tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/mother-teresa-30773/articlesMother Teresa – The Conversation2023-09-19T20:08:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2111632023-09-19T20:08:53Z2023-09-19T20:08:53ZThe Nobel Peace Prize often reveals how contentious peace can be<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-nobel-peace-prize-often-reveals-how-contentious-peace-can-be" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Leading up to the announcement of the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/">Nobel Peace Prize</a>, there is widespread speculation about who will win. </p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/nobel-peace-prize/nomination/">351 nominees</a> for the 2023 prize, 259 individuals and 92 organizations. Although the list is confidential, there is widespread speculation about who’s on it, including favourites and long shots, repeat and first-time nominees. </p>
<p>This global moment of interest in peace is important, but it doesn’t tell us much other than that peace is elusive. </p>
<p>Looking at the longer history of the Nobel Peace Prize tells us that peace takes many forms, including ending armed conflicts, resisting racial discrimination, standing up for the oppressed and caring for the vulnerable. Peace can also be political and controversial.</p>
<h2>Taking a stand against war</h2>
<p>The early recipients were usually prominent men from Europe and the United States, and their peace work took the form of preventing or ending wars. </p>
<p>The first Nobel Peace Prize was jointly awarded in 1901 to <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1901/passy/facts/">Frédéric Passy</a>, a French economist and politician who founded the French Peace Society and organized a peace congress in 1878. American president <a href="https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/laureates/1906">Theodore Roosevelt</a> received the 1906 prize for “his role in bringing to an end the bloody war recently waged between two of the world’s great powers, Japan and Russia.”</p>
<p>Over time, the list of laureates has expanded to include women and non-elites from all over the world. </p>
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<img alt="Two black-and-white photos of smiling women." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548178/original/file-20230913-21-waipff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548178/original/file-20230913-21-waipff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548178/original/file-20230913-21-waipff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548178/original/file-20230913-21-waipff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548178/original/file-20230913-21-waipff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548178/original/file-20230913-21-waipff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548178/original/file-20230913-21-waipff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Nobel Foundation Archive)</span></span>
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<p><a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1976/williams/facts/">Betty Williams</a> and <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1976/corrigan/facts/">Mairead Corrigan</a> did clerical work in Belfast and became peace activists after the death of three children in an IRA-related incident. </p>
<p>Corrigan was aunt to the children; Williams witnessed their deaths. They shared the 1976 prize for launching a peace movement to end sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.</p>
<h2>Protecting people, defending human rights</h2>
<p>Humanitarian work that supports people who are in danger or vulnerable has informed the selection of peace laureates from the start of the Nobel Peace Prize. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1901/dunant/facts/">Henri Dunant</a>, a Swiss businessman who had established the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863 to assist wounded soldiers, shared the 1901 prize with Passy. Dunant was selected because of “his humanitarian efforts to help wounded soldiers.” </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1922/nansen/facts/">Fridtjof Nansen</a>, the League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, received the award in 1922 for his work to repatriate prisoners of war after the First World War and for creating the Nansen passport for refugees. <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1979/teresa/facts/">Mother Teresa</a> won in 1979 for caring for people who were terminally ill, abandoned and destitute. </p>
<p>In 1992, <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1992/tum/facts/">Rigoberta Menchú Tum</a> of Guatemala was recognized for her advocacy of Indigenous rights, social justice and “ethno-cultural reconciliation.”</p>
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<p>Human rights activists have also figured prominently as laureates since the 1960s, starting with <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1964/king/facts/">Martin Luther King Jr.</a> in 1964 for “his non-violent struggle for civil rights for the Afro-American population.” </p>
<p>Other human rights laureates include <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1968/cassin/facts/">René Cassin</a> (1968), a drafter of the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1991/kyi/facts/">Aung San Suu Kyi</a> (1991) for her efforts to establish democracy and human rights in Myanmar, and <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2021/ressa/facts/">Maria Ressa</a> and <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2021/muratov/facts/">Dmitry Muratov</a> (2021) for their defence of freedom of expression. </p>
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<h2>International co-operation</h2>
<p>The prize has also recognized efforts to create internationalist attitudes and improve standards of living as essential contributions to establishing peace among nations and ensuring people live in security and with dignity.</p>
<p>American peace activist and social reformer <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1931/addams/facts/">Jane Addams</a> received the 1931 prize, at the height of the Great Depression, for her efforts to “rekindle the spirit of peace” in the United States and “the whole of mankind.”</p>
<p>U.S. President <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2009/obama/facts/">Barack Obama</a> was selected in 2009 for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between people,” while <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2006/yunus/facts/">Muhammad Yunus</a>, a South Asian economist, won in 2006 for setting up a bank to provide small long-term loans to people living in poverty so that they could become financially independent.</p>
<h2>Politicizing peace</h2>
<p>But peace can become political when its advocates oppose or try to reform governments and societies that are pursuing hostile foreign relations or promote and perpetuate injustice and oppression at home. </p>
<p>Between the two world wars, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to politicians, diplomats and officials who made substantial efforts to avoid future conflict, even though they were ultimately unsuccessful.</p>
<p>That included those who supported the <a href="https://www.ungeneva.org/en/about/league-of-nations/overview">League of Nations</a> or negotiated agreements, like the 1925 <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667899/">Locarno Treaties</a>, that were supposed to guarantee the borders between Germany and France and Germany and Belgium, and the <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/kellogg">Kellogg-Briand Pact</a> of 1928 renouncing war as an instrument of state policy.</p>
<p>The 1964 prize to King, four years before his assassination, was a timely intervention in the American civil rights movement. The 1983 award to <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1983/walesa/facts/">Lech Walesa</a>, leader of the trade union Solidarity in Poland, made an anti-communism statement. </p>
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<h2>Controversial laureates</h2>
<p>The selection of laureates can be controversial, and several have been criticized for acts and beliefs that are inconsistent with peace. </p>
