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< PreviousThe heavens declare the Glory of God; the sky procalims its builder’s craft. Paslm 19:1 #MyCatholicYaleThe Hunger Banquet: Encountering World Hunger Emma Lecarie, Postgraduate Associate: Yale School of Medicine A s a child, I was fortunate enough to grow up in a household where I knew there would always be food on the table, but for so many others, access to food each day is not guaranteed. I was quickly reminded of this disparity upon entering STM’s Dining Hall to take part in the Hunger Banquet. A Hunger Banquet is an interactive activity simulating the imbalanced distribution of food in our world and is determined by the luck of the draw. Attendees were instructed to choose a slip of paper at random, placing each individual into the high, middle or low-income group. Some were born into relative prosperity and others into poverty. Those at the high-income table enjoyed a quality Italian dinner at a formal table setting, while those in the middle-income group ate a modest meal of rice and beans and those in the low-income population were offered only rice to eat while sitting in a group of chairs with no tables. I was taken aback by the statistics that were shared during the evening: Two-and-a-half-billion people live in poverty and over nine hundred and twenty-five million suffer from chronic hunger. Being placed into the low-income group, and only offered rice, I joined fifty percent of the world’s population, earning a couple of dollars a day. As I ate, I struggled to imagine a day that is consumed by finding food, water and shelter. The unfortunate truth is that there are people going hungry every day and the solution to end world hunger is not going to arise overnight. Efforts such as soup kitchens and food banks are helping, but the distribution of resources remains imbalanced. Although the circumstances into which we are born may be out of our control, how we deal with what we are given directly relates to the current state of our world. We can find peace and hope in the fact that our earth has the sustenance to feed every human being. Those of us who enjoy full stomachs have a responsibility to make this happen—because those who are hungry deserve to be fed. “Those who are hungry deserve to be fed.” 6.Lumen Fiat: The Chapel’s Chandeliers Frank Greaney ‘68 M.P.H. FROM THE ARCHIVES Let there be light 7. conveys the significance of light as a metaphor for the divine, and it is readily present within the Chapel at STM. In an earlier “From the Archives” article, we noted that the Chapel’s founder, Rev. T. Lawrason Riggs, expressed his preference for a “cheerful church-joyous-with plenty of light” — hence, the clear windows, beautifully etched, that grace the STM’s Chapel and flood its interior with sunlight during the day. We also think that Father Riggs’s sentiment holds true for the Chapel’s chandeliers during the evening hours. The eight chandeliers were crafted of copper, glass and nickel, topped with unique decorative glasswork, a distinctive feature that attracts our attention and piques our curiosity. Their most prominent features are evocative of laboratory science. The pipettes, retorts and tubes clearly indicate that the sciences are entitled to a comfortable niche within Catholic higher education. In addition, the chandeliers tend to draw our eyes upward and forward to the sanctuary, the crucifix and the table. The chandeliers are singular works of art and of course, they have an interesting history. Saint Thomas More Chapel was designed by New Haven architect Douglas Orr ‘19 B.F.A. ‘27 M.F.A. Mr. Orr dominated New Haven architecture in the mid-twentieth century, creating numerous structures in the city’s skyscape, most notably the addition to the Yale Art Gallery and the Eli Building (SNETCO). He also served as Vice Chairman of the Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion (the White House) and designed the Robert A. Taft Memorial and Carillon in Washington, D.C. Orr’s design of STM’s Chapel is considered spare, but also punctuated by the “flamboyant jewelry” of his chandeliers. The architect had selected a well-respected Meriden, Connecticut manufacturing company, Bradley & Hubbard, to create the fixtures. The Macalester Bicknell Corporation, also of Meriden, may well have executed the scientific glassware on the chandeliers. One surviving detail of that legend holds that the glass artisan responsible for that part of the assignment was a man named Jonathan Melville Bee. In 1965, these extraordinary lights were removed to the Chapel’s basement and spent decades in disrepair. In 2006, Petra Construction undertook a major renovation of the Chapel and Residence as designed by Knight Architecture. Petra and Knight are both well-known firms in the New Haven area. In the course of this restoration, the chandeliers were re-discovered. Five of the original six had survived their internment and were restored to their original