Archbishop Gudziak: Respond to political violence by affirming dignity of all

By Christopher Wells

One week ago, the United States, and the whole world, were shocked by the attempted assassination of presidential candidate Donald Trump. The attack on the former president prompted universal condemnation, along with calls to refrain from the violent rhetoric that is too often a part of modern politics.

Warnings of politically and ideologically motivated violence are not new, and earlier this summer – just one month before the attack on Trump – the US bishops issued yet another statement urging Catholics to promote dialogue and peace in an increasingly polarized world.

“More and more,” the US bishops say, “it has become abundantly clear that violent behavior – both physical and verbal – is now seen by many as an acceptable means for carrying out political or ideological disputes.”

However, they add, “Americans can do better.” Instead of resorting to violence to resolve political issues, the bishops suggest dialogue and voting peaceful protests, petitions, lawsuits, and civil disobedience in the face of injustice.

Christians must affirm the human dignity of each person

Archbishop Borys Gudziak, who chairs the USCCB committee that produced the Bishops’ statement, told Vatican Radio that Christians have to return to their roots in order to address the crisis. “The situation is very bad,” he said, “and we might not be able to change it instantaneously, but that does not mean that we should not resume and refresh our Christian posture.”

He said Christians must be clear “about affirming the dignity of every person, every person, made in the image and likeness of God.”

At the same time, we must not allow ourselves, first of all, to suggest by our words or actions “that somebody is disposable in any form,” the Archbishop continued. “Even if we don’t agree with people, we need to be respectful and listen to the experience of others.”

So, Archbishop Gudziak said, “We need to have charity. We need to have clarity. We need to name some of these problems and we need to be creative. And all of this, following our Lord.

Read the full interview with Archbishop Borys Gudziak.

Interview with Archbishop Gudziak

Vatican Radio: Archbishop Borys Gudziak, thank you for joining us this morning. Last week, the United States was shocked by an attempted assassination of one of the presidential candidates. Can you tell us, what was your reaction when you heard the news of that violent attack?

Archbishop Borys Gudziak: A pain and sadness.

It was, of course, startling. I heard it in the middle of our synod in Ukraine, just a few days after the attack on the children's hospital in Kyiv, the Russian attack that killed so many children and doctors, and being conscious of what is going on in the world in the rhetoric in the United States. There's pain, there's great sadness.

But in some ways, it is not totally shocking, given the violence and the vehemence in our culture, in the music and the movies. It, of course, is a devastating thing, and it's a sign of things that we, as the Bishops Conference have been pointing to for years, and about which we very recently warned the public at large, and Catholics, American Catholics.

Q. And, in fact, it was just a few weeks ago in June that you signed the message from the USCCB about how Christians can respond to rising threats of political and ideological violence. That seems very prescient in the wake of the attack last week…

I think, you know, if we step back and look at certain trends, both globally and nationally, we can see that in before our eyes, in our ears, there's a constant ring of violence shots. Children see countless deaths when they watch videos. And there's a sense in which we've become desensitized. We are hyper-stimulated. We don't react in the same way to gory, violent, obscene, and vulgar things because we're bombarded with different aspects of that. And since it's virtual or in video or in sound, it's pooh-poohed. But it does affect us.

Now, the fact that a 20-year-old boy was able to make this attack is a sign that this potential for political violence is present, and it's present in kind-of everyday American circumstances. It's something that is extreme but does not come from necessarily the extremes. It's kind of middle America, and that is really scary.

Q. And in fact, it's it's not just television. It's not just videos or the culture. We also see that in political leaders and in the rhetoric that we hear, especially in a very heated presidential election season.

It is. And that's why we as Christians need to step back, not only in analyzing the culture, but step back to our foundations. The situation is very bad and we might not be able to change it instantaneously, but that does not mean that we should not resume and refresh our Christian posture.

We should be very clear about affirming the dignity of every person, every person made in the image and likeness of God, [and] not allow, first of all, ourselves to speak and insinuate about the fact that somebody is disposable in any form, even if we don't agree with people, [we need] to be respectful and listen to the experience of others.

So we need to have charity. We need to have clarity. We need to name some of these problems and we need to be creative.

All of this following our Lord. Our Lord was faced with denunciation, vilification, blasphemy, the complete negation of His goodness and accusations of a false nature, and ultimately with great violence, and you can say execution, assassination. And He showed us – not only taught us, but He showed us – to love, love through it all.

That doesn't mean we, you know, defund the police or don't defend innocent people. But it means that we live, speak, write, and act from a position of charity in a manner of clarity and with creativity.