<p>There was an outcry when <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1973/kissinger/facts/">Henry Kissinger</a>, the U.S. secretary of state, received the prize for his part in negotiating a ceasefire in Vietnam. </p>
<p>Mother Teresa was also <a href="https://www.salon.com/2016/01/03/the_wests_big_lie_about_mother_teresa_her_glorification_of_suffering_instead_of_relieving_it_has_had_little_impact_on_her_glowing_reputation/">criticized for denying people in her care pain relief.</a> </p>
<p>As Myanmar’s leader, Suu Kyi <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11685977">was denounced internationally for denying the genocide of Rohingya Muslims</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/30/aung-san-suu-kyi-wont-be-stripped-of-nobel-peace-prize-despite-rohingya-crisis">The Nobel Committee explained that her prize could not be withdrawn after the fact</a>. </p>
<h2>Peace can threaten the powerful</h2>
<p>The pursuit of peace itself provokes opposition because it demands change. </p>
<p>Abolishing war limits the way governments promote national security. Authority and privilege are challenged in the face of calls to eliminate racism, empower Indigenous Peoples, respect freedom of expression and achieve socio-economic equality.</p>
<p>Even though peace might seem unobjectionable, the history of peace is a story of resistance, contesting the status quo and precarious advances.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211163/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francine McKenzie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Peace can become political when advocates oppose or try to reform governments and societies pursuing hostile foreign relations — or when these societies perpetuate injustice and oppression at home.Francine McKenzie, Professor of History, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1973812023-01-25T13:24:24Z2023-01-25T13:24:24ZCalls for Pope Benedict’s sainthood make canonizing popes seem like the norm – but it’s a long and politically fraught process<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505189/original/file-20230118-14-a5g4i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=57%2C0%2C3790%2C2555&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People pray in front of the tomb of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI inside the grottos of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, on Jan. 8, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VaticanPopeEmeritusBenedictXVI/8d23357680c0479b865fc3ff47e71f54/photo?Query=pope%20benedict%20xvi&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=15232&currentItemNo=4">AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Like many others around the world, I watched the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI live on the internet. Before the service began, an unexpected announcement came over the loudspeakers requesting that members of the assembled crowd refrain from raising any banners or flags. Nevertheless, toward the end of the liturgy, at least one large banner was displayed, reading “<a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/sign-benedict-xvis-funeral-reads-115500453.html#:%7E:text=The%20Italian%20phrase%20is%20a,CBS3%20anchor%20Pat%20Ciarrocchi%20covered.">Santo Subito</a>,” an Italian phrase that means “sainthood now.”</p>
<p>Identical signs were <a href="https://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/update/conclave/pt040805a.htm">raised at the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II</a>, who was <a href="https://www.vatican.va/special/canonizzazione-27042014/index_en.html">officially canonized</a> nine years later. The connection between these events has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/many-thousands-expected-funeral-former-pope-benedict-2023-01-04/">not gone unnoticed</a>, leading some to raise questions about expectations that every future pope will be acclaimed as a saint. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/joanne-pierce">specialist in Catholic liturgy and ritual</a>, I know that in the contemporary church, no one, from popes to laypeople, is ever officially proclaimed a saint immediately after death. The way that saints are chosen has changed over the centuries, and that has affected the “wait time” between death and canonization.</p>
<h2>Antiquity and early Middle Ages</h2>
<p>In the early church, Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire. Those who were executed after refusing to renounce their faith were venerated immediately after their deaths; individuals or small groups would pray at martyrs’ graves, believed to be places of special holiness, where <a href="http://projects.mcah.columbia.edu/courses/medmil/pages/non-mma-pages/syllabus/lecture-19.html">heaven and earth meet</a>.</p>
<p>Those who were imprisoned for their faith but released – called confessors — were venerated by their communities in the same way. </p>
<p>After the legalization of Christianity in the early fourth century, other men and women who had lived lives of exceptional virtue were also recognized as holy ones and called saints. For the next several centuries, most saints were venerated at the local level. </p>
<p>Bishops often approved many of these saints for <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-some-roman-catholic-saints-called-doctors-of-the-church-175912">wider regional veneration</a>. Just before the year 1000, Ulrich of Augsburg, an ascetic German bishop, became the first saint to be <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/24/papal-saints-once-a-given-now-extremely-rare/#:%7E:text=In%20993%2C%20St.,and%20documented%20potential%20saints'%20lives">officially canonized by a pope</a>. By the early 12th century, it was left to the the popes to officially proclaim most saints. In <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6rql5Lv5yqYC&pg=PA202&lpg=PA202&dq=Pope+canonizing+saints++year1234&source=bl&ots=tVeOTYoosC&sig=ACfU3U0QMV2qMda9prglh_yTaJijjX79nQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj4vfj-4M38AhWCElkFHdNnD1A4ChDoAXoECAQQAw#v=onepage&q=Pope%20canonizing%20saints%20%20year1234&f=false">later years, popes insisted on this exclusive prerogative</a>.</p>
<h2>The later Middle Ages</h2>
<p>Although the cases – called causes – of those already locally revered for their holiness were brought to Rome for examination and approval, there was no set timeline for the process. However, no highly regarded Christian was canonized immediately after death. Instead, the investigation of their cases could take years to reach a conclusion.</p>
<p>The proclamation of St. Anthony of Padua in the 13th century was the <a href="https://stfrancis.clas.asu.edu/article/anthony-padua-chronology">fastest canonization</a> during this period. A member of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor – <a href="https://usfranciscans.org/">meaning Little or Lesser Brothers</a> – this young priest was acclaimed for his simple, eloquent preaching. </p>
<p>Anthony died in 1231 and, because of his reputation, was canonized less than a year later, even faster than St. Francis of Assisi, the renowned founder of the Franciscans. Only two years after Francis’ death in 1226, Pope Urban IX proclaimed him a saint because of his “<a href="https://www.papalencyclicals.net/greg09/g9mira.htm">many brilliant miracles</a>.”</p>
<p>Other causes could take longer. For example, the canonization of St. Joan of Arc took almost 500 years. During the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/hundred-years-war">Hundred Years’ War</a> between England and France in the 14th and 15th centuries, this French teenager experienced visions of saints directing her to liberate France. She helped win an important battle but was later captured and convicted by the English of heresy. In 1431, Joan was executed by being burned at the stake.</p>
<p>In 1456, <a href="https://popehistory.com/popes/pope-callixtus-iii/">Pope Callixtus III</a> declared Joan of Arc innocent of heresy, and she continued to be venerated by the French for centuries afterward. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-church-history/article/abs/reclaiming-a-martyr-french-catholics-and-the-cult-of-joan-of-arc-18901920/AC283FB4FB2AAFC9D19B328E1CCCA630">Increasing French nationalism</a> played a role in advancing her cause, and Pope Benedict XV proclaimed her a saint in 1920, praising her long-standing reputation for holiness and her life of “<a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xv/la/bulls/documents/hf_ben-xv_bulls_19200516_divina-disponente.html">heroic virtues</a>.”</p>