luster. Three exact copies were artfully crafted by the Crenshaw Lighting Company of Floyd, Virginia, making the Chapel’s new chandelier count eight instead of six. The sophisticated and artistic legacy of Fr. Riggs and the artisans who helped him realize his vision lives on in our Chapel and in its unique chandeliers. Beautifully restored, the chandeliers continue to illuminate and inspire all who visit STM’s Chapel. Special thanks to those who contributed their knowledge and time to this article: Peter Alegi ‘56 ‘59 LL.B.; Janis Attridge, M.B.A.; Harold Attridge ‘97 M.A.H.; Fr. Robert Beloin, Ph.D.; George Knight ‘95 M.Arch.; Guido Petra; John Wilkinson ‘60 ‘63 M.A.T. and Sarah Woodford ‘10 M.Div. To see more photos of the Chapel chandeliers visit: stmarchives.omeka.net. 8.Judge Guido Calabresi & Professor Cathleen Kaveny: Continuing the Conversation Transcript On Sunday, March 5, STM did something different for The Judge Guido Calabresi Fellowship in Religion and Law. Instead of a lecture, Cathleen Kaveny ‘90 J.D. ‘91 Ph.D., Darald and Juliet Libby Professor of Law and Theology at Boston College, sat down for a conversation with Hon. Guido Calabresi ‘53 ‘58 L.L.B., former Dean and Sterling Professor at Yale Law School and now Sterling Professor Emeritus and Professorial Lecturer in Law. The conversation was entitled “Life, Love and the Law: Continuing the Conversation” and was a follow-up to the discussion they began during their break-out session at STM’s tenth anniversary celebration in December. Following is an excerpt from their stimulating conversation. To view the lecture in its entirety, visit stm.yale.edu/fellowships. 9.Cathleen Kaveny: [Guido], you are Catholic. Your personal identity and your work identity testify to a broad tapestry of religious integration and ecumenism. Your mom’s family is Jewish, the famous Italian Finzi-Contini family; your wife, a Protestant; the university and the judicial system to which you’ve dedicated your life are broadly religiously pluralistic and include people of all faiths and no faith. Bringing together both your Catholic faith and your lived experience, how do you think about questions of religious identity and difference, and how to negotiate that in the increasingly pluralistic American public square? Guido Calabresi: I think everyone needs a home, a religious home, a place where they can feel comfortable and feel that they can do good. When I decided sometime between college, actually at Oxford, that I was a believer, I also decided that I needed to be part of something. I couldn’t be a person who just believed and didn’t do something regu- larly; [a person who goes] out to watch the sunset and pray to God. I don’t mean that people who do that, who really can do that, are any less good or anything. I didn’t trust myself to do that, so I looked for a [church] home. Strangely, I looked for various homes. My mother had become Catholic and [Roman Catholicism] was one of them I looked at. Another one, actually the one that was almost the most appealing to me, was the Quakers, the Friends. I decided against that because I talk too much, so I couldn’t possibly be a Quaker! I found in Catholicism that which is catholic with a small “c,” and its breadth and its history and its beauty and all those things, something where I fit. [Catholicism] is my home. I could happily accept all the beliefs. I could happily argue with all the things which one can argue with—and one can argue with a great deal because it is catholic—and found it very much my home. I must say that I can understand equally well that other people have other homes, and religion in that sense should be something which reaches out to other people and to their homes, so that you can understand what it is that makes it special for them. I see that. I see that in my friends. I see that in any number of people whom I meet all the time, what they teach me about their home. I hope that I teach them something about what is my home. I don’t know. I think that I am totally Catholic. I should say this, though: the Jewish tradition of my mother’s family is something that is there. My mother, as she got older and older, said to me, “Guido, as I get older, I become ever more Jewish and ever more Catholic.” (continued on page 11) 10.CK: That’s actually very beautiful. If you think about some of what happened in the Catholic Church in the Second Vatican Council, on inter-religious relationship and particularly the relationship with the Jews, we’ve made progress. In Nostra aetate 1 , from Vatican II, the council fathers decided we were no longer going to pray for the conversion of the Jews, because they were our elder siblings in the faith, and that we would be praying with them, not so much for their conversion. GC: That’s not just them. I think, when you think of the scandal of different Christian faiths killing each other, and calling each other the most outlandish, awful names and not looking at what each of them saw