Prophetic Imagination and The Ethics of Communication

¡ Sister Nuala P Kenny SC, OC, MD, FRCP

l Professor Emeritus Dalhousie University, Department of Bioethics

l Past Ethics and Health Policy Advisor, Catholic Health Alliance of Canada

Jesus and Good News¡ Jesus “…unrolled the scroll and found

where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

¡ …Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4: 19-23)

My Goals ¡ Identify elements of the propheticl Reflect on Jesus as prophetl Situate Religious life as prophetic

¡Describe core features of our society

¡ Reflect on communication in our time

¡ Share three contemporary situations calling for prophetic response

Jesus’ Prophetic Life: The Ethical Center of Communication¡ Rooted in prayer and his personal

relationship with God

¡ Freed from attachments and pressures to maintain the status quo

¡ Coherence between his life and messagel God is mercy and compassionl Justice is God’s dream for humanity*Schneiders, 2011 Prophets in Their Own Country

Jesus’ Communication ¡ Metaphorically and by parables (stories)

and aphorisms (pithy statements)l “There was a woman who…”

¡ Participatively, asking questionsl “Who do you say that I am?”

¡ Symbolic actions, some very provocativel Stories of Jesusl Lepers, tax collectors, women…

The Prophetic Task¡ Discerns & responds to “the signs of the

times” (Matt 16:3)l Needed when the message is not being

received¡ Addresses a specific situation

l In a specific genre of communication¡ Announces the reign of God

l Bears witness to the divine and transcendent

l W. Brueggemann, 2001 The Prophetic Imagination

The Context of Our Wilderness:A Secular Age¡ From a dominant religious world view to

secularism¡ Government is secular; society is not

¡ The “malaise of modernity”*l Individualisml Primacy of instrumental reasonl Alienation from the public sphere

* C. Taylor 1991 The Malaise of Modernity

The Context of Our Wilderness:A Globalized World¡ Increasing global social and economic

interaction and interdependence

¡ The central role of the market

¡ The electronic dissemination of information

To Whom Do We Communicate the Good News?¡ The devout with an experience of God

¡ The observant but non-evangelized

¡ Former believers, the agnostic and the indifferent

¡ Some longing meaning & transcendence

¡ “Exclusive humanists”

Religious Life is a Prophetic Life-Form

How Can Religious Provide Prophetic Response to Communication Today?

Essentials in Communication¡ General Ethical Dimensions

l Content –the messagel Process-the way we communicatel Underlying beliefs and practices

¡ Categories (Aristotle)l Deliberative-gives guidancel Judicial-assigns praise or blamel Persuasive-values and ideals in the present

Essentials in Communication¡ Communicate by

l Speaking and listeningl Our actionsl Our images and symbols

¡ Important Distinctions l Factsl Informationl WisdomN. Postman, 1985 Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

An Interactive World

Searching for Ultimate Answers in the Age of Instant Facts

Three Specific Situations Crying Out for Prophetic Response¡ The clergy sexual abuse crisis

l Prophetic resistance

¡ The medicalization of suffering and death in euthanasia & assisted suicide l Prophetic witness

¡ The corruption of pubic discoursel Resistance and witness

Prophetic Resistance to Silence & Denial in the Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis

The Scandal of Clergy Sexual Abuse¡ The sexual and spiritual abuse of minors

l Abuse of power and trustl Failure to protect vulnerable children

¡ Inadequate leadership response to the individual abusel Secrecy, denial, minimization of harm,

protection of image and institution¡ Leadership failure to identify systemic

and cultural factors underlying the crises

Jesus’ Words and Witness

Prophetic Witness in Response to Suffering and to a Good Death

Reasons for Requesting Assisted Death: Human Suffering, Not Pain

¡Loss of dignity

¡Dependence; guilt of being a burden

¡Uncertainty re future and care needs

¡Loss of control and Hopelessnes

Differentiating Pain and SufferingChest Pain vs Heartache

Rejecting Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide¡ “ Euthanasia is a false solution to the

drama of suffering, a solution unworthy of man. Indeed, the true response cannot be to put someone to death, however ‘kindly’ but rather to witness to the love that helps people to face their pain and agony in a human way”

¡(Pope Benedict XVI, February, 2009)

Prophetic Resistance

¡ “We need Christians who make God’s mercy and tenderness for every creature visible today…the crisis of modern man is profound. That is why the New Evangelization while it calls us to have the courage to swim against the tide…cannot but use a language of mercy, which is expressed in gestures and attitudes even before words.” l (Pope Francis Oct 14, 2013)

Jesus’ Words and Witness

Prophetic Witness to Truthful Discourse¡ Public discourse requires:

l Inclusionl Encounterl Dialogue

¡ A call to be authentic; a challenge to be credible; a commitment to be faithful.l Archbishop Anthony Mancini, 2015 The

Responsibility for Christian Witness in the Politics of a Secular Age

Prophetic Resistance to ‘False News’¡ Ethics in the ‘Post-Truth Age’

l News & social media without responsibility

¡ The social impact of speech

¡ Moral relativism

¡ Moral disorientation

¡ Call lies & propaganda what they are!

“What is Truth?”“I am the Truth”

Pope Francis:Encounter and Dialogue

¡ “All this demands on the part of the evangelizer certain attitudes which foster openness to the message: approachability, readiness for dialogue, patience, a warmth and welcome which is non-judgmental.”

¡ Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium no. 16.

Jesus’ Words and Witness