By Barb Arland-Fye
Editorial
Open your eyes to another person’s face, listen to that person’s story and learn from it, Dominican Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., advised during a conference at St. Ambrose University in Davenport last month. Great advice for us, individually and collectively, as we seek to deepen our divine friendship with Jesus Christ.
Cardinal Radcliffe’s keynote address on April 24, “How can we give hope to the young?” identified four reasons for hope, one of which is learning — not just through books, classrooms and lectures, but through encounters with others. “I think the foundation of all Christian ministry is learning to read faces and see the vulnerability, the humanity, the loneliness, the hunger that is in every human being,” the cardinal reflected.
He shared a personal example of what that learning looks like. While traveling in Algeria with a fellow Dominican (now Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, O.P., of Algiers), the two Dominicans drove inadvertently into civil conflict. “The car was surrounded and right in front of us, hanging over the windshield, was a young man with a big rock and I thought this could be the end and that everything depended upon us seeing each other,” Cardinal Radcliffe recalled.
“I looked at him and I tried to catch his gaze. All I could see was an angry young man. And then I glimpsed underneath the anger, a young man who was afraid, probably wondering why he had been caught up in all of this. And finally, for a brief moment, I saw a young man whom his mother loved, who I could love.”
In today’s world, where our divisions leave us longing for communion, connection, empathy and understanding, we would benefit from looking beyond the angry, suspicious faces (including our own) to discover what provokes their feelings — and ours. Our friendship with God, which begins with prayer and grows in communal prayer and worship, manifests itself in our treatment of others, friend or foe.
We can begin to thaw the polarization that exists, even in our Church, by sharing questions with one another. “You mightn’t agree on the answers but you share the questions,” Cardinal Radcliffe said during a June 17, 2025, podcast, “The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, SJ” (https://tinyurl.com/5n8jabxw).
So, let’s ask someone whose views are different from our own why they believe what they believe about Church traditions and practices, poverty, immigration, care of the earth and defending the right to life, among other issues. We reject polarization by “appropriating and making (as) our own, the difficult questions people carry around,” as the cardinal told Father Martin.
Two-and-half months ago, Cardinal Radcliffe was in war-torn Ukraine where he expressed his support and solidarity with the local Church and the Dominican communities, according to a Vatican News report March 3. The cardinal told his interviewer, Father Mariusz Krawiec, SSP:
“In times of violence, there is a temptation to close our ears. But we must listen. In our communities, as human beings, we listen to one another — especially when we disagree. It is precisely in disagreement that we can learn from one another. Our world is filled with slogans in which people are not truly trying to think or to open themselves to others. Instead, God’s call is to open our minds and hearts” (https://tinyurl.com/4a5m9x34).
Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio did just that during a May 7 meeting at the Vatican. The two countries’ relationship has chilled over the issues of war and peace, treatment of immigrants and refugees, immigration enforcement, and nuclear weapons. Kudos to the pope and the politician for their willingness to an encounter.
Vatican News, reporting on the meeting, quoted the Holy See Press Office, which said “the ‘cordial talks’ saw both states renew ‘the shared commitment to fostering sound bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America.’”
“Their encounter also included an exchange of views regarding situations on the regional and international levels, with particular attention given to countries experiencing war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations as well as the need to work tirelessly for peace” (https://tinyurl.com/yjazmz8a).
So, let us begin encountering one another, setting aside advantage and animosity, suspicion and cynicism. Take some risks. Attend the public meeting of an organization that you might not be inclined to join as a way to learn more about the supporters of that organization. Volunteer at places where you can encounter people who are hungry or poor — such as a homeless shelter, a food pantry, Information, Referral and Assistance office, or a transitional housing program. Contact a prolife organization about accompanying an expectant mom who chose life over abortion. Engage in jail or prison ministry or become a pen pal to an inmate.
“Our friendship with God, in a way, is based on the fact that God became one of us so that we might share the life of God,” Cardinal Radcliffe said in the podcast with Father Martin. Let us see Christ in our encounters with others, a prerequisite to developing divine friendship with our Triune God.
Barb Arland-Fye
Editor Emeritus, The Catholic Messenger
arland-fyeb@diodav.org
