View from the pew
There was a whole lot of praying going on in the virtual public square last month. But unless you were glued to the screen for every second of the political party conventions, you may have missed it.
Both the Democrats and Republicans scheduled invocations, blessings and benedictions by speakers from various faith persuasions amid the politicians and just plain folks lined up to promote each party’s agenda. A time limit must have been set for the spiritually uplifting stuff, not nearly long enough to be an antidote for the negativity that followed.
Three prominent Catholics were among those invited to pray. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, gave an invocation that opened the Republican National Convention, speaking with a backdrop of the Statue of Liberty in the New York harbor.
Jesuit Father James Martin, author and editor-at-large of America magazine, spoke the benediction at the finale of the Democratic National Convention. Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice and leader of the Nuns on the Bus, spoke on Day 4 of the Democratic convention.
The full text of their prayers are coming up at the end of this column.
New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan delivers the opening prayer by video feed during the Republican National Convention Aug. 24. (CNS photo/Republican National Convention, Handout via Reuters )
The Republicans brought on a nun of their own, Sister Deirdre “Dede” Byrne, of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts order, whose talk was not a prayer but an endorsement of President Donald Trump as “the most pro-life president this nation has ever had … (who) will stand up against Biden-Harris, who are the most anti-life presidential ticket ever.” A physician who joined the missionary religious order after serving 29 years in the Army, she appeared in a full habit as she has at a White House function.
Remarks that strayed off the spiritual into current news issues brought media attention to a few of the prayer makers. A Nevada pastor was the first person at the GOP convention to refer to the latest police shooting of a Black man two days earlier. Norma Urrabazo, a pastor of the International Church of Las Vegas and member of the National Latina/Latino Commission, said “Lord, we come before you to ask for your spirit of peace to come over hurting communities in Wisconsin. We pray for healing and comfort to Jacob Blake and his family. We pray for your protection over those who put their lives in harm’s way to bring safety and security to our streets.”
Housing Secretary Ben Carson referred to the shooting that left the father of three paralyzed later in a speech about lawlessness in cities.
Two Jewish prayers
Jewish news media outlets in the U.S. and Israel took aim at the purely political prayer by Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Aryeh Spero, founder of Caucus for America after he spoke on Day 2 of the GOP convention. He contributes opinion columns to various media and appears often on Fox News. He prayed, “Father, we pray that this outlook and mindset, this form of government continues as has been our history, especially now when, to our horror, it is being challenged. And so we pray that God gives strength and faith to our president, who has splendidly demonstrated his determination to defend and maintain the God-given rights of our citizens … has stood up fearlessly against those who are corrupting the term social justice.” And he invoked the Trump mantra “make America great again.”
The Democrats called on a woman educator to be their Jewish prayer voice, Rabbi Lauren Berkun, vice president of the rabbinic program of Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. She said, “We pray for a national home where security, dignity and prosperity abound. Oh Lord, our guardian who neither slumbers nor sleeps, awaken us to the tireless task of perfecting our home in this great land, built on foundations of freedom, justice and equality. Strengthen us in our sacred duty to promote leaders who will transform crisis into hope, challenge into opportunity, cruelty into compassion and hate into love.”
Franklin Graham, director of Samaritan’s Purse and one of several evangelical ministers who are faith advisors to President Donald Trump, ended the GOP gathering saying he thanks God “for our President Donald J. Trump; I pray you will give him vision from on high, clarity of wisdom and strength as he leads this nation forward.”
Obviously no one is going to invite a detractor to their celebration of themselves. So Democratic convention watchers also heard some personal prayer sentiments. Archbishop Elipidopholos of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, asked God to “shine the light of your countenance upon the delegates at this convention and on Vice President Joe Biden for the highest office in the land. As we face the future as one American nation, bring us to our best selves and inspire our better angels. In peace, in fairness and in generosity, if we may fight against injustice, inequality and hatred, if we may achieve a common good, in the name of the Holy Trinity, we pray.”
Not an endorsement
Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde, head of the Washington, D.C., diocese, told reporters that she knew she was invited to speak at the Democratic convention because of her well-publicized outraged response in June when President Trump used a little Episcopal church near the White House for a photo-op after peaceful demonstrators were forcibly driven away from the area by federal troops. “The symbolism of him holding a Bible as a prop and standing in front of our church as a backdrop” was horrifying, she told reporters at the time. But she declined suggestions that she use the same church as her backdrop, saying her prayer is neither partisan nor an endorsement.
