By Patrick Schmadeke
Evangelization in the World Today
I was 10 years old on Sept. 11, 2001. I remember the events of that morning vividly — our teacher was summoned to the hallway, an announcement from the principal, our eyes glued to the classroom television. I remember with equal vividness the feelings of patriotic unity that followed. These feelings were cultivated through multiple experiences: a poster in the school hallway of first responders with the twin towers in the background was a daily reminder of the tragic event and the heroic attempts to rescue victims; the popular “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” by Toby Keith gave voice to a certain primal fervor, and was trendy among my fellow middle schoolers in part for the not-so-virtuous use of a single but energetically delivered curse word; the annual music recital for 3rd graders included a performance of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” with American flags lining the left and right walls of the church. This final experience left me uneasy. I remember feeling conflicted as I sat in the balcony — I liked Greenwood’s song, but also thought it felt out of place in church. The tension between being patriotic and being Catholic is real. We want to do both well, but it isn’t easy — the waters between religious commitment and national affiliation have always been murky.
Out of the 2,865 paragraphs in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the terms “patriotic” and “patriotism” do not appear even once. The same is true of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (583 paragraphs long) and Fratelli Tutti (287 paragraphs long). The omission is no accident. Patriotism and faithfulness to Christ are not the same thing. The USCCB’s Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship and Vatican II’s Gaudium et Spes use the term in ways that clarify a Catholic approach to patriotism.
In an Introductory Note, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship reminds us that patriotism is a matter of love of country. Here’s the full quote: “As Catholics and Americans, we are blessed to be able to participate in our nation’s political and public life. Our freedoms respect the dignity of individuals and their consciences and allow us to come together for the common good. Election seasons, therefore, should contain a sense of gratitude and hope. Our love for this country, our patriotism, properly impels us to vote.”
In Gaudium et Spes, the bishops of the world gathered in ecumenical council taught that our love of country must lead us to love all humanity. Here’s the full quote: “Citizens must cultivate a generous and loyal spirit of patriotism, but without being narrow-minded. This means that they will always direct their attention to the good of the whole human family, united by the different ties which bind together races, people and nations.” (GS #75)
We have before us two compatible ideas: 1) we should develop a love for our country, and 2) that love should extend beyond borders to all people. Therefore, any love of country that does not extend to people beyond national borders is not a genuine love of country, at least from the vantage point of the long and universal view of salvation history that Catholicism takes. There have always been more narrow-minded views on offer in our culture, of course.
We might also take a cue from St. Paul, who in a letter to the Corinthian Christians articulates what is unique about the Christian understanding of love in communal life. For Paul, love is:
Patient
Kind
Not jealous
Not pompous
Not inflated
Not rude
Does not seek its own interests
Not quick-tempered
Does not brood over injury
Does not rejoice over wrongdoing
Rejoices with the truth
Bears all things
Believes all things
Hopes all things
Endures all things
Never fails
It is easy to point out the ways in which public personas are pompous, inflated, rude, seek their own interests, and are quick-tempered. It is also easy to see this as an absence of love, and therefore an absence of authentic patriotism, at least in a Catholic sense.
What is difficult is turning the mirror on oneself. Such a turning may yield grass-roots efforts that shirk the heat of nationalistic fervor in favor of a calm and constant love of God and neighbor. Such a turning will look something like what Paul had in mind for the Corinthian Christians.
(Patrick Schmadeke is director of evangelization for the Diocese of Davenport.)