that was worth seeing and doing, when one sees the same thing today with respect to different religions…How can anyone believe in Christ and not say that that is the scandal? That kind of warring over religion, that feeling of triumphalism and exclusion rather than, “I speak to everybody…” CK: I think that that’s true. What would you like to see? We see this great expansion in the Catholic Church’s recognition of the importance of other religions traditions, and their dignity and their worth. At the same time, in the world around us, we see so much more, I guess, interreligious violence, not just abroad, but the spate of anti-Semitic activities in the United States as well as anti-Muslim activities. If you were not a second circuit judge or the dean of a law school, but say the dean of the College of Cardinals, what steps would you like to see American Catholics and Catholics around the world take to kind of combat this travesty, really? GC: Frankly, I don’t think one can do any better than what Pope Francis is doing – doing and saying every day. I don’t know if some of you, if any of you, saw or didn’t see the thing in the New York Times the other day about giving money to panhandlers 2 , and looking at the person and shaking the person’s hand, not worrying if the person was using the money for wine, for Crimey’s sake. The Pope in that, is saying just how much everything is a matter of human dignity, and that every person is just as worthy as anyone else – just that. If we could get that across, human dignity for every single person, we would be there – to the extent that one can use law or can use medicine or can use bananas to do it, is fine. Transcription section has been edited, annotated and condensed. The Editors would like to thank Cheryl at Rev.com for her exceptional and timely work in typing up the transcript from the original audio. (continued from page 10) “I think everyone needs a home, a religious home, a place where they can feel comfortable and feel that they can do good.” 11. 1. Nostra Aetate: Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Vatican Council II, October 28, 1965. 2. “The Pope on Panhandling: Give Without Worry,” The Editorial Board, The New York Times, March 3, 2017. Guido Calabresi signs a book for Greg Pfeiffer GRD ‘17THREE QUESTIONS ? ?? Nancy Ruddle, Ph.D. Christina Stankey ‘19 CS: A large part of your work as a scientist deals with the unknown. What have you learned about the process of asking questions? NR: I have found that the most interesting discoveries emerge from exploring the peripheral issues of straightforward questions. This requires an open mind and attention to what looks odd. When I began my Ph.D. research in immunology, I was studying how lymphocytes cause tissue damage and I discovered a soluble, secreted factor called lymphotoxin. Up until then, it was thought that such cells exerted effects mainly by cell-to-cell contact. I was even more shocked when, many years later, while studying mice produced by a colleague, I realized that lymphotoxin actually induces lymphoid organ formation! My colleague had expected an entirely different result, but by approaching his mice with an open mind, we were able to contribute to a completely new area of immunology. CS: Our faith is full of beautiful teachings. What is one doctrine of the faith that you appreciate or live out on a daily basis? NR: Growing up, I looked to the Church for stability. I appreciated my father’s faith, and a friend’s mother was inspirational in her example as a strong Catholic woman. I have always been fascinated by the idea of vocation—and, for me, this grew into a deeper understanding of fulfilling our potential as Christians in work, relationships and everything that we do. In my adult life, my understanding of Church teachings evolved. As Fathers Russell and Beloin preached Christ’s words regarding compassion, inclusivity and the value of relationships, I came to appreciate more fully the Church’s teachings on social justice. CS: Leisure allows us to wonder at the world anew. How do you spend your leisure time so that you come to see the world in a new light? NR: I love to garden. It allows me time to myself to bring order and beauty to the world by weeding, planting and cutting flowers. Everywhere I go, I pull weeds; it’s almost a compulsion! I also appreciate the beauty of the ocean. My late husband and I sailed together throughout our marriage beginning even before our engagement. We owned our sailboat for forty years and spent a great deal of time on or near the water. The expanse of the ocean gives me a great sense of the familiar as well as the transcendent. ? ? ? Nancy Ruddle is known for her discovery and analysis of lymphotoxin, a protein producted by T cells that play a role in the protective immune system and destroys tumor cells. To learn more about Dr. Ruddle, visit: https:// publichealth.yale.edu/people/ nancy_ruddle.profile 12.Even Jesus Wept Katy Chan ‘15 “Over Skype, we