Spiritual Dimensions of Occupy

Dear Folks, Some interesting responses to Occupy Wall St (OWS) have, recently, been spiritual in content. A few weeks ago, the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire told Rachael Maddow that, after talking to many occupiers, he noted an underlying thceme that has been missing in our political life, that these people are experiencing community and with it a shared concern for one another, in contrast to the growing narcissism from the Right that says, I made mine; you make yours. If not, then fail, and even die in your uninsured condition. Last night I heard on MSNBC that the Archbishop of Canterbury said, "If Jesus were alive today, he would be with the 99ers." A small article appeared in the last few days in the Chicago Tribune pointing out that many Christian churches in both New York, in Portland, Ore, and other towns have opened up their church buildings and other buildings to the 99ers. An editorial in the National Catholic Reporter, Dec 8-22, first notes "Truth is the superich and the superinfluential have walked off with our government....The rest of us have largely lost our voices... The OWS protests have put front and center the growing divide between two classes of Americans --the one percent superrich and the other 99 percent....Maybe,just maybe, by November 20l2 enough of us will have had enough to demand a radical reordering of an election process that has stolen our voices and government."



Let me add another dimension to Occupy, based on my experience in the Catholic Church. In the l950s. Catholic Action developed then, that is lay involvement in social concerns, based on small groups. Again, like in OWS, a movement from the ground up that many priests feared. It lead to the greatest pastoral counsel in the history of the Church, in the l960s. It also was influential in the poor countries of South and Central America, mainly Catholic in faith. The background for this development came from the US, beginning right here in Chicago, the most important center for this awakening. One of the strongest of the lay movements was the Christian Family Movment, or CFM, made up of socially minded couples that worked on social and political concerns in what were called cells, or small groups. This national movement was led by Pat and Patty Crowley, a wealthy couple who had their home on the 84the floor of John Hancock. They also became the couple head of the International movement that especially made a big impact in Central and South America. When I visited their Condo, they always had young people from this countries living there and going to school. These social action groups in these countries not only sprung up in the cities but also in the country side among the peasants, who as a result began to develop a collective voice not only the Church but also in politics. These developments in turn led to the emergence of what is called "Liberation Theology" as recently discussed in a National Catholic Reporter (Nov 25-Dec 8), a theology that is a spiritualized version of the Declaration of Independence. It took off after Gustavo Gutierrez wrote his book, Liberation Theology." about the same time of Vatican II. A recent regional conference conference held this last October in Mexico City was attended by 300 theologians and pastoral workers, the movement's grass-roots leaders. There were no bishops there. This gathering was one of several preparing for "the main continental encounter to be held in Brazil, Oct 7-11, 2012. What was not discussed in this article is the influence that such movements have had since the l960s on the phenomenal development of more and more democratic countries in both Central and South America. This is another dimension underlying OWS including now the Arab Spring. John G

PS Today's Business section of Chi Trib "Pay on Wall Street predicted to plummet" from l5 percent to thirty percent, due to coming regulations, lower stock prices and general uncertainty. One company leader said, "The mood is wary." Is it not possible that OWS has had an influence here?!