We can get out of this framework. There is a danger to feel that we are kind of condemned, that we're isolated in this matrix of violent language, violent thinking, and violent action. But that's not true. We need to take a spiritual hyper jump, hyperlink out of this. And this might be a voice crying out in the desert, and we might not necessarily be heard, but we will continue to cry out.

Q. And in fact, you hinted at it, and you said in the letter that you published for the USCCB, that pursuing peace does not mean ignoring injustice, and society should stop unjust acts and should work for justice as the foundation of peace. Do you have some ideas, words of wisdom, for how we can pursue that quest for peace, for justice, without resorting to violent words and violent actions?

We get violent, first of all, when we're afraid. When we feel threatened and in danger. Something coming out from the outside. So it is very important to be strong internally. To know who we are. That we are the beloved children of God. That we stand with Jesus in the River Jordan and hear the Father's words: “You are my beloved son, you're my beloved daughter, in whom I'm well pleased,” and feel the Holy Spirit's confirmation of this identification. If we know who we are, then the outside attacks do not penetrate into our hearts, into our souls, and we are not afraid, and we don't react with aggression.

So we need to pray. There are certain things that we cannot do naturally. It is natural to be aggressive in an aggressive environment. It is natural to react with violent language to violent language. It is only with the Lord's grace that we can overcome these passions, these temptations, these inclinations of what can be ultimately diabolical. When we are strong in the Lord, it doesn't matter how strong we are physically, whether we have a lot of money, whether we have control of the media, we have peace in our hearts and we radiate that peace. People can feel it.

I think we felt it from Mother Teresa. We felt it here in Indianapolis from Mother Olga yesterday as she witnessed on the stand. These are people of prayer and people of peace. And if we can be people of prayer, people united with the Lord, people who are joyful internally because we know God loves us, we can love others, even those who hate us.

Q. Thank you. Archbishop. The bishops speak about a Christian response to rising threats of political violence. You've spoken a little bit about how individual Christians can respond to that. Are there steps that the Church can take? Are there things that the Church can do as an institution that the bishops want to do to contribute to the pursuit of peace and dialogue?

Well, we have to be true to our call. The witness of the Church is weakened every time that we betray our call. You know, the crisis around sexual abuse made our witness much, much less convincing. We cannot be violent in any way. We need to be respectful. If we call for dialogue, we have to be people of dialogue. If we call for open-heartedness, then we cannot be ideologues. That's just, let's say, removing the limitations on our witness.

Fostering our witness is always in the style of Jesus. It's a style of healing of touching lovingly. Of blessing, of benediction, which means saying good things, not in a false or flattering way, but bringing out the divine dignity that God gives to every human being.

And then acts of mercy. Every time we do a good deed, every time that we help somebody, every time that we reach out to the poor, the suffering, the marginalized, we inject into the world a note of grace, a sign of love, a stream of hope.

And it is through that witness, where, you know, not somebody at the top of the pyramid, not just the pope or just bishops, but the entire body of Christ, the whole People of God act as agents of peace, of truth, of justice.

And that positive presence and positive witness then contradicts, counteracts, and sometimes can even, in a loving way, overwhelm the violence. It's not an easy vocation. It's not, you know, Nescafé powder, hot water, and instant gratification. It's the way of the Cross. It's the way of Jesus, and it's the only way for us.

Q. Thank you very much, Archbishop. I know you have a busy day ahead of you. Do you have a particular message for Americans, for Catholics, for other Christians, [for] men and women of goodwill, as we head toward the elections in November?

I think the call to prayer and mindfulness is about our social and global responsibility.

I don't know that the world is worse off than it has been in past centuries and ages. I don't know that it's better off. But now we have more information and our news is mostly negative. And it's full of violence and conflict, reports of injustice and and and death.

We need to be, as Pope [Saint] John Paul II called us to be carriers of life. We need to be deeply rooted in Christ. Particularly Pope Benedict would really, through his Christology, carried us in our times to an ever deeper understanding of God's presence among us. And we need to be close to the poor and joyful as Pope Francis is not only teaching, but modeling for us.

I am inspired by the Pope's energy. He's not a young man. He has many infirmities. He's got the toughest job in the world. And yet he smiles. And I've told him personally, and I tell myself, we are called to be Christians of joy in true joy, not stimulated, not the joy of inebriation, but the joy of the Holy Spirit is so attractive, particularly in times of sadness and gloom. And when people are feel lost, isolated, bewildered, when they see Christians who are joyful, who are peaceful, they ask, where does that come from? That is the Christian witness that the Lord calls us to, particularly today.

Archbishop Borys Gudziak is the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, and the Chair of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

The transcript of the interview with Archbishop Gudziak has been edited for clarity.