Bishops' Schedules: Bishop William H. Bullock Saturday, May 14, 2005 5:15 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Bernard Parish, Watertown Sunday, May 15, 2005 1:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Thomas Parish, Montfort Wednesday, May 18, 2005 7:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, Nativity of Mary Parish, Janesville Bishop George O. Wirz Sunday, May 15, 2005 10:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Joseph Parish, Fort Atkinson

Under the Gospel Book + Bishop Robert C. Morlino There is no column by Bishop Robert C. Morlino this week.

Lawyers, officials: Called to be ministers of justice, truth

By Mary C. Uhler
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF

MADISON -- The Red Mass, which dates back to the 13th Century, invokes God's blessings on the legal profession and government officials.

At the Red Mass celebrated April 28 at St. Patrick Church in Madison, Bishop Robert C. Morlino asked those attending to "imagine Madison in 10 years."

He then presented three problems for the judges, attorneys, and legislators to consider. He asked them to think about solutions to the problems based on justice and truth, which he called "foundational American values."

Problem-solvers

"You are problem-solvers, and I am going to come to you today with three problems for which I don't have the solution," he told them. "You are learned professionals and I have the highest regard for you, which you deserve and have earned many times over. I want to be in dialogue with you and I want to pray with you.

"You are called to be ministers of justice and truth in our society. You are called to take the kinds of actions that build a kingdom of justice and love and peace in this world."

Bishop Morlino admitted, "I am not an attorney, I am not a legislator, and I am not a judge or a Supreme Court justice. It's your problem. The health of society and culture comes about because of the kind of law that we have and because of the way the law is practiced. The dynamics of the civil law are essential in determining the health of the society and the culture. Those dynamics are in your hands."

The bishop then presented three problems arising from the recent tragedy involving Terri Schiavo:

The 'right to die'

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• Use of the language the "right to die" -- Bishop Morlino questioned the use of the language, "right to die." He pointed out that death is inevitable. "As I faced serious open heart surgery last September, it never struck me that if the Lord was going to call me at that time that I was exercising a right. How do I have a right to something that is necessary? Rights involve freedom. And I don't have the freedom - and neither do you - not to die.

"Rights are essentially related to obligations. I have a right to that which I need to fulfill my obligations. Rights are founded then in obligations. What obligation would I be helped to fulfill by dying? The right to die means I would have a right to make myself unable not to fulfill any obligation.

"It just doesn't make sense. I can't make any coherent sense of the language of the 'right to die.'"

Legal documents

• Legal positivism and the problem of significance of legal documents -- Bishop Morlino said the media told us that a lesson we should have learned from the tragedy of Terri Schiavo is that we should all have a living will.

But, he said, "If somebody intends to be assisted in their own suicide if and when they enter into a permanent vegetative state and they put that in writing, that is seriously sinful. A seriously ill human being is not so devalued, so diminished that they deserve death and that society should be free of the burden of this disabled person."

The bishop clarified that having a living will isn't a bad idea - although he prefers a health care durable power of attorney and health care proxy. "I know it can work," he said from his experience.

But, he said, just having a document is not the solution to anything. What's in the document? What kind of value is reflected in the document? We must ask, "Does the document reflect the unrepeatable, priceless value and dignity of every person no matter now disabled they are?"

Bishop Morlino observed that there was a marriage license for Michael and Terri Schiavo. That marriage license gave Michael certain rights as her husband. Yet, "he's living with someone else for 10 years and has children by that other person. That marriage license with Terri trumps every other consideration, it seems, because the living will wasn't in writing. So the one document that was certainly meaningless from any moral point of view trumps the lack of a document.

"I really have a problem with that. I don't have the solution. I'm just giving you more work."

Government branches

• The relationship between the various legislative branches -- Bishop Morlino noted that Justice Antonin Scalia writes about three different ways of interpreting the Constitution, including the originalist textualist way of interpretation which Scalia favors; a way of interpreting which seeks to discover the intention of the law-giver; and judicial activism, which Bishop Morlino described as "discovering meanings those who wrote it never intended which nonetheless make the document alive and relevant given the way life has developed in our contemporary world and society."

The bishop said, "There is still plenty of room for disagreement regarding interpretation. It seems to me none of those three ways of interpreting the constitution is by itself adequate.

Look to U.S. for hope

"Some jurists suggest we look to the way other countries write and interpret their laws for enlightenment. I have no problem with that whatsoever.

"But what other nations look to the United States, to the American system of justice for, is hope. . . . that they could have a decent standard of living, that they could have a democratic vote, that they could have justice.

"We've accomplished so much here. The hope will be given to them if our own system of civil law becomes evermore the embodiment of real justice and real truth, justice and truth embodied in the legal code," he emphasized. "The only way to do that is to make the legal code accountable to right reason and to the natural moral law."

Need firm anchor

As we look to the next 10 years in Madison, Bishop Morlino said "This community is incredibly blessed with its resources, and one of the resources are the people gathered here, spectacular resources. I like the mayor's 10-year plan. Personal opinion, I even like trolleys. But I think we are called to something far greater than that. We must think seriously about solutions to the problems like the three I mentioned.

"Polls change from day to day. We need a sure and firm anchor for the justice and the truth we want to be embodied in our society and our civil law. We need to dialogue this through and debate it. It can begin here, because you and your colleagues have to do it. And these problems are in your care. As Catholics we call it lay ministry. Addressing these problems is at the pinnacle of lay ministry.

"Jesus entrusts this to you, not to me. He entrusts it to you because he trusts you and most importantly because he knows and loves you as only Jesus the friend who is also the Lord can."

St. Thomas More Society

Msgr. Paul J. Swain, vicar general, asked those attending to become founding members of the St. Thomas More Society in the Diocese of Madison. Those interested in becoming a member may contact Attorney Donald Heaney, Lathrop & Clark, P.O. Box 1507, Madison, WI 53701-1507.