check in and share a rose (a joy), a bud (a hope) and a thorn (a sorrow) from our life that week.” itting in my cozy attic room in Seattle, Washington, curled up on a salvaged couch with a giant evergreen tapping at the window, I am a world away from the lower level seminar rooms of the Golden Center where I had found my core community at Yale. I am still new to this city, and jarringly aware of the temporary nature of my home here, just a pause between the rush of undergraduate life; months of traveling between Ethiopia, Alaska and New Haven; and already anticipating a move to a new state, campus and the start of medical school. Nevertheless, like many nights before, a former member of my Small Church Community and I walk through a tradition developed over four years of Friday night SCC meetings, a tradition which has continued long past our graduation day two years ago. Over Skype, we check in and share a rose (a joy), a bud (a hope) and a thorn (a sorrow) from our life that week. It’s a gentle opening, one deeply embedded in a sacred trust, a trust that allows me to confess the cause of my mourning—a cousin with two young children under the age of ten, diagnosed with inoperable and untreatable Stage IV stomach cancer. The voice of my friend is soft, familiar and comforting over laptop speakers: “Even Jesus wept.” Those words wash over me and I can almost feel outstretched arms reaching out to surround me, and the unconditional love of a friendship born at STM. 13. FAITH IN THE REAL WORLD S In our new feature, a STM alumna/us reflects on joys and changes in their faith life after graduation. If you are interested in being one of our feature writers for “Faith in the Real World,” we would like to hear from you. Contact robin.mcshane@yale.edu. Photograph by Katy Chan14. STM Scholar in Residence: Combining the Scholarly and the Spiritual Griffin Oleynick ‘15 Ph.D. ne of the most memorable moments for me this past year was watching a group of about thirty-five students, staff and community members from STM handle and pray with St. Thomas More’s sixteenth-century psalter, during a special visit to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library arranged by Michael Morand ‘87 ‘93 M.Div., the library’s public relations and communications officer. At the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, we had the opportunity to leaf through a book that few are given access to, even at Yale. Glossed by More’s own hand as he awaited execution for treason in the Tower of London in 1535, the prayer book records the only version of More’s well-known prayer in which he asks God for the grace to “set the world at nought.” As we prayed these words together in one voice, our group made direct contact with an object that lies at the very heart of our community’s identity. Combining interests that were every bit as scholarly as they were spiritual, this event also served as an example of the surprising connections that can be forged by using Yale’s unique and unparalleled collections in new ways. For the 2016-17 academic year I had the pleasure of serving as Scholar in Residence at STM, a new position designed to build intellectual bridges between the STM community and Yale’s vast intellectual resources—in terms of both research collections and personnel—related to Catholicism. My position had two aims, one ad extra and another ad intra. Through a series of guest lectures on Dante in the “Catholic Intellectual Tradition” course in Yale College and talks on Catholic topics such as medieval sculpture and Marian theology at the Yale Center for British Art and Yale Divinity School, I sought to enhance the public profile of STM on campus. At STM itself, I sought to build a new space for scholarly collaboration by facilitating regular opportunities for intellectual exchange among students, staff and community members. Two programs in particular were popular and well-received: Catholic Art @ Yale emerged as a series of monthly conversations about Catholic painting and sculpture, held at the Yale University Art Gallery, while the Catholic Studies Working Group brought together a group of about twelve young writers, scholars, artists and students who met monthly over lunch on Saturday afternoons to workshop writing projects and to share research and ideas. In addition to this regular programming I also helped to organized special one-time events, such as a discussion with students about the novel and film Silence with Rev. James Martin, S.J. I was thrilled to contribute to STM’s programming in a new area, and to have a chance to use my own scholarly training in a pastoral setting. My hope is that others will continue to build on this programming for many years to come — and in the process, nourish future generations of students and scholars who, illuminated by the light of Christ and infused with the joy of the Gospels, can in turn become evangelists for the entire Yale community. O Photographs by Christopher WilsonNext >