<h2>Modern changes</h2>
<p>In the 16th century, the canonization process became more standardized. The process of canonizing saints was handled in one specific office, the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_pro_20051996_en.html">Sacred Congregation of Rites</a>, part of the overall papal bureaucracy, the Curia. Later, in the 17th century, Pope Urban VIII set a 50-year waiting period between the death of a potential candidate and the submission of a case for canonization, to ensure that only <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/03/15/its-time-catholic-church-stop-canonization-popes/">worthy candidates would be nominated</a>. </p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-becomes-a-saint-in-the-catholic-church-and-is-that-changing-81011">process was reformed</a> during the 20th century. In 1983, Pope John Paul II set <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_07021983_norme_en.html">a new five-year waiting period</a> for the Vatican office, now known as the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/romancuria/en/dicasteri/dicastero-cause-santi/profilo.html">Dicastery for the Causes of the Saints</a>.</p>
<p>This waiting period before a cause may be submitted can be, and has been, waived at the discretion of the pope. In 1999, Pope John Paul II waived it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/world/europe/mother-teresas-path-to-sainthood-cleared-by-vatican.html">for the cause of Mother Teresa</a>. The process began then, only two years after her death in 1997, and she was proclaimed St. Teresa of Calcutta by Pope Francis <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2020-09/saint-mother-teresa-kolkata-annivesary-canonization.html">in 2016</a>. </p>
<p>After the death of John Paul II himself in 2005, his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/3878/pope-benedict-forgoes-waiting-period-begins-john-paul-ii-beatification-process#:%7E:text=But%20Pope%20Benedict%20told%20clergy,during%20his%2026%2Dyear%20pontificate">again waived the waiting period</a> for his case to proceed. Only nine years later, in 2014, Pope Francis proclaimed John Paul II a saint.</p>
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<span class="caption">People watch the screening of the canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II broadcast from the Vatican in 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ItalyVaticanPopesSaints/30d689f0aa09477d90a4da0a65849824/photo?Query=John%20Paul%20II%20saint&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=747&currentItemNo=36">AP Photo/Luca Bruno</a></span>
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<p>However, in the intervening years, questions were raised about what some considered to be a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/14/world/europe/john-paul-vatican.html">hasty or premature advancement</a> of John Paul II’s cause. </p>
<h2>Criticisms of the process</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.theage.com.au/world/list-popes-of-the-20th-and-21st-centuries-20130314-2g1lh.html">Eleven popes</a> have served the Catholic Church since 1900. Three – Leo XIII, Benedict XV and Pius XI – have not been nominated. Pope Pius X, who died in 1914, was canonized 40 years later in 1954. </p>
<p>So far in the 21st century, several more popes have entered or completed the process. Pius XII, who died in 1958, has been named “Venerable” – the second step of the canonization process – despite ongoing controversy over his actions during World War II. </p>
<p>But over the past 10 years, four popes – John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II – <a href="https://aleteia.org/2018/08/07/of-the-266-men-who-have-sat-upon-the-throne-of-peter-how-many-have-been-canonized/">have been proclaimed saints</a>, an unusual situation in modern Catholic history. </p>
<p>It can seem that canonizing popes has become routine in the 21st century. Some even suggest that this trend marks <a href="https://www.pillarcatholic.com/when-the-papal-saints-come-marching-in/">a new era of personal holiness</a> in those elected to the papacy. However, not everyone cheers this trend. </p>
<p>Critics cite the rapid canonization of Pope John Paul II as an example of potential problems. His lengthy reign and widespread popularity led to a special pressure on Pope Francis to move quickly on his cause. Afterward, however, more evidence was uncovered <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/11/18/saint-john-paul-ii-canonize-mistake-mccarrick-abuse">raising questions</a> about the pope’s handling of the clergy abuse crisis. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/03/15/its-time-catholic-church-stop-canonization-popes/">Politics within the church</a> can also come into play. For example, conservatives could push strongly to canonize a more traditionally minded pope, while progressives might support a candidate with a broader point of view. This seems to be why two popes – John XXIII, who called the Second Vatican Council in 1962 to reform and renew the church, and John Paul II, who strove to curb some of the more progressive elements – were <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2014/04/07/every-pope-a-saint-the-politics-of-canonization/">both canonized</a> at the same ceremony. </p>
<p>The papal power to waive even the brief five-year waiting period makes these problems even more acute. Some have even suggested imposing a moratorium on papal canonizations, or at least lengthening the <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/saintly-popes-people-question-whether-canonizing-popes-good-idea">waiting period</a> before a pope’s cause could be considered.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church teaches that saints are proclaimed so that others might be inspired by their lives and examples of “<a href="https://www.usccb.org/offices/public-affairs/saints">heroic virtue</a>.” But it takes time to thoroughly examine each cause individually, and hidden flaws may not be uncovered until much later after the candidate’s death. </p>
<p>This was true for St. John Paul II, and might be the case for Pope Benedict XVI. But no one is recognized a saint <a href="https://theconversation.com/smiling-pope-john-paul-i-takes-the-next-step-toward-sainthood-not-all-pontiffs-earn-this-distinction-188941">simply because he served as pope</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne M. Pierce does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A specialist in Catholic liturgy and rituals explains that while several popes have been canonized, it is a long process that may take several years to examine and uncover any hidden flaws.Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1349372020-04-17T14:46:10Z2020-04-17T14:46:10ZSome students in the class of 2020 may face traumatic loss due to coronavirus. Here’s how to help.<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328770/original/file-20200417-152576-1dkoxvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C109%2C3781%2C2022&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An abrupt end to school for would-be graduates has the potential to turn existential despair into traumatic loss.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a rapid response to COVID-19, universities moved classes online and brought <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6695575/canada-coronavirus-colleges-universities-dorms/">campus life to a sudden halt for thousands of final-year undergraduates</a>. The fallout from this has the potential to exacerbate the existential despair that many young people may be experiencing, or turn this into a traumatic loss.</p>
<p><a href="https://nobaproject.com/modules/emerging-adulthood">Emerging adulthood</a> has been defined as “<a href="https://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/consensus-conference-mental-health-emerging-adults-making-transitions-priority-canada">a critical developmental stage</a>.”
