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| Cardinal Patrick A. O'Boyle: Stand firm in the faith! |
Patrick Cardinal O’Boyle was a civil rights pioneer, and a strong voice for personal morality. In a time when the nation is so bitterly divided that we don’t expect Congress to pass a budget, let alone any other significant bill, we need a Church that is capable of love and justice. It’s crazy when the right (pro-family, pro-morality) and left (pro-immigrant, pro-justice) wings of the Church attack each other! Every single healthy bird on the planet has two wings! Every single prophet in the history of the Church has called for morality and justice, both! How did we get so polarized? Can we stop it?
Recall Cardinal O’Boyle, and celebrate his work!
On August 28, the nation will mark the 50th anniversary of a great event in our history, the March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. It was a great event in the midst of great change. Understanding the speech matters. It was about America, not about African Americans. It was grounded solidly in Scripture (particularly Amos and Isaiah), not neutral secularism. And it was a culmination of decades or labor, as well as a call to a new future. It had roots – including the work of Cardinal O’Boyle. When King spoke, honest observers across the country knew that desegregation without violence was possible – because O’Boyle had done it in his archdiocese. We should celebrate King’s speech, but not forget Cardinal O’Boyle!
O’Boyle was a civil rights pioneer. After he was appointed as the first archbishop of the newly independent archdiocese, one of his first initiatives was to de-segregate the churches. He worked hard to avoid publicity, because he thought the glare of cameras tempted people to adopt rigid postures, but he never stopped pressing. He was a strong voice for justice.
He is also remembered for his determination to protect the Church’s clear teaching about human sexuality and family life. In 1968, after Pope Paul VI published his encyclical on birth control, Humanae Vitae, O’Boyle fought fiercely to ensure that Catholics in his archdiocese heard the teaching proclaimed without ambiguity or apology. If sex and babies are unrelated, if sex is merely a game and babies are optional, then a deep aspect of human life is downgraded, women can become toys, and families can be smashed apart. He saw clearly that the work of King could be undermined completely by a new assault on family life.
O’Boyle was a far-left liberal in 1967. He was an ultra-right conservative in 1969. Without moving. Or (maybe) he was just an honest and consistent Catholic leader in a time of deep divisions.
In August, remember his work! Celebrate his life! Embrace his vision!