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(OSV News) — OSV News recently spoke with Mary Ann Glendon, professor emerita of law at Harvard University and a former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. Glendon — who served under St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis — recounts her Vatican experiences in her new book, “In the Court of Three Popes,” providing particular insight into how laypeople can more fully embrace their vocation and life in the Catholic Church.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
That discernment can be a little bit tricky; I know that from my own experience. I was in my 50s before I had got to the point where I could find time with my family and professional responsibilities to give a little time for the Church. I thought, “I’m a teacher … so I will offer to teach CCD.”
Well, I can tell you that was a disaster. It is a breeze teaching Harvard Law students compared to teaching eighth-grade students. So you’re not always sure what you do have to offer.
But having said that, I think that a good place for all of us to start is with what, in my view, doesn’t get enough mention — formation. Many of us in this highly secular age have actually spent more time with the ins and outs of our computers than we have in deepening our understanding of the Faith.
If our understanding of the faith is fragile, especially at a time like ours, then we’re going to have a hard time explaining things to ourselves, let alone to other people. And we are going to be poorly equipped to protect our children and other people’s children from what they’re hearing in aggressively secular schools, and from an entertainment industry that is very often dismissive of everything that we treasure in our Christian traditions.
Continued below.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
OSV News: Your new book extensively details the experiences of a layperson working at a very high level in the Vatican. While most lay Catholics do not have such opportunities, how can they nonetheless better understand and embrace the role of the laity in the life of the Church?
Glendon: I do think that your question is a difficult one … because it’s so much a matter of individual discernment, and it’s so much dependent on where you are on your journey through life.That discernment can be a little bit tricky; I know that from my own experience. I was in my 50s before I had got to the point where I could find time with my family and professional responsibilities to give a little time for the Church. I thought, “I’m a teacher … so I will offer to teach CCD.”
Well, I can tell you that was a disaster. It is a breeze teaching Harvard Law students compared to teaching eighth-grade students. So you’re not always sure what you do have to offer.
But having said that, I think that a good place for all of us to start is with what, in my view, doesn’t get enough mention — formation. Many of us in this highly secular age have actually spent more time with the ins and outs of our computers than we have in deepening our understanding of the Faith.
If our understanding of the faith is fragile, especially at a time like ours, then we’re going to have a hard time explaining things to ourselves, let alone to other people. And we are going to be poorly equipped to protect our children and other people’s children from what they’re hearing in aggressively secular schools, and from an entertainment industry that is very often dismissive of everything that we treasure in our Christian traditions.
Continued below.
Ambassador to three popes says the Church needs lay assistance
Mary Ann Glendon, professor emerita of law at Harvard University and a former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. Glendon -- who served under St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis -- recounts her Vatican experiences in her new book, "In the Court of Three Popes," providing particular...
www.oursundayvisitor.com