Various pressures and challenges can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25462401">adversely impact the emotional health of emerging adults</a>. When combined with the transition into an uncertain future, <a href="https://psychcentral.com/blog/existential-despair-a-deeper-cause-of-human-anxiety/">existential despair</a> can result.</p>
<p>In my work as a clinician and scholar, I am concerned with how various states of emotional distress have been <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030027315">regarded by psychiatry</a> and the larger field of mental health as abnormal and in need of intervention and medical treatment — in other words, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2007.1078_4.x">how normal feelings have been medicalized</a>. </p>
<p>Existential despair <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10615800412331318616">is common</a>. It can be <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10964-006-9032-y">about larger life tensions</a> or thoughts about our place in the world. For some, it’s about ongoing <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15958142">questioning of the meaning of life</a>. </p>
<p>For others, existential despair happens suddenly or is triggered by a significant event. <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/coping-with-existential-anxiety-4163485">Depressed or anxious thoughts and feelings</a> about ourselves and our future are common. Existential despair can be destabilizing or an opportunity for change.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328472/original/file-20200416-192698-14iv5m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328472/original/file-20200416-192698-14iv5m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328472/original/file-20200416-192698-14iv5m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328472/original/file-20200416-192698-14iv5m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328472/original/file-20200416-192698-14iv5m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328472/original/file-20200416-192698-14iv5m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328472/original/file-20200416-192698-14iv5m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Existential despair can be destabilizing or an opportunity for change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Brad Neathery/Unsplash)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Recovery after traumatic loss</h2>
<p>COVID-19 brought a sudden end to university life for final-year students, taking with it most events that temper the sadness of saying good-bye. The potential for this abrupt ending to become a <a href="https://www.teachtrauma.com/information-about-trauma/types-of-trauma/traumatic-loss/">traumatic loss</a> is real. </p>
<p>For about four years, university has been their home, community and source of identity. Some will be at greater risk of fallout <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137304667_14">than others.</a> Those who were <a href="https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=2ahUKEwjIg4mx-MfoAhVFJ80KHcU7BlgQFjAJegQIAxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Feducationnorthwest.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fresources%2Ftrauma-informed-practices-postsecondary-508.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3WBSI-G1Lk-d22mghjHTOc">already struggling</a> with the transition and <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/health/pages/srrighthealthindex.aspx">those with histories of trauma will be at greater risk</a> of experiencing this as traumatic loss.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2007.00205.x">Traumatic losses</a> include significant deaths and losses that are badly timed or happen without warning. They can disrupt efforts to <a href="http://journal.existentialpsychology.org/index.php/ExPsy/article/view/199">make meaning</a>. <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-theater-the-brain/201503/mourning-death-loss-trauma-and-psychotherapy">Recovery after traumatic loss</a> can be a slow, back-and-forth process.</p>
<h2>Effects of childhood trauma</h2>
<p>Many students come to university carrying the effects of childhood trauma. Prevalence rates of childhood trauma vary from <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2017001/article/14698/01-eng.htm">more than one-third</a> to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/acestudy/index.html">more than half</a> of those under 18. Many will have had <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/acestudy/about.html">more than one adverse childhood experience</a>. </p>
<p>University life lets some students step aside from some of the emotional burdens of past traumas. University can provide an escape by providing familiarity and community, and making students feel less alone. Yet as Allan Horwitz, professor of sociology, and Jerome Wakefield, professor of social work, say in their book <em><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/all-we-have-to-fear-9780199793754?cc=us&lang=en&">All We Have To Fear</a></em>, “we are clearly not designed to leave behind traumatic memories forever.”</p>
<p>When the relative comfort of campus life is suddenly gone, some might feel catapulted back into the reality of their past trauma and their own aloneness. This reality might feel too big to bear. This sudden end to university can rip into the emotional defenses that have allowed some to feel less burdened by their histories. </p>
<h2>Anguish isn’t a disorder</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328474/original/file-20200416-192744-15gspkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328474/original/file-20200416-192744-15gspkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328474/original/file-20200416-192744-15gspkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328474/original/file-20200416-192744-15gspkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328474/original/file-20200416-192744-15gspkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328474/original/file-20200416-192744-15gspkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328474/original/file-20200416-192744-15gspkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While undoubtedly some students may need professional help, both professional helpers (like counsellors) and non-professional helpers, such as friends, family members or faith leaders will need to <a href="https://dartcenter.org/content/injury-not-disorder-0">resist the temptation to address all students’ anguish foremost or exclusively as psychological disorders that need fixing</a>.</p>
