorney works on behalf of the
club.
His new attorney, Ercio Quaresma, said Souza, Romao and dos
Santos deny all accusations.
All three are being held at a high-security prison in Contagem, Minas
Gerais, after they were escorted from Rio de Janeiro in a police-
chartered jet.
Souza and Romao were taken to the Minais Gerais police department
for questioning Friday morning. Both refused to answer questions, a
police spokesman told CNN.
So far, seven people have been arrested in connection with the case,
including Souza's wife, Dayane.
The football star was last seen with Samudio in June as they headed
for his country home in the state of Minas Gerais. Officials in Minas
Gerais are still searching for Samudio's body.
On Thursday, the Flamengo Club stated it "is not involved in
any way" with the case. The club said it is suspending Souza's
contract "until all the facts" are known.
CNN's Ingrid Formanek and Journalist Luciani Gomes contributed to
this report.
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