by Ray Flynn
Former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican
I found this book while searching about for something other than Stories of Karol to assign to First Son for his Mater Amabilis™ ™ Level 4 Catholic saints and heroes.
Ray Flynn was mayor of Boston and, later, U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican. And a faithful Catholic Democrat. This book is not a biography or an analysis of the Pope's political activities. It is nothing more or less than Mr. Flynn's personal recollections of the times he encountered Pope St. John Paul II, including a few episodes before he became pope.
He attended World Youth Day in Denver in 1993. Mr. Flynn wandered around a bit, speaking with the young people. When asked why they were so excited to see the Pope, why they were willing to sleep on the floor on a classroom, they answered:
"Not just because he's the pope, but because he's the kind of pope he is. Because he doesn't just tell us what we want to hear. He tells the truth--even when it's hard for us to hear sometimes. That's how we know we can trust him. That's why we love him so much. That's why we came all this way to see him."During his time as ambassador, Mr. Flynn visited Poland. While there, he visited many of the sites of Pope St. John Paul II's childhood, youth, and early priesthood. He includes stories of Karol as a young boy and young priest.
Quite a few chapters cover the Cairo Conference in 1994. In the months leading up to the conference, the Holy Father spoke repeatedly about the evil of abortion. Mr. Flynn worked tirelessly to get the Clinton administration to talk with the Pope, to listen to him, and to to amend their position. But they did not. In the end, it cost Flynn his political future.
I lost a lot over Cairo. My relationships with the president, the White House, and the State Department were never the same afterward. But I did learn something, and it was John Paul II who taught it to me. I've always thought of politics as the art of compromise, and I always prided myself on being able to bring people together, even over issues that divide them. During the Cairo controversy, though, the pope showed me that sometimes--when morality is at stake--there can be no compromise, no way to bring people together. All you can to [sic] is to try to persuade them to do what's right and pray for them if they don't.There are lots of Pope St. John Paul II quotes in the book, ones I assume were confirmed with a copy of the text (though I didn't check any of them myself). People are always giving speeches and I rarely listen to any of them; I think most people don't. We may read bits and pieces of them in the news but we don't really listen. One of the aspects of the book I appreciated was how Mr. Flynn sought out Pope St. John Paul II and seemed to listen carefully and consider all he said. One of these, was the Pope's address to the UN on the eve of its fiftieth anniversary.
Then, in a remarkable passage in which he showed himself to be both theologian and politician, he explained how "every culture is an effort to ponder the mystery of the world and in particular of the human person....The heart of every culture is its approach to the greatest of all mysteries: the mystery of God." He proclaimed, "True patriotism never seeks to advance the well-being of one's own nation at the expense of others. For in the end this would harm one's own nation as well: doing wrong damages both aggressor and victim."Abortion wasn't the only difficult subject addressed in the book. Near the end, Mr. Flynn remembers the Pope's teachings on capital punishment.
Capital punishment is also a difficult issue to talk about. It's hard to be rational over an issue charged with emotions--such as pain, anger, and revenge. It is particularly hard when the media focus on the obvious harm inflicted on victims and their families by criminals but pay little attention to the more subtle harm done to a society that kills human beings, guilty though they might be.This book isn't exactly a biography, but I think it's an excellent introduction to Pope St. John Paul II within the context of his papacy and contemporary society. It is immersed in the twentieth century, which is the focus for First Son in eighth grade. Difficult political issues like abortion and capital punishment force Mr. Flynn to make decisions about how he's going to balance his faith and his career. His respect for Pope St. John Paul II is not simply respect for the papacy, but admiration and esteem for the wisdom and compassion of the man.
First Son will read about three chapters a week from this book, which will take about ten weeks. He will not narrate from it, but it is one of the books from which he can choose to copy passages into his commonplace book.
