February 15, 2015
MISSING THE MARK:
WHY KNOWING HISTORY MATTERS
I recall seeing the 2002 film– “The Emperor’s Club.” It stars Kevin Kline as Mr. William Hundert,
a fastidious, yet engaging Classics teacher at a fancy boys Prep School called St. Benedict’s, though,
interestingly I do not recall a single mention of religion. Despite its flaws, the film does a masterful
job of showing the art of teaching history, a subject that to most adolescent boys is a real yawner–
except in Mr. Hundert’s class. In one clip, behind the teacher’s back, scrolled on the chalk- board
(remember those?) is a Latin phrase from the Roman orator Cicero (+ 43 BC): Nescire autem quid
antequam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum. (Not to know what happened before one was born
is always to be a child. Cicero De Oratore XXXIV) History is both a science, and to a lesser degree, an art. It is to
quote Jonathan Riley-Smith (The Crusades: A Short History) ―a reconciliation of the past with the present;
otherwise it would be incomprehensible to those for whom it was written. History is fascinating, complicated,
sometimes jaded and misinterpreted, but never, in my humble opinion, dull.
So when President Obama spoke at last week’s National Prayer Breakfast and broached the subject of the Crusades
in the same vein as his comments about ISIS (or ISIL, as he prefers), the reaction was swift and severe. While
making a point about the “misuse” of religion, he compared what is happening in Iraq and Syria with historic events
of the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition: “Lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other
place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of
Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.” The President
is correct in saying that people who call them- selves Christians have done some very bad things– each of us is a
sinner in need of the redemptive love of Jesus Christ. But the comparison with ISIS was horribly misguided. Why?
First, there were several crusades over a period of centuries and, though perhaps tempting, it is historically
problematic to lump them together en masse with respect to their motives, outcomes and even excesses. At their
core, the Crusades were waged to recover lost territory, to free access to the Holy Sepulchre, making possible
Christian pilgrimages. In fact, the Stations of the Cross grew in popularity especially due to the inability of
Christians to walk the Via Dolorosa in person. While the original text of Pope Urban II’s exhortation in Clermont
(France) has not survived, historical accounts provide a reasonable glimpse into the content of his call to a defense
of Christians in the East, a territory that had been predominantly Christian. In Fulcher of Chartres’ account of the
Council of Clermont in 1095 A.D., he recalls the pope’s words: “For, as the most of you have heard, the Turks and
Arabs have attacked them and have conquered the territory of Romania as far west as the shore of the
Mediterranean...They have occupied more and more of the lands of those Christians, and have overcome them in
seven battles. They have killed and captured many, and have destroyed the churches and devastated the empire.”
Secondly, recall that the prophet Mohammed had died in 632 AD. Christians had long been living in those parts–
they were not conquering them as imperialists. But just a century later, the Arabs had reached Poitiers in France,
until they were turned back by Charles Martel. By the 9th century, Islam had reached the shores of present day
Sicily. Far from an imperialistic attack directed against the East, in many ways the Crusades set out to protect the
West from the advance of Islamic expansion. In “The Way of the Desert,” G.K. Chesterton argued against seeing
the Crusades as “nothing more than an aggressive raid against Islam,” adding, “I do not say it in mere hostility to
the religion of Mahomet; I am fully conscious of many values and virtues in it; but certainly it was Islam that was
the invasion and Christendom that was the thing invaded.” Following the president’s talk, University of London
historian Thomas Asbridge commented that he had no problem with the President’s reminder that Christians
“advocated violence, and at times even encouraged its adherents to engage in warfare.” But he cautioned that to
suggest a causal link between ISIS and the distant medieval phenomenon of the Crusades is “grounded in the
manipulation and misrepresentation of historical evidence.”
The professor is spot on– there were some horrific excesses by some un- scrupulous men, who exploited the
Crusades for their own gain. Some innocent civilians were killed, for example, the Jews in the Rhineland. This can in
no way be justified whatsoever. But there is a fundamental difference between the underlying motivation of Pope
Urban II’s call to arms and the atrocities we see happening in the 21st century. And herein lies the sad irony.
President Obama has been loath to utter the words “Islamic” and “terrorism” in the same sentence, and yet, he very
readily implied that “Christian” and “Crusader” is a moral equivalent. With respect to ISIS, he has been clear– “This
is not Islam.” Apparently, those crusaders who went rogue nearly 1000 years ago get no such free pass
•
Today you will have an opportunity to make a gift or pledge to the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation.
Separately incorporated, the laity-led Foundation supports important ministries within the Archdiocese. The
Foundation Board is clear that all donations go directly to the ministries. I thank you for your prayerful
consideration.
•
Ash Wednesday is just around the corner. We will offer four Masses here at the Cathedral. Please note
carefully the times: 7:00 a.m., 12:00 Noon (with Bishop Lee Piche), 5:15 p.m. (with the Children’s
Choristers), and 7:00 p.m. We hope to see you here on Wednesday.
•
Following Ash Wednesday Masses, we will move daily Masses to the Cana Chapel to accommodate the
marble restoration work in the main sanctuary. This allows the workers to proceed uninhibited. It will take
several weeks, as all the choir stalls will be removed. But, oh, will it be worth it! The remaining work in the St.
Peter and the Sacred Heart chapels and Narthex will follow, and will entail minimal inconvenience.
•
The Hungarian embassy to the Vatican paid tribute to Archbishop Angelo Rotta and Msgr. Gennaro
Verolino, two clerics who saved tens of thousands of Jews during World War II, granting safe haven and
writing special letters of protection (Schutzpass). Rotta was the papal nuncio at the time and Verolino died in
2005, at 99 years of age.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. John L. Ubel,
Rector