Chicago’s Cardinal Cupich urges empathy
[T]he church must grow in empathy. In fact, this is what the church pledges to do in the documents of the Second Vatican Council as it claims [that’s all?] to be linked with humanity . . . [bold face, italics added throughout]
“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts” (“Gaudium et Spes”).
As for empathy . . .
The cardinal connects it with
the horrific attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and the call of President Joseph Biden to lower the temperature of our political and civic discourse (see my statement below).
Alas, the statement below is missing, neither linked nor found, only the killer message “Page Not Found. The page you are looking for is either no longer available or have [sic] moved to somewhere else.”
A pity, but one must soldier on.
One way we might achieve that would be for each of us to reflect on our need to connect with one another at the level of our common humanity as vulnerable, mortal beings.
Definitely.
This terrible attack, not only on a former president but also on our very democratic norms, revealed how desperately in need of healing our nation is.
Yes.
In one tragic moment, we were reminded of our own vulnerability to our epidemic of violence.
Some of us far more than others, of course.
When even a former president is targeted, we cannot help but wonder: Who is safe from this scourge?
Well, it’s not quite what I cannot help but wonder, in view of, ah, the specificity of the danger faced by a presidential candidate, especially one being widely likened to Hitler.
The cardinal concludes:
It is time to connect with each other on this basic human level of our common vulnerability and suffering, and with empathy chart a new course for how we engage, and indeed love one another.
Always a good time for that, and being reminded of it, for that matter, for which we must thank the cardinal.