Archives

A Catholic and his conscience

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Oct 29, 2009

Jon O’Brien of Catholics for Choice

Friends and foes: What do you do when you’re knee-deep in book-writing deadlines, you want to keep your blog fresh and dynamic, and you believe that new voices deserve to be heard on the very themes for which your audience turns to you in the first place? Hell, you share your platform with guest boggers!

With that in mind, let me intro you to Janice Formichella.  An activist for Afghan women, among others, Janice stood out the moment I came to know of her. Propelled by struggles with her own religion, she read of my book, The Trouble with Islam Today, took my  NYU course, “Public Leadership and Moral Courage,” earned among the top grades in that class, and is now campaign director for the Moral Courage Project.

In that capacity, Janice led last summer’s social networking around “The Stoning of Soraya M,” an indie film about the heroic efforts made by Iranian women to challenge human rights abuses in their country.

Janice didn’t worry about whether a “Western feminist” has the right to support Iranian women; as a citizen of the world, she and her conscience powered forth.  I’m glad they did. And I think you’ll enjoy her latest contribution to the theme of moral courage below:

A Catholic and his Conscience

By Janice Formicella

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Jon O’Brien, President of Catholics for Choice. The interview took place first thing on a Monday morning and, I have to say, listening to this activist’s enthusiasm and morally courageous work was the perfect way to begin my week.

Catholics for Choice (CFC) is an organization that seeks to represent Catholics who “disagree with the dictates of the Vatican on matters related to sex, marriage, family life and motherhood.” Jon states that the goal of CFC is to “be an example of Catholicism as lived by normal people” with “an understanding of the world in which we live.” The leadership, he says, have “misunderstandings about sex that have nothing to do with how people live.”

CFC is largely concerned with ending poverty and does a significant amount of work overseas. Jon points out that the Vatican’s attacks on choice do not make as deep an impact in the U.S. as they do internationally. For instance, in the U.S. a Catholic can easily practice the “right to disagree” with the leadership over birth control by going to any drug store to buy condoms or taking the pill; however, those in the global south do not have such luxuries. This is why so many Catholics find it offensive that the church leadership lobbies the UN against distributing condoms.

Although the “uber conservative” Catholic world vision states that Catholics must obey leadership regardless of their views, Jon says that is not a Catholic teaching. In fact, he informed me that as a Catholic, “you are required to follow your conscience.”

I asked Jon to give me an example of such a heritage in the Catholic faith. “Imagine how Galileo’s mother felt,” he said to me. After all, “it took the Vatican 1000 years to forgive him for having scientific integrity and speaking the truth.”

Galileo

Jon also gave the examples of Ted Kennedy and Kevin Dowling, a priest in South Africa who believes that the Catholic hierarchy must change its approach to teaching from one that claims to be “open to life” to one that tries to prevent death.

Like Dowling, Kennedy and Galileo, CFC has come under severe scrutiny from the hierarchy of the Church. However, Jon derives his moral courage from the “knowledge that what we are saying is the truth.”

Having come from a religion with similar troubling positions regarding women and sex, I was curious where CFC stands on working with Catholics who choose to leave the faith. Jon says he is “deeply hurt” to hear of people who have been wounded by the leadership of the church, especially women and gays. However, Jon says that he respects “the moral courage involved in saying ‘I need to go.’”

According to Jon, those who have left the faith “have a great sensitivity to how the institution hurts people.” I asked him if ex-Catholics can stay involved in his movement. His response: “Of course.”

Why do he and others at CFC stay in the Church?  Not because they are afraid to leave, Jon clarifies, “but because we are the Church. The Church is a community of people. Ownership does not reside in the Bishops.”

Jon joked that CFC should be given a retainer for all those who have remained in the faith thanks to the presence of his organization. Jon meets Catholics all the time who have been struggling about “how to stay Catholic,” given their deeply held views. After discovering CFC, people often express relief and remark how great it is to have “representation” after feeling alone for so long.

I was touched by Jon’s dedication to his religion, despite what seem to be the many roadblocks to his faith. But it all seemed to come together when he put it this way: “We are each asked to stand up. If we don’t, there will be nothing left to stand up for.”

By the way, in his new book What the Dog Saw, Malcolm Gladwell tells us about the inventor of the birth control pill — a devout Catholic, it turns out.

Get more info about how the Moral Courage Project can help you stand up for what you believe. Passionately.