The Catholic Leader - 22 April

25 / 28

25
The Catholic Leader, April 22, 2018
Arts + entertainment
KEY WORDS OF POPE
FRANCIS
Edited by Joshua McElwee
and Cindy Wooden; Blooms-
bury; 2018
Reviewed by Br Brian Grenier CFC
TIMED to coincide with the fifth anniversary of
the Holy Father’s election, Key Words of Pope
Francis is a collection of
52 accessible essays, each
about four pages in length.
Understandably, most
of the diverse group of
contributors from around
the world (lay and clerical,
male and female, young
and old, well-known and
not so well-known) are involved in (and/or are
astute observers of) the mission and ministry of
the Catholic Church.
However, there are also essays by such peo-
ple as Archbishop Justin Welby (Archbishop of
Canterbury) whose chosen word was “sheep”
and Father John Chryssavgis, of the Greek Or-
thodox Church (Archdeacon of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate), who wrote on “creation”.
The foreword and the preface to the book
were contributed by Ecumenical Patriarch Bar-
tholomew and Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM
Cap respectively.
Each of the writers has focused on a specific
word that is highly relevant in determining the
personal qualities and pastoral priorities of Pope
Francis.
Their essays are presented in an alphabetical
sequence determined by the words in question.
This explains why the American edition of
the collection is entitled A Pope Francis Lexi-
con (Liturgical Press).
A selection of the words and authors will give
the reader of this review a better understanding
of the content of the volume: “clerical abuse”
(Francis Sullivan), “collegiality” (Archbishop
Mark Coleridge), “conscience” (Austen Iver-
eigh), “dignity” (Tina Beattie),
“field hospital” (Cardinal Blase
Cupich), “gossip” (Kaya Oakes),
“immigrant” (Sr Norma Seni
Pimentel MJ), “joy” (Fr Timothy
Radcliffe OP), “money” (Andrea
Tornielli), “periphery” (Carolyn
Y Woo), “sourpuss” (Fr James
Corkery SJ), and “women” (Astrid
Lobo Gajiwala).
Oher words include: careerism,
curia, family, leadership, legalism,
mercy, prayer, reform, service,
tears, and youth.
While their own contribution
is not immediately obvious, other
than in the choice of “words”, congratulations
are due to the two editors Joshua McElwee and
Cindy Wooden.
Both are experienced and highly respected
journalists in Catholic (and, more specifically,
Vatican) circles.
The Key Words of Pope Francis
is informative and readable.
It would be a pity to rush
through it; for the content of every
essay calls for reflection and in-
vites discussion.
With good reason it has been
described by one reviewer as “an
essential guide to key themes
defining the papacy of Jorge Mario
Bergoglio” (Philippa Hitchen).
In passing, I draw the reader’s
attention to Cindy Wooden’s bi-
ography of one of the contributors
to this volume, often called “the
Asian Pope Francis” – (Cardinal) Luis Antonio
Tagle: Leading by Listening.
Book
Themes of Francis show in choice of words
CHAPPAQUIDDICK: Starring
Kate Mara, Jason Clarke, Ol-
ivia Thirlby. Directed by John
Curran. Rated: M (Mature
themes and coarse language)
106 mins
By John Mulderig
ON July 18, 1969, commander
Neil Armstrong and his crew were
hurtling towards the moon aboard
Apollo 11 and Senator Edward M.
(Ted) Kennedy of Massachusetts
seemed to be running on the inside
track in the race for the Democratic
Party’s presidential nomination in
1972.
By July 20, the astronauts had made it to their
destination while it had suddenly become appar-
ent to many that Kennedy never would.
The incident that so drastically altered the for-
tunes of the last of the Kennedy brothers gets a
sombre but intriguing treatment in the fact-based
drama Chappaquiddick.
The general outline of the
plot will already be familiar
to viewers of a certain age.
For the benefit of whip-
persnappers and those who
find history a bore, here’s
some background.
A year after the assas-
sination of New York senator and presidential
candidate Robert F. Kennedy, his younger sibling
hosted a reunion for a group of the slain politi-
cian’s staffers who had gone by the affectionate
nickname the Boiler Room Girls – a moniker
that nowadays would probably be deemed a
microaggression.
The venue was the small New England island
of the movie’s title, just off Martha’s Vineyard.
One of the legislator’s guests was 28-year-old
Pennsylvania native Mary Jo Kopechne (Kate
Mara).
Shortly after 11pm, Kopechne and Kennedy
(Jason Clarke) left the cottage where the party
was being held and drove off together in the
senator’s car.
By 1am, this vehicle had lurched off the side
of Chappaquiddick’s Dike Bridge, overturned,
and was lying submerged in a body of water
called Poucha Pond.
Kennedy, of course, managed to extricate
himself.
His companion did not.
The accident itself was bad enough.
But Kennedy’s behaviour in its immediate
aftermath was bizarrely irresponsible.
Returning to his hotel on the Vineyard, he
waited about nine hours to report the mishap
– by which time the car had been sighted and
Kopechne’s body recovered.
Disturbing: Joan (Andria Blackman) and Senator Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke) in a scene from the movie Chappaquiddick.
Film
Riveting recount of tragedy
Screenwriters Andrew Logan and Taylor Al-
len and director John Curran portray rather than
explain this mysterious callousness.
So viewers looking for answers to the riddle of
Kennedy’s actions will come away dissatisfied.
Yet Clarke does convey with a quiet intensity
the conflicted emotions and sense of isolation
Kennedy may have been experiencing – as well
as the toll his torturous relationship with his
impossible-to-satisfy father Joseph (Bruce Dern)
may have exacted on him.
Standing in the shadow of two martyred broth-
ers, Kennedy is understandably ambivalent about
following them down the path to the presidency.
While Chappaquiddick toys with various pos-
sible motivations – did Kennedy, for instance,
subconsciously set out to sabotage himself? – its
underlying ethical stance is unambiguous.
Kennedy cousin and family fixer Joe Gargan
(Ed Helms) provides the film’s moral compass.
Initially willing to help Ted, he’s outraged
when he discovers that so much time has gone
by and the duty to alert the authorities has still
not been fulfilled.
Former Defence Secretary Robert McNamara
(Clancy Brown), by contrast, wears the black
hat.
He leads a whole troupe of spin doctors who,
at patriarch Joe’s request, descend on the Ken-
nedy compound in Cape Cod’s Hyannis Port.
There they consistently, and condescendingly,
encourage Teddy to control the situation and
limit the damage by playing fast and loose with
the facts.
And the fix, it soon becomes clear, is in thanks
to the famous clan’s far-reaching connections
and wide-ranging influence.
Chappaquiddick is all the more disturbing for
its muted tone and straight-forward approach,
typified by a scene in which Kopechne, a devout
Catholic, having found a small pocket of air in
the capsized car, recites subdued, but desperate
prayers as her prospects for survival dim.
John Mulderig is on the staff of Catholic
News Service.