Friday, October 7, 2016

Lepanto, October 7

   ---   open letter   ---

To my Muslim friends on a complex anniversary

Lepanto.

On October 7, Catholics celebrate the feastday of Our Lady of the Rosary. It marks the day in 1571 when Catholics beat the crap out of Muslims in a naval battle for control of the Mediterranean. Two years after the battle, the pope established October 7 as a feastday in honor of Mary, attributing the victory at Lepanto to praying the Rosary.

If you want to remember fights between Christians and Muslims, it’s easy; there have been a lot of them. The Spanish national epic, “El Cid,” is about fighting Muslims. The French national epic, “Le Chanson de Roland,” is about fighting Muslims. Lepanto, oddly, is often a British celebration. A truly great Catholic writer, G.K. Chesterton, wrote a powerful English poem about the battle; 1,357 words, and I can recite it for you from memory if you would like; please provide a solid surface to pound my fist on at critical moments. The English weren’t at the battle, and in fact they are deeply proud that they witnessed the destruction (by God) of the Spanish armada that had fought and won at Lepanto. So it’s odd that the British (British Catholics) celebrate this feastday, but such is the power of poetry.

It’s easy to remember the fights. And fun! But maybe we can do better.

Here’s another oddity that may help. Shakespeare’s fans really love Henry V, about a young king who shook off his youthful habits of debauchery, and became a proud king – “proud” meaning, he was a warrior. Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 version of the play is gorgeous. One scene is right after the Battle of Agincourt, when the English had established themselves as rulers of France. Henry insists that God provided the victory, and everyone sings “Not to us, Lord, but to your name, give glory” (in Latin). BUT: every single person I know who loves that scene (historical fiction) also loves the story of Joan of Arc (history). Joan of Arc was a teenage peasant girl who said she had visions of various saints, who told her to throw the English out and put the Dauphin back on his rightful throne, reversing the work of Henry V. So she did (did I say she was a peasant teenage girl?), and then got burned at the stake, and then got canonized. (The book that Mark Twain considered his best was historical fiction – his re-telling of the story of Joan of Arc.) So: God gave victory to the English over the French, and then gave victory to the French over the English. And both stories are thrilling! Humans are weird!

So I can pound my fist and recite “Lepanto,” and then turn around and sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” about a peaceful town protected under Ottoman rule.

There are people who think the Rosary is – in part, in history – about defeating a dreaded enemy, Muslims. But in the 20th century, two of the greatest nonviolent movements – Solidarity in Poland and the Filipino Revolution – were also products of the Rosary. The Rosary is tied to war in the past: inescapable historical fact. It’s tied to nonviolence in the present: inescapable sociological fact.

Fifty years ago, the pope and bishops of the Catholic Church finished up a Council, the Second Vatican Council. It had lasted three years, and transformed the Church – not changing any fundamental teaching, but transforming the way we interact with others. One of the documents of that Council was “Nostra Aetate,” and it expresses – among other things – our determination to put the wars of the past behind, and to work for mutual understanding. I understand that there are a lot of Catholics who didn’t get the memo; it’s only been 50 years.  But let me quote the thing, because it has changed the way faithful Catholics (I can’t answer for the troglodytes) view Islam:

“The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.”

It continues: “Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom.”  (Nostra Aetate, #3)

Salaam.