Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini died Friday, August 31, 2012. He was 85. If it were not for his obituary I would never have known of this remarkable man. He was a Jesuit and former archbishop of the archdiocese of Milan. He was also rare in the Catholic world because of his liberal disposition toward open discussion on many controversial issues like the use of condoms for those with HIV-AIDS, particularly for married couples. He considered it the lesser of two evils.
He was open to discussions about homosexuality, priestly celibacy,artificial procreation, embryo donation and euthanasia. He had no fear that talking would lead to the breakdown of his beloved religion. He seemed to know, like Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, a highly regarded teacher who taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York in the mid twentieth century, that cultures and religions, that do not evolve will ultimately die.
In his book The Bishop he wrote that a bishop must not guide his flock with decrees and prohibitions only. “Instead point to the interior formation, on the love and fascination with the Sacred Scripture, present the positive reasons for what we do according to the Gospel. You will obtain much more than with rigid calls to observe norms.”
He died, too soon. Too many, today, turn to decrees and prohibitions out of fear. In order to feel as if they have some control over their lives, they speak of rules, dogma that if implemented will control the lives of others. I speak of the Social Conservatives in the United States but there are fundamentalists worldwide who feed on fear and preach rigid ritual. The most recent attacks by the Republican party against the freedom of women is an example. They want to return to an archaic time when patriarchy was prioritized.and misogyny was embedded within the culture.They justify their position with rigid religious dogma and this is an abuse of religion.
Cardinal Martini was also a man of the world. He reached out to others, to learn about them. He spent several of his final years in Jerusalem. He has written many books and articles on the relationship between Christianity and Judaism. .
“Without a sincere feeling for the Jewish world, and a direct experience of it, one cannot fully understand Christianity. Jesus if fully Jewish, the apostles are Jewish, and one cannot doubt their attachment to the traditions of their forefathers.”
The Cardinal reminds us that the commonalities between Christians and Jews are far greater than our differences. We both preach the ethical monotheism that was revealed at Mount Sinai, the ethic that is the underpinnings of western culture-our culture. It is an ethic of compassion, an ethic that we are losing in this culture of fear.
I regret that I did not know of him when he was alive. His writings, though, will continue to be a light unto the nations. May he rest in peace.
Shalom