Jesuit Father James Martin, author and editor at large of America magazine, proclaims the Gospel at a Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Church in New York City June 29, 2019. He delivered a pre-recorded benediction prayer Aug. 20 during the Democratic National Convention. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
The bishop told the Religion News Service. “I would have prayed the exact same prayer at the Republican National Convention if they asked me. You can be a Christian and vote for either party,” she said.
Bishop Budde’s benediction invoked the messages of former religious figures including Protestant minister and peace activist William Sloane Coffin, civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis.
She quoted Coffin “May God give you the grace never to sell yourself short, grace to do something big or something good, grace to remember that the world is too dangerous now for anything but truth and too small for anything but love.” She called for God’s blessing “to inspire us all to realize Dr. King’s dream of a ‘beloved community,’ Congressman Lewis’ dream of a ‘just society,’ President Lincoln’s dream of ‘a more perfect union’ in this country, in our time.”
Jesuit Father Thomas Reese, a Religion News Service columnist, presided at a Mass livestreamed on the last day of the Democratic convention. His homily reflected issues troubling Americans. “Pope Francis tells us that our faith does not allow us to bypass adversity, rather it teaches us how to pass through adversity. Whether it is the loss of a family member, losing a job or some other disaster, a crisis either makes us better or worse as persons. This is especially true with the coronavirus pandemic and the economic recession.” Father Reese’s column “Signs of the Times” appears in the National Catholic Reporter. His August column “Trump or Biden: What’s a Catholic to Do?” can be found online.
Cardinal Dolan’s role in opening the Republican convention was not exactly breaking news. He prayed at Trump’s inauguration in 2017. And he previously prayed at the 2012 Democratic convention. He told the Religion News Service that his prayer is not an endorsement of a candidate, political party or platform and that he would have accepted an invitation from the Democrats, too.
For the baby in the womb
His words: “Let us pray, and pray we must as grateful citizens of a country we boldly claim to be one nation under God … praising the Lord for a country where freedom of religion is so cherished, where both Republicans and Democrats begin their conventions, heads bowed in prayer. Pray we must, conscious of those suffering from COVID, and those wearied front-liners who care for them and all of us … that all lives may be protected and respected, in our troubled cities and the police who guard them. In tense world situations where our men and women in uniform keep the peace. For the innocent life of the baby in the womb. For our elders in nursing care and hospice. For our immigrants and refugees. For those lives threatened by religious persecution throughout the world, or by plague, hunger, drugs, human trafficking or war.
“We ask your hand, Almighty Father, upon this convention and the nominees of both parties, and his wisdom upon an electorate so eager to perform its duty of faithful citizenship. Pray we do, for we dare claim In God We Trust.”
Father James Martin’s benediction on the final night of the Democratic Party gathering was a litany invoking all the woes of our time:
“Open our hearts to those most in need: the unemployed parent worried about feeding his or her children; the woman who is underpaid, harassed or abused; the Black man or woman who fear for their lives; the immigrant at the border, longing for safety; the homeless person looking for a meal; the LGBT teenager who is bullied; the unborn child in the womb; the inmate on death row.
“Help us to be a nation where every life is sacred, all people are loved, and all are welcome.”
Sister Simone Campbell’s prayer was addressed to “Oh Divine Spirit.”
“During the weeks and months ahead, stir our hearts and minds that we might fight for a vision that is worthy of you and your call to honor the dignity of all your creation. A vision of who we are as a people, grounded in community and care for all, especially the most marginalized. A vision that cares for our earth and heals the planet. A vision that ends structural racism, bigotry and sexism so rife now in our nation and in our history. A vision that ensures that hungry people are fed, children are nourished, immigrants are welcomed.
“Oh Spirit, breath in us and our leaders a new resolve that committed to this new American promise, we will work together to build a national community grounded in healing, fearlessly based in truth, and living out of a sense of shared responsibility. In the name of all that is holy, O Spirit, bring us out of this time of global and national chaos a new creation, a new community that can, with your help, realize this new promise that we affirm tonight.”
