IMAGE: CNS/Reuters
By Chaz Muth
LOUISVILLE,
Ky. (CNS) — On a seasonably warm, drizzly Nov. 3 evening, Archbishop Joseph E.
Kurtz drove his white Toyota Avalon up a driveway that leads to the stately
Louisville home of Steve and Kathy Ford.
The
couple graciously agreed to hold a fundraising event for Catholic Extension, a
national organization that supports programs for mission dioceses across the
U.S. and one the 70-year-old archbishop strongly backs.
He
was visibly moved when he heard one of the speakers talk about a prison
ministry made possible by Catholic Extension, an outreach Archbishop Kurtz sees
as essential in Catholic social teaching.
Events
like this one — conducted in the Archdiocese of Louisville, which he has
shepherded for the past decade — bolstered his positive outlook for the future
of the Catholic Church.
It
also offered him an opportunity to reflect on the remaining days of his
three-year term as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which
will conclude at the end of the bishops’ fall general assembly in Baltimore
Nov. 14-16.
Archbishop
Kurtz was elected USCCB president in November 2013, eight months after the
election of Pope Francis.
His
term has been a busy one that saw a flurry of activity at the Vatican, pastoral
trips to typhoon-ravaged Philippines and battle-scarred Ukraine, the Catholic
Church’s struggle over religious liberty issues, a resurgence of U.S. racial
struggles, growing societal polarization, a refugee crisis and the 2015 U.S.
visit of the profoundly popular Pope Francis.
It
would go against Archbishop Kurtz’s affable style to call his tenure an
exhausting exercise in maintaining a dual role as prelate of an archdiocese and
his nation’s representative of the Catholic Church.
Instead,
he told Catholic News Service that three years is the right amount of time to
serve as president of the U.S. bishops’ conference.
“Come
the end of this plenary meeting, I’ll be passing on the baton … figuratively to
whoever is elected as the next president, I will do so gladly, I will say this,
because I think three years is a good portion of time,” Archbishop Kurtz said
during a Nov. 4 interview in the chapel at his archdiocesan chancery. “And I
mean that.”
Once
the archbishop passes that metaphorical baton, he will leave behind six years
of leadership with the U.S. bishops’ conference — his term as president and
his 2010-2013 stint as vice president — though, like other past presidents, he
will remain on conference’s Administrative Board for a year.
“It’s
a wind-down role,” he said. “Be available in case you are needed. But really
it’s a gracious role of saying, ‘I support who is the new president.'”
During
his term, Archbishop Kurtz said he witnessed an exciting period for the
American Catholic Church, with generous giving from U.S. Catholics in response
to the devastating 2013 typhoon in the Philippines, numerous natural disasters
throughout the U.S. and an openness by many to welcome the stranger in response
to the refugee crisis, even when it wasn’t a popular decision to do so.
The
bighearted spirit of American Catholics — to give their time, money and
resources — offers him faith in the future of the church and where it needs to
be.
The
highlight of his presidency, however, has to be the pope’s apostolic journey to
the U.S. in September 2015, Archbishop Kurtz said.
Not
only did that papal visit give Americans an opportunity to forge a closeness
with the celebrated Pope Francis, it allowed the pontiff to witness the
faithfulness of the U.S. people, he said.
More
than a year after that trip, Archbishop Kurtz met with Pope Francis at the
Vatican and reiterated the positive impact it had on the American people and
was gratified when the pontiff said it was fruitful for him as well.
Other
highlights of his presidency include pastoral visits to the Philippines, Haiti,
Ukraine, Bogota, as well as his involvement in the Synods of Bishops on the family
and the Jubilee Year of Mercy, he said.
“I
don’t know how many highlights you can have,” Archbishop Kurtz said, “but there
were so many opportunities I had to interact with, not only our Holy Father,
but with bishop leadership conferences throughout the world and with average
people who I met, often in very difficult circumstances, who gave great hope.”
It’s
in the archbishop’s nature to project optimism, a quality that didn’t elude him
even when asked to respond to difficult topics such as racism, violence, polarization,
economic devastation, religious persecution and the displacement of people
fleeing their war-ravaged homelands.
“It’s
very difficult to be able to embrace a comprehensive plan that the world — in
a sense — can come together and embrace,” Archbishop Kurtz said. “Obviously
the church has always said we have to in some way begin with one person at a
time — the person in front of us.
“With
our bishops’ conference, we’re very, very conscious of the need for us to
support peaceful alternatives right within the devastated areas,” he said.
“Whether we’re talking about Syria and Iraq, or other parts of the world. It’s
very important for us to work with the local episcopal conferences, because
they’re on the scene. They know what can happen.”
In
an effort to welcome the stranger, offer them assistance and provide them with
opportunities for a better life, Archbishop Kurtz points to the church urging
the U.S. Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform with laws that will
not be punitive, but will cultivate the common good.
When
it comes to religious liberty issues, he said the focus has to be primarily on regions
in the world where there is “in-your-face persecution, where people really
don’t have the right to exercise their freedom of religion and — in a sense —
take their own lives in their hands when they try to.”
He
said the church and the human community has not done enough to address these
abominations and must collectively tackle these issues in a meaningful way.
The
archbishop did say Americans probably have taken their own religious freedom
for granted and that legitimate attempts to promote it in this nation are
sometimes unfairly seen as an effort to discriminate.
In
some cases, the church has not effectively articulated its message when it
comes to issues in society that don’t align with church teaching, such as the
legalization of same-sex marriage, Archbishop Kurtz said.
When
the bishops reiterate the church’s teaching that marriage is the union between
one man and one woman and a union that must be open to new life, often he said
it’s interpreted as discriminatory toward people with same-sex attraction.
“They
don’t necessarily hear the need for us to respect the dignity of every person
and call forth that dignity,” Archbishop Kurtz said. “We have challenges in being
able to present it in a new way.”
The
violence and racial division that’s occurred in cities such as St. Louis,
Chicago and Baltimore during his presidency prompted the archbishop to
establish the USCCB Task Force to Promote Peace in Our Communities — chaired
by Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory.
“There
are examples in which people are being judged not by, as Martin Luther King Jr.
had said, the content of their character, but rather by the color of their
skin,” Archbishop Kurtz said. “So, I thought it was important for us to join
with people of goodwill in saying that the church needs to be part of a
solution of creating opportunities.”
The
bishops’ plan to write a pastoral letter on racism, and the church will
actively go into communities and invite people of all ethnic backgrounds to
come together in prayer and solidarity to build harmony and civility.
Though
the archbishop acknowledged these actions are not the only solution to such
divisive issues, he believes it is a start.
The
humanitarian example of Pope Francis guided Archbishop Kurtz as he confronted
each challenge throughout his presidency, which includes societal polarization,
in which people vilify those with philosophical differences.
The
church needs to model the mind and heart of Christ, “which is to see in the
person next to you as a child of God, to be able to listen to people in a civil
way, even to listen to people who may not agree with you,” he said. “To do it
in a way that is thoughtful and serene.”
The
archbishop said the church must emphasize that while everyone should be men and
women of conviction, they should also have the conviction to see the goodness
in the person sitting next to them.
Though
Archbishop Kurtz said he looks forward to a more relaxed pace that his
post-presidency should offer, he said the experience has enriched him
spiritually.
“One
of the benefits of being president is that you see a lot,” he said. “I’ve had a
chance truly to see the richness … of the local churches. Whether I go to St. Cloud,
Minnesota, or to Cincinnati, or to many different parts of our country, invited
to be a part of their local church celebration, it gives me great insights
into, not only the struggles … but also the great signs of hope.”
– – –
Follow
Chaz Muth on Twitter: @Chazmaniandevyl.
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