Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' review of JD Vance's book, Communion

Thanks to Jean for pointing out Archbishop Rowan Williams' review in The Guardian of JD Vance's book:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jun/29/communion-finding-my-way-back-to-faith-by-jd-vance-review-veep-behnd-the-curtains

He read the book so I don't have to. Here are some excerpts from his review:

"At the heart of this strange, perhaps rather poignant, book is the biblical question: “What must I do to be saved?”

Are we a democracy or a republic?

 Actually, we're both.  There was a good article on NPR:

Is America a democracy or a republic? Yes, it is : NPR

"What do we call the system of government in the U.S.? Are we a democracy or a republic?The conundrum is, well, as the common expression goes, "as old as the republic itself."

"But it's not just a question for scholars and semanticists any more."

What ChatGPT Told Me About Jesus and the Woman at the Well

 The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well is found in the Gospel of John, chapter 4. It is one of the longest and most theologically rich conversations Jesus has with anyone in the Gospels.

The Traditional View: A Sinful Woman

For many centuries, Christians often assumed she was a sexually immoral woman. The reasoning was straightforward:

"You have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband." (John 4:18)

Many sermons portrayed her as an outcast whose immoral life was exposed by Jesus. Her coming to the well at noon ("the sixth hour") was often interpreted as evidence that she was shunned by other women and therefore avoided the cooler morning hours.

However, modern scholars are much more cautious about this interpretation.

Was She Really Immoral?

The text itself never calls her a sinner, adulteress, prostitute, or immoral woman.

In fact, John's Gospel is usually quite willing to identify sin explicitly when it wishes to do so.

Several points argue against the traditional interpretation:

1. Women Had Little Control Over Marriage

In the ancient world, women generally could not initiate divorce (except in some regions and circumstances). If she had been married five times, the causes could have included:

• Widowhood
• Divorce by her husbands
• Levirate marriage obligations
• Economic necessity

A woman who survived multiple husbands might be more a victim of circumstances than a perpetrator of sin.

The fourth way out

There is a fourth way for the Trump presidency to end.  We all know of the first three ways, death, impeachment with a conviction, or the 25th Amendment. The fourth way is resignation. I actually didn't think of this, it was James Carville who voiced the idea:

Joan Chittister - The Sexist Church I Love

 I receive Joan Chittister's emails, and own several of her books.  I have met her more than once at the Washington National Cathedral when she was invited to give talks, or a homily.  The Bishop of the Washington Diocese, Maryann Budde, is a big fan of Sister Joan.  At one talk, given after the liturgy in which she gave the homily, a woman stood up and said "I am a Catholc woman. Why do I have to go to an Episcopal church to hear Sister Joan speak or give a homily".  The reaction rippled through the congregation- it was clear that she was only one of many Catholic (or formerly Catholic) women in the congregation. There was applause.  This article is from Sister Joan's email today.  

A funeral for death by violence

Last week, I presided at a funeral liturgy for two murder victims.

Pope Leo at the Sagrada Familia

 This is one of many videos available of the light show in Barcelona.  It is not as long as some, but shows the highlights. Unfortunately there is an ad first, but it’s not long.    I saw the cathedral once - many decades ago, when I was 19.  There has been a great deal of work finished on it since then.  I hope to see it again later this year when I visit my son and his family.  To say it is totally unlike any other cathedral I’ve ever seen is. a serious understatement. It is unique. The light show is fascinating.This clip only shows a small portion of it. I don’t agree with Barron about much, but I do agree with him that the Roman Catholic Church does beauty best.  Is this cathedral beautiful?  Not in my personal opinion, at least not in the conventional sense.  But it is magnificent.  We don’t watch the news but my Barcelona-bound son sent me a link.  I didn’t use that one because of length (it was from a Spanish organization) .  This one is about 5 minutes. So, in case you missed it, here is a brief clip.

https://youtu.be/I_-lGSGOi8I?is=-rTBA-FY7HmEqJyS

On Celebrity Exorcists

It has been in the news lately that Cardinal Robert McElroy has removed Msgr. Stephen Rosetti from the post of exorcist for the archdiocese of Washington, DC., after some comments he made about UFO sightings and demons: Washington archbishop removes priest as exorcist after comments on UFOs and demons | National Catholic Reporter

"The archbishop said Rossetti's statements "linking UFOs to demonic presence and the Center's recent use of social media gravely undermine the Church's very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism."

So I thought it might be useful to explore what the Church's teaching on exorcism and exorcists actually is. From the USCCB site on that subject: Exorcism | USCCB

The 250th Anniversary of the US—celebrate or mourn?

To me, this before-and-after photo of the White House and grounds this week perfectly symbolizes the destruction of our country by Trump and his MAGA minions, a destruction aided and abetted by tens of millions of “christians”— 81% of evangelicals and more than 60% of white Catholics.  The second photo was taken just a few days ago. You can see glimpses of the East Wing corridor in the left-side photo through the trees in the first photo. The construction of a CAGE for an MMA fight on the White House lawn on trump's birthday, is even more of a travesty than the "military" parade he put on last year, which few attended. This year he's degraded himself and our country and the White House itself by using taxpayer money to put on one of the most violent "sports" around-- to "celebrate" the nation's 250th anniversary.  This year trump co-opted the planning from the official planning organization ( non- partisan) to impose his own partisan stamp on it - to honor himself, and not the country.  The "prayer rally" on the Mall cost a million of taxpayers' dollars. It was an evangelical form of christianity, and non-evangelicals were barely visible. Of course, Barron was there along with evangelical ministers who refer to the Pope as "satan" and Catholicism as a "satantic cult". Hegseth's "pastor" (invited to speak to military staff at the Pentagon) was there. This article in The Atlantic "Holy Warrior" by Missy Ryan) reveals what a fine person he is.   https://tinyurl.com/43e5sc7h 

Summer Reading

 What has everyone been reading lately? I have a few selections that I liked.

One of them is Work in Progress, by Father Jim Martin, SJ. It is a coming of age memoir, telling the story of the jobs he worked before becoming a Jesuit priest, starting with the one where he worked in an ice cream parlor as a young teen in 1976. Of course everything was about the bicentennial then. It sounds like he was having more fun in his hometown of Quaker Meeting, PA, in the bicentennial year than we are having now.  He had a bunch of other young people starter jobs, and one bigger one working for General Electric before he decided to become a Jesuit at, I think, the age of 29.