<p>They will instead need to ask some big questions like: “What has been triggered by this sudden loss? What have they been carrying that they can no longer hold?”</p>
<p>The effects of trauma <a href="https://www.bps.org.uk/power-threat-meaning-framework">tend to stack up</a>. The straw that breaks the camel’s back is important to watch for with this graduating class. The emotional loads <a href="https://www.madinamerica.com/2015/09/an-epidemic-of-anguish-on-college-campuses/">are already too heavy for many</a>. </p>
<p>Some are doing OK while others may be breaking down in the sense of feeling a loss of control and profound fear over powerful emotions. </p>
<p>A large proportion of students bring their trauma histories with them when they start school. An important part of offering support to those who are experiencing this sudden end as a traumatic loss is asking them: “What else are you struggling with?”</p>
<h2>How we respond will matter … a lot!</h2>
<p>How we respond to the needs of the class of 2020 will matter. Those who are struggling to function <a href="https://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/magazine/article/2436/the-tyranny-of-time/5d2ed7b6-3a2a-4c7c-b491-2a2742748e83/OIM">may need help</a>. <a href="https://jonathanshedler.com/PDFs/Shedler%20(2010)%20Efficacy%20of%20Psychodynamic%20Psychotherapy.pdf">Psychotherapy</a> will be <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/why-depth-therapy-is-more-enduring-than-a-quick-fix-of-cbt">an important option</a>. Parents, you might feel your own emotional pains as you watch your daughter or son struggle with theirs. Don’t let your big feelings get in the way of them being present with theirs.</p>
<h2>Considerations for struggling students</h2>
<p>This will be a huge loss, but it doesn’t need to be defining.</p>
<p>Name it, don’t deny it, don’t try to pretend it away.</p>
<p>Talk about it openly and honestly.</p>
<p>Be present with big feelings.</p>
<p>Grieving will be necessary. <a href="https://www.centerforloss.com/">There’s no right amount of time or way to grieve</a>. These will vary.</p>
<p>Be honest about the reality and hopeful about the future.</p>
<p>Look at what can be done.</p>
<p>Stay connected through online communities.</p>
<p><a href="https://whatsyourgrief.com/64-tips-grief-and-exercise/">Exercise and eat well</a>.</p>
<p>Find out what your school has planned for after the COVID-19 crisis.</p>
<p>Find new ways to create meaning, purpose and belonging.</p>
<h2>Great ‘existential crossroads’ books</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328111/original/file-20200415-153298-qugihl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328111/original/file-20200415-153298-qugihl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328111/original/file-20200415-153298-qugihl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328111/original/file-20200415-153298-qugihl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328111/original/file-20200415-153298-qugihl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328111/original/file-20200415-153298-qugihl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328111/original/file-20200415-153298-qugihl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Holocaust survivor and pscyhiatrist Viktor Frankl wrote ‘Man’s Search for Meaning,’ first published in 1946.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Beacon Press)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are lots of great books available that examine navigating and surviving loss, trauma and despair. Here are some I recommend: </p>
<p><a href="http://www.beacon.org/Mans-Search-for-Meaning-P602.aspx"><em>Man’s Search for Meaning</em></a> is a stunning and harrowing account of personal experiences by Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl that documents his <a href="http://www.logotherapyinstitute.org/About_Logotherapy.html">“logotherapy” approach</a> as a way of engaging the search for meaning.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/46790/going-to-pieces-without-falling-apart-by-mark-epstein-author-of-thoughts-without-a-thinker/">Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart</a></em> is a Buddhist perspective on wholeness by psychiatrist Mark Epstein.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/17864236-why-smart-people-hurt"><em>Why Smart People Hurt: A Guide for the Bright, the Sensitive, and the Creative</em></a> by psychologist Eric Maisel offers insight based on his years working with smart or high-achieving people who have faced devastation. </p>
<p><a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393346633"><em>Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience</em></a> by author and journalist Laurence Gonzales reports on why some fare better than others in surviving perilous or traumatic situations.</p>
<p><a href="https://chironpublications.com/shop/the-soul-in-anguish/"><em>The Soul in Anguish</em></a>, by professor of depth psychology and Jungian analyst Lionel Corbett, examines how suffering can be helpful or harmful in the personality’s development.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/118056/mother-teresa-come-be-my-light-by-mother-teresa-with-brian-kolodiejchuk/9780307589231"><em>Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light</em></a>, edited by Fr. Brian Kolodiejchuk, is a collection of Mother Teresa’s correspondence that shocked many with accounts of an “<a href="https://time.com/4126238/mother-teresas-crisis-of-faith/">existentialist drama</a>” and an “emptiness so great.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.harpercollins.ca/search-results/?keyword=the+alchemist"><em>The Alchemist</em></a> is a popular allegorical novel by Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho about the importance of taking small positive actions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134937/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marnie Wedlake receives funding from The University of Western Ontario's Smart Healthy Campus Interdisciplinary Initiative.
Marnie Wedlake is an Associate with the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal and an Advisory Council Member with the Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy.</span></em></p>Don’t medicalize all anguish and existential despair, says a registered psychotherapist. Consider earlier traumas and 7 books about suffering and survival.Marnie Wedlake, Assistant Professor of Mental Health & Wellness; Registered Psychotherapist, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/999782018-07-25T22:58:12Z2018-07-25T22:58:12ZWhy we sometimes hate the good guy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229056/original/file-20180724-194152-1ptt71s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Why do we sometimes punish the virtuous among us? It's complicated.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Photo by 小胖 车 on Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Everyone is supposed to cheer for good guys. We’re supposed to honour heroes, saints and anyone who helps others, and we should only punish the bad guys. And that’s what we actually do, right?</p>
<p>Well, sometimes.</p>
<p>Most of the time, we do indeed reward co-operators. We also often punish unco-operative people who harm others, who aren’t good team players or who freeload on the hard work of others. But sometimes the good guys also get punished or criticized, specifically <em>because</em> they are so good. </p>
<p>Why would anyone punish or criticize someone for being good? This seems puzzling, because it brings down group co-operation. However, it is no anomaly.</p>
<p>This punishment of good co-operators has been discovered in multiple fields, including <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/319/5868/1362">experimental economics</a>, <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-internationale-de-psychologie-sociale-2007-1-page-53.htm">social psychology</a> and <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674006911&content=reviews">anthropology</a>, where it is variously called “antisocial punishment” or “do-gooder derogation.”</p>
<p>Co-operation and punishment are often studied using economic games with real money, where people can either co-operate or be selfish, and can pay to “punish” others for their actions. </p>
<p>While most punishment in these studies is directed at unco-operative group members, approximately <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10683-006-9127-z">20 per cent of all punishment</a> is directed at the most <em>co-operative</em> group members. Furthermore, while the rates of antisocial punishment vary, it has been <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/319/5868/1362">found in every society where it has been investigated</a>. Researchers are at a loss to explain why antisocial punishment exists.</p>
<h2>“You’re making me look bad!”</h2>
<p>Our research suggests a simple reason why we sometimes hate the good guy: They make us look bad by comparison. Many of us have heard of people saying: “Stop working so hard, you’re making the rest of us look bad.” </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229057/original/file-20180724-194146-b4zgvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229057/original/file-20180724-194146-b4zgvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229057/original/file-20180724-194146-b4zgvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229057/original/file-20180724-194146-b4zgvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229057/original/file-20180724-194146-b4zgvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229057/original/file-20180724-194146-b4zgvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229057/original/file-20180724-194146-b4zgvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Are you a Mother Teresa?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is the same phenomenon: When one person looks really good, others look bad by comparison. They then have an incentive in stopping that person from looking good, especially if they can’t (or won’t) compete. </p>
<p>Just like every other trait, generosity is relative. Someone is only deemed good or generous based on how they compare to others. In a land of Scrooges, a normal person seems like Mother Teresa. In a land of Mother Teresas, a normal person seems like Scrooge. </p>
<p>When faced with a Mother Teresa, how can a normal person compete? One option is to step up one’s game and <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/274/1610/749.short">actively compete to be more generous</a> (“<a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/265/1394/427.short">competitive altruism</a>”). A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.02.002">second option</a> is to bring the best co-operators down, Scrooge-like, via do-gooder derogation and antisocial punishment. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229061/original/file-20180724-194152-cvsmzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229061/original/file-20180724-194152-cvsmzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229061/original/file-20180724-194152-cvsmzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229061/original/file-20180724-194152-cvsmzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229061/original/file-20180724-194152-cvsmzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229061/original/file-20180724-194152-cvsmzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229061/original/file-20180724-194152-cvsmzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Or are you a Scrooge?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This manifests as suppressing someone’s co-operation or work ethic, inferring ulterior motives for altruistic actions, implying real or imagined hypocrisy (“He’s a vegetarian, but wears leather shoes!”), attacking them on unrelated dimensions or outright punishing them. </p>
<p>We recently <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617752642">ran an experiment</a> to test whether competition to look good is what drives antisocial punishment. Our participants were assigned to either a control condition or to an experimental condition where they had an incentive to appear more generous than others. </p>
<h2>Suppressing the good</h2>
<p>In our control condition, participants played an economic game known as a “public goods game,” where they could donate money to a “public good” which benefited everyone, or keep the money for themselves. We then let participants pay to punish others, and we calculated how much punishment was targeted at the best co-operators. </p>
<p>Our experimental condition was the same as the control condition, except that an additional participant was an observer who could see how much everyone donated to the public good. The observer could choose one person as a partner for a subsequent co-operative task, which prompted everyone in the group to appear more co-operative than others.</p>
<p>We hypothesized that when there was this competition to be chosen as a partner, there would be more punishment of the top co-operators, because that’s when social comparisons are more important.</p>
<p>Our results unambiguously supported our hypothesis: There was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617752642">five times as much punishment of the good co-operators when people competed to be chosen</a> compared to the absence of such a competition. </p>
<p>Furthermore, this antisocial punishment was effective at suppressing the good co-operators, thus preventing the good co-operators from making the bad co-operators look bad. In other words, antisocial punishment worked. </p>
<h2>Why does it matter?</h2>
<p>Critics often attack the motives of people who protect the environment, seek social justice, donate money or work too hard in organizations. Such good deeds are dismissed as naïve, hypocritical (“champagne liberals”) or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/20/virtue-signalling-putdown-passed-sell-by-date">as mere “virtue signalling”</a> by those who do not perform those deeds. If left unchecked, this criticism may ultimately reduce how often people do good deeds. </p>
<p>Our research helps us recognize these attacks for what they are: A competitive social strategy, used by low co-operators, to bring others down and stop them from looking better than they do. </p>
<p>By identifying this strategy and calling it out, we can make it less effective, and thus allow <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-jason-miller/no-good-deed-goes-unpunished_b_7274830.html">good deeds to truly go unpunished.</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99978/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pat Barclay receives funding from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Is the expression ‘no good deed goes unpunished’ accurate? New research shows we often do, in fact, punish those who do good deeds.Pat Barclay, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/810112017-07-31T02:32:40Z2017-07-31T02:32:40ZWho becomes a saint in the Catholic Church, and is that changing?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179627/original/file-20170725-13256-1s6qjsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis at the end of a canonization ceremony for Mother Teresa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alessandra Tarantino/AP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis has <a href="http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-creates-new-category-for-beatificatio">created</a> a new category for <a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=32114">beatification</a>, the level immediately below sainthood, in the Catholic Church: those who give their lives for others. This is called “oblatio vitae,” the “offer of life” for the well-being of another person. </p>
<p>Martyrs, a special category of saint, also offer up their lives, but they do so for their “Christian faith.” And so, the pope’s decision raises the question: Is the Catholic understanding of sainthood changing?</p>
<h2>Who’s a ‘saint’?</h2>
<p>Most people use the word “saint” to refer to someone who is exceptionally good or “holy.” In the Catholic Church, however, a “saint” has a more specific meaning: someone who has led a life of “heroic virtue.” </p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15472a.htm">definition</a> includes the four “<a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/the-cardinal-virtues-542142">cardinal</a>” virtues: prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice; as well as the “<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a7.htm">theological</a>” virtues: faith, hope and charity. A saint displays these qualities in a consistent and exceptional way.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179631/original/file-20170725-17932-m3v61w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179631/original/file-20170725-17932-m3v61w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179631/original/file-20170725-17932-m3v61w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179631/original/file-20170725-17932-m3v61w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179631/original/file-20170725-17932-m3v61w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179631/original/file-20170725-17932-m3v61w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179631/original/file-20170725-17932-m3v61w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Giuseppe Gabriele Del Rosario Brochero prior to the start of a canonization Mass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gregorio Borgia/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When someone is proclaimed a saint by the pope – which can happen only after death – public devotion to the saint, called a “cultus,” is authorized for Catholics throughout the world.</p>
<h2>Canonization</h2>
<p>The process for being named a saint in the Catholic Church is called “canonization,” the word “<a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/canon">canon</a>” meaning an authoritative list. Persons who are named “saints” are listed in the “canon” as saints and given a special day, called a “<a href="http://acatholiclife.blogspot.com/2005/09/catholic-feast-days.html">feast</a>,” in the <a href="http://www.usccb.org/about/divine-worship/liturgical-calendar/upload/2017cal.pdf">Catholic calendar</a>.</p>
<p>Before approximately the year 1000, saints were named by the local bishop. For example, <a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5358">St. Peter the Apostle</a> and <a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=89">St. Patrick of Ireland</a> were considered “saints” long before any formal procedures had been established. But as the papacy increased its power, it claimed the <a href="http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/the-process-of-becoming-a-saint.html">exclusive authority</a> to name a saint.</p>
<h2>The investigation</h2>
<p>Today there are four stages in canonization.</p>
<p>Any Catholic or group of Catholics can request that the bishop open a case. They will need to name a formal intermediary, called the “postulator,” who will promote the cause of the saint. At this point, the candidate is called “a servant of God.”</p>
<p>A formal investigation examines “servant of God’s” life. Those who knew the candidate are interviewed, and affidavits for and against the candidate are reviewed. Also, the candidate’s writings – if any exist – are examined for consistency with Catholic doctrine. A <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P5E.HTM">“promoter of justice”</a> named by the local bishop ensures that proper procedures are followed and a notary certifies the documentation. </p>
<p>The proceedings of the investigation, called “Acta” or “The Acts,” are forwarded to the <a href="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/index.htm">Congregation for the Causes of the Saints</a> in Rome. The Congregation for the Causes of the Saints is large, with a prefect, a secretary, undersecretary and a <a href="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_pro_20051996_en.html">staff of 23 people</a>. There are also over 30 cardinals and bishops associated with the congregation’s work at various stages. </p>
<p>The Congregation for the Causes of the Saints appoints a “relator” (one of five who currently work for the congregation) who supervises the postulator in writing a position paper called a “positio.” The positio argues for the virtues of the servant of God and can be thousands of pages long. The congregation examines the positio and members vote “yes” or “no” on the cause. “Yes” votes must be unanimous.</p>
<p>The final decision lies with the pope. When he signs a “Decree of Heroic Virtue,” the person becomes “venerable.” Then two stages remain: beatification and sainthood.</p>
<p>Throughout most of Catholic history, the canonization process was rigorous. One of the key figures in the investigation in the Vatican was the “<a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01168b.htm">devil’s advocate,</a>” who functioned like an opposing attorney by <a href="http://www.unamsanctamcatholicam.com/history/79-history/351-devil-s-advocate.html">challenging</a> the candidate’s holiness. This is the origin of the often-used English phrase referring to someone who takes a position to challenge another person to prove a point more fully.</p>
<p>Few people have received the title of “saint,” although there are <a href="http://www.uscatholic.org/articles/201310/how-many-saints-are-there-28027">more than 10,000</a> that the Catholic Church venerates. Even 15th-century famous spiritual writer German Thomas à Kempis didn’t make it through the process. His body was exhumed and examined during <a href="http://www.timothyedmoore.com/why-isnt-thomas-akempis-a-saint-of-the-catholic-church/">his case</a> for sainthood. There are stories that there were scratch marks on the inside of his coffin and splinters of wood under his fingernails. These discoveries suggested an escape attempt after being buried alive. The issue would have been that Thomas à Kempis did not peacefully accept death as a saint should. His case did not move forward.</p>
<h2>Changes to the process</h2>
<p>In the early ‘70’s, Pope Paul VI revised the canon of the saints to exclude those whose historical existence could not be verified. For example, <a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=36">St. Christopher</a>, the protector of travelers, was removed, although many Catholics still have a St. Christopher medal in their automobiles.</p>
<p>In 1983, <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_25011983_divinus-perfectionis-magister.html">John Paul II</a>, who would become a saint himself, changed the waiting period from 50 to five years after the candidate’s death. He also reduced the role of the “devil’s advocate.” </p>
<p>These changes led to criticism that the Vatican had become “<a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/10/469927636/new-vatican-rules-will-put-more-spreadsheets-into-the-saint-making-process">a saints’ factory</a>.” This quicker process, however, has not reduced the <a href="http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2014/the-cost-of-sainthood-cardinal-announces-plan-to-contain-fees.cfm">six-figure costs</a> necessary for those who support the cause to fund an investigation and hire a postulator. </p>
<h2>Types of saints</h2>
<p>While the title “saint” is used for all those who are canonized, there are different categories of saints, such as “martyr” and “confessor.” </p>
<p>A “martyr” has been killed for his or her Christian beliefs; a “confessor” has been tortured or persecuted for his or her faith, but not killed. If a saint had been a bishop, a widow or a virgin, that becomes part of their title as well. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="http://www.catholictradition.org/Saints/saints2-2.htm">St. Blaise</a> is both a bishop and a martyr. <a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=193">Katherine Drexel of Philadelphia</a> has the title “St. Katherine Drexel, Virgin.” St. Katherine Drexel was the second American-born saint and founder of <a href="http://www.xula.edu">Xavier University of Louisiana</a>, the only American Catholic university <a href="http://www.blackpast.org/aah/xavier-university-1915">established primarily for African-Americans</a>.</p>
<p>At this point, it is unclear whether a special title is associated with the new category of saint declared by Pope Francis.</p>
<h2>Miracles and martyrs</h2>
<p>Miracles are an important part of canonization. </p>
<p>A miracle is an event that cannot be explained by reason or natural causes. To be named “blessed,” one miracle has to be proved as having taken place under the influence of the candidate for sainthood. The process begins with a person praying to the saint who “intercedes” with God, usually to cure an illness. The potential miracle is then investigated by a medical board of nine members, who are sworn to secrecy. They can be paid for their work <a href="http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/09/23/new_rules_for_miracles_at_congregation_for_saints/1260274">only through bank transfer</a>, a rule to prevent under-the-table payments that could corrupt the process.</p>
<p>After the occurrence of a second miracle is established, the candidate’s title will change from “blessed” to “saint.” With St. John Paul II, this happened in the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/miracles-put-pope-john-paul-ii-fast-track/story?id=23467594">record time</a> of nine years. First, there was a French nun who was cured of Parkinson’s disease. Then there was the healing of a Costa Rican woman from a brain aneurysm. </p>
<p>Martyrs have a different path to sainthood. They become “blessed” when the pope makes a “Decree of Martyrdom.” After a single miracle, martyrs are “<a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_letters.index.html">raised to the glory of the Altars</a>,” a phrase that refers to the public ceremony in which a person is formally named a saint.</p>
<h2>A new kind of saint?</h2>
<p>Given this complex history of Catholic sainthood, it’s fair to ask whether Pope Francis is doing anything new. </p>
<p>The pope’s declaration makes it clear that someone who gives his life for others should demonstrate virtue “<a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_letters/documents/papa-francesco-lettera-ap_20170711_maiorem-hac-dilectionem.html">at least as ordinarily possible</a>” throughout life. This means that someone can become “blessed” not just by living a life of heroic virtue, but also by performing a single heroic act of sacrifice. </p>
<p>Such heroism might include dying while trying to save someone who is drowning or losing one’s life attempting to rescue a family from a burning building. A single miracle, after death, is still necessary for beatification. Now saints can be persons who lead a fairly ordinary life until an extraordinary moment of supreme self-sacrifice. </p>
<p>From my perspective as a Catholic scholar of religion, this is an expansion of the Catholic understanding of sainthood, and yet another step toward Pope Francis making the papacy and the Catholic Church more relevant to the experiences of ordinary Catholics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81011/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathew Schmalz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar explains the long process to sainthood and what Pope Francis’ recent order might change.Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/719782017-02-01T22:35:15Z2017-02-01T22:35:15ZNational Prayer Breakfast: What does its history reveal?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155053/original/image-20170131-3279-j08qwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Dwight Eisenhower at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington on Feb. 2, 1956.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On the morning of Feb. 2, 2017, more than 3,500 political leaders, military chiefs and corporate moguls met for eggs, sausage, muffins – and prayer. The Washington, D.C. gathering, the 65th National Prayer Breakfast, is an opportunity for new friends and old associates, from 50 states and 140 countries, to break bread and forge fellowship in Jesus’ name. </p>
<p>Convened on the first Thursday in February, the gathering, known as the Presidential Prayer Breakfast until 1970, has always included the American head of state. Donald Trump, in his maiden appearance, broke precedent with a powerful no holds barred <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/02/donald-trump-national-prayer-breakfast/97392348/">speech</a> that put other countries on notice, threatened church/state separation and mocked actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.</p>
<p>As a scholar of American religious history, I am intrigued by how presidents negotiate the intricacies of church/state relationships versus religion/politics entanglements. Most avoid the former while trying to benefit from the latter. That’s why the prayer breakfast is noteworthy – it is an opportunity for leaders to appear as Christ’s servants rather than formidable heads of state.</p>
<h2>Faith first</h2>
<p>President Dwight Eisenhower began the tradition with the first breakfast in 1953. While Eisenhower was initially wary of attending a prayer breakfast, evangelist <a href="http://www.basicbooks.com/full-details?isbn=9780465049493">Billy Graham convinced him</a> it was the right move. </p>
<p>Speaking to an audience that included Graham, hotel magnate Conrad Hilton and 400 political, religious and business leaders, Eisenhower <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/theoval/2016/02/04/how-presidents-pray-prayer-breakfast-eisenhower-obama/79786384/">proclaimed</a> that “all free government is firmly founded in a deeply felt religious faith.” </p>
<p>Today, “Ike” – the 34th president’s nickname – is not remembered as being deeply religious.</p>
<p>However, he was raised in a pious household of <a href="http://www.reformedreader.org/riverbrethren.htm">River Brethren</a>, a Mennonite offshoot. His parents named him after <a href="https://www.moody.edu/about/our-bold-legacy/d-l-moody/">Dwight Moody</a>, the famous 19th-century evangelist who likened the state of the world to a sinking ship and stated,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“God has given me a lifeboat and said… ‘Moody save all you can.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Dwight D. Eisenhower in a personal chat with Rev. Dr. Billy Graham in Gettysburg on Sept. 8, 1961.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Ziegler0</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Soon after his election in 1952, Eisenhower told Graham that the <a href="http://www.basicbooks.com/full-details?isbn=9780465049493">country needed a spiritual renewal</a>. For Eisenhower, faith, patriotism and free enterprise were the fundamentals of a strong nation. But of the three, faith came first. </p>
<p>As historian <a href="https://history.princeton.edu/people/kevin-m-kruse">Kevin Kruse</a> describes in <a href="http://www.basicbooks.com/full-details?isbn=9780465049493">“One Nation Under God</a>,” the new president made that clear his very first day in office, when he began the day with a preinaugural worship service at the National Presbyterian Church. </p>
<p>At the swearing in, Eisenhower’s hand rested on two Bibles. When the oath of office concluded, the new president delivered a spontaneous prayer. To the surprise of those around him, Eisenhower called on God to “make full and complete our dedication to the service of the people.”</p>
<p>However, when <a href="http://www.fcarlsonlib.org/AboutUs/FrankCarlson/FrankCarlson.php/">Frank Carlson</a>, the senator from Kansas, a devout Baptist and Christian leader, asked his friend and fellow Kansan to attend a prayer breakfast, Eisenhower – in a move that seemed out of character – refused. </p>
<p>But Graham interceded, Hilton offered his