Also, to the surprise of many, the fists unclench.
In a bewildering twist of events, Catholic journalist Deal Hudson recently interviewed Pastor John Hagee, whose anti-Catholicism was denounced by John McCain after an endorsement of the Republican presidential candidate. The
sit-down covered a number of topics, and, some say, went a long way toward bridging an ecumenical divide.
Hagee suffers from a crippling naivete on certain matters, as evidenced by his knee-jerk response to the reason for the meeting:
"Deal, how can people think I am anti-Catholic when my wife is an ex-Catholic, and a third of my congregation are former Catholics?"
He's like a marshmallow covered jawbreaker, for crying out loud!
I feel a genuine compassion for the man, despite the fact that I've at times been driven up the wall by his code-cracking approach to the book of Revelation. One at times forgets that talking heads are attached to human bodies, indwelt by human souls. I think of my own ivory tower isolationist tendencies when I read things like the following:
Hagee not only recognized why his account could look one-sided, but he also admitted that he knew little about the heroic efforts of many Catholics to defend the Jews, especially during World War II. I gave him a copy of the encyclical read from the pulpit of every Catholic Church in Germany in 1937, Mit Brennender Sorge ('With Burning Concern- an encyclical against Nazism),of Pius XI. I explained to him that the author was actually Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, the future Pius XII, and how Jews welcomed his election because he was already known as their defender.
Hagee also confessed to Hudson that he had never heard of Maximillian Kolbe, or any of the other thousands of priests and religious who were rounded up and executed alongside Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
I had the opportunity to draw up a radio interview for Hudson this morning, and, for someone who had been presumably numbered among the blood-drinkers of the martyrs by Hagee, Hudson was surprisingly gentle in his criticism of Hagee's antagonism. The two exchanged literature, and Hudson spoke warmly of the charity that Hagee had extended to some Ursuline nuns a few years back.
There was an embittered time in my life when the Falwells, the Bakers, and the Hagees of this world were destined for an unending flamebath, according to my own ruling from my self-appointed judgment throne. Hate is much easier than love. These days, I'm more prone to remember that I'm sitting in someone else's seat, and will have to get up when He arrives.
