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Home / Meet the Bishops / Allen Vigneron / Statements & Homilies / Remarks at Civic Prayer Breakfast
Archbishop Vigneron's Remarks at Interfaith / Civic Prayer Breakfast
Monday, February 2, 2009
Book Cadillac Hotel, Detroit
Dear Friends,
-- Many of you friends of long-standing, welcoming me back to Detroit,
-- Others, new friends, welcoming me among you for the first time,
All of you, dear friends.
1. It is a great joy for me to be with you, distinguished leaders of the religious and civic communities of Southeast Michigan, during these very first days of my tenure as the chief shepherd of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. I am especially grateful for your having taken time from your pressing duties to be part of this morning's Prayer Breakfast. I thank the Lord God that my installation has provided this providential opportunity for us to meet once again and, as we pray for the well-being of our region and our state, our nation and our world, to commit ourselves once more to work together, each of us in her or his own way, to advance the well-being of those we serve.
One of my particular joys this morning is that Rabbi Krakoff, of Congregation Shaarey Zedek, read for us the passage from the Book of Genesis. Rabbi, seeing you could not help but bring to mind your great predecessor, Doctor Morris Adler, the first Rabbi I was ever privileged to meet. In 1965, when we were only Juniors in the High School Seminary, Rabbi Adler graciously welcomed us in person to the then new synagogue on Northwestern Highway, of which he seemed so very proud. Two memories in particular stand out from the afternoon. First, was the Rabbi's wise sensitivity as a teacher, in instructing us about the practice of rising in respect when the Torah is brought out from its ark. How kind he was in this way to let us have some share in the act of reverence which is so proper to our Jewish sisters and brothers. The second was inviting us outside to see the booths that were erected for the Feast of Tabernacles. I'd like to say that the focus of my memories was on the shape and character of the booths. Honestly, what I best remember from that part of the visit was the cakes he offered us.
I will be honest in admitting that in recalling my visit to Shaarey Zedek I am indulging a bit in the sort of nostalgia that goes along with returning home. But it is more than nostalgia. It is a way to affirm that all the years of my formation as a priest, both before I was ordained and in the some 33 years that have followed, I have made it my aim to grow in appreciation for the variety of faith communities in which the Catholic Church lives her life, and out of that appreciation to participate in fraternal dialogue, and, as a fruit of that dialogue, to work together in solidarity for the common good.
Part of my education about how to be an Inter-faith partner came through my service as Cardinal Maida's Assistant Bishop. As one example, I would mention his charge to me to participate actively in the Michigan Roundtable, and, while I hope I made a useful contribution to our efforts, I can say that the experience was very enriching for me personally. I am very grateful for the path of inter-religious cooperation Cardinal Maida has marked out for me, as his successor; and, not only for myself but also for us all, I want here to pay tribute to him for his leadership in this area.
In this connection I want also to recall the charge Cardinal Maida gave me on the day he ordained me a bishop: that I work with leaders of other faiths and with all persons of good will to protect the rights of the infirm from the attempts then underway to legalize euthanasia. I remember with particular appreciation my interactions with the followers of Islam and with their imams, with whom I have learned we Catholic pastors have so much in common. On the foundation of such experiences I have been able to build more fully my ministry in Oakland, as I became better acquainted with the rich variety of religious traditions that have sprung from the soil of Asia, east and west.
I will do my best to build on what Cardinal Maida has accomplished, and I hope you will find me to be an equally reliable partner and useful contributor to our common efforts to strengthen the City of Detroit and the other communities of this region through the wise insights and energy for action that come from religious belief and identity.
2. In a gathering such as ours it is most appropriate for us to have listened to the account of the creation of the original man and woman from the first book of the Torah. For many of us here this text serves as a privileged witness to the foundational conviction which those who worship the One God and call Abraham their father bring to all human affairs: namely, the conviction that the human race came into existence through the free and deliberate act of God, who is the author and creator of the whole cosmic order.
It is this conviction which flowered in that affirmation from the Declaration of Independence which even today stirs the heart of every American: "… that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
For us, as a free people, the firmness of our conviction about the relationship of all human beings with their Creator forms the final and irreducible bulwark against tyranny, even the tyranny of a possible majority. The dignity and liberties of each and all come from God and no other source. They are not granted by any person, party or government, and so they can never be abrogated by any person, party or government.
3. The story of the sixth day of creation, in telling us that the human race comes from God, also affirms that the Creator entrusted the work of his hands to our care. The earth is his, not ours. As the psalmist says: "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein" (Ps. 24:1). We are God's stewards, and the measure of our stewardship is his plan for the world.
This conviction about our stewardship is the foundation for our understanding of politics and public service. The sovereignty which we, as a free people, exercise over our nation, we exercise with an authority that ultimately derives from the Creator. In the end we are accountable to him for the way we shape the world. And what is true for a sovereign people is all the more true for those leaders who govern in our name.
To affirm that the exercise of civil authority is rooted in God's plan for the world, far from lessening the dignity of public service, enhances it. This affirmation underscores the fact that our political officials participate in God's own authority, as long as they govern according to his plan. As one of Detroit's religious leaders, I want, as one of the first forms of service which I offer to our civic community, to acknowledge the importance of the service we receive from our elected and appointed officials. Our well-being depends to a great extent on your wisdom and virtue, your devotion and hard work. This is no easy burden, and we are grateful that for love of our nation and its communities you are willing to bear it. On behalf of the Catholic community of the region, and I am sure I speak as well for the other religious leaders present today, we promise the support of our prayers.
4. The help of our prayers to God for our public officials is not the only form of assistance which religion gives to the civil order. There is also the indispensable role that religion plays in shaping the moral virtue of our nation's citizens. George Washington himself acknowledged this fact in his "Farewell Address." For over two centuries America's churches and temples, synagogues and mosques, and other houses of worship have been the schools for that right co nduct and high principle without which our Constitution, no matter how brilliantly drafted or insightfully interpreted, would become a dead letter. Again, I make bold to speak for all of us religious leaders here today in reaffirming our commitment to maintain our congregations as these places for teaching the virtues that are the only real guarantee of our freedom.
Among these virtues I would like, simply because of the limits of our time, to name three that I view as particularly important for us to cultivate. The first is "a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all." In Catholic social teaching this virtue goes by the name of "solidarity." We might also think of it as the virtue of "making myself my brother's keeper." The second is the virtue of civil peace, that disposition which roots out all forms of racism, ethnic bias, and discrimination. In a community like ours, which is the home to people of so many diverse backgrounds and with some very tragic moments of ethnically or racially motivated violence, this virtue must be part of the ethical instruction which we pastors and religious guides impart to those who share our faith. And third, I would mention hope. As we face the daunting challenges which everyone agrees lie before us in the months ahead, we religious leaders must, again and again, call our people to that vision, rooted in confidence in God and his unfailing assistance, which will sustain us through this hour of testing.
5. I am convinced that the fostering of these three virtues is a most important contribution which we religious leaders can make to our fellow-citizens and to our civic officials, who have the responsibility for charting the path toward the economic recovery of our region. While shaping a new economy may be the most pressing agenda item for our community, it is not the only one. We cannot lose sight of the fact that we must provide the opportunity for an excellent education to every child and young person in our community. If we are faithful to the impulses that spring from the virtues of solidarity, civil peace-making and hope, we will not delay in tackling this problem. Indeed, it is hard to imagine how there can be any long-term economic recovery that is not built upon the strengthening of our schools – those that the government runs and those others to which parents, in the just exercise of their fundamental rights, chose to send their children.
As one who holds with firm and unwavering conviction that the struggle to vindicate the right to life from conception to natural death is a struggle to ensure the equal protection of our laws for every human being, I have the hope that those who disagree with me on this matter will, through their practice of solidarity and civil peace-making, eventually be led by the inherent logic of these virtues to see what appears so clear to me.
And finally, these three virtues which I have named will lead our community to strengthen family life, which is the ultimate ground for the health of our community. From my own religious confession I stand before you today as a witness to the preeminent importance of family life. One point of wisdom which the Church feels compelled to share with you is this: that whatever weakens families will weaken America; whatever strengthens families will make our nation stronger.
6. I am mindful that there are some voices which would call into question the role in the public square which I have marked out for religion this morning. Perhaps there is no better rejoinder to their challenge than to reflect on the historical experience of the members of the African-American community, so many of whom I am privileged to call my neighbors in this city and in this region. It is a great stain upon the history of our nation that the freedom of all of their forbearers was not recognized in the Constitution as it was first adopted. In God's providential guidance of our country's affairs, this injustice was eventually corrected. Religion played an indispensable role in the accomplishment of this noble cause of emancipation. While there are cogent theoretical arguments for the contribution which religion makes to the common good, for us in Detroit and in Southeast Michigan might it not be history itself that speaks most eloquently on behalf of religion as the school for the civic virtues our nation requires in order to achieve its destiny?
7. Earlier I spoke of the help which religion is to our country and its public servants through the prayers we believers offer on their behalf. Let us conclude, then, with prayer. We know that so much needs to be done in order to strengthen the fabric of our community through the works of solidarity, and we know that achieving our aspirations is only possible with God's assistance. And as we conclude our prayer, let us give thanks to Almighty God for the freedoms we enjoy, even as we pledge to him that we will do our part to see that we use these freedoms to build up our community so that those who come after us will inherit them undiminished.
May God the Almighty bless and support us as we seek to build a community of solidarity, of civil peace and hope in the greater Detroit area and beyond.
Amen.
Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Solicitudo rei socialis (30 December 1987), n. 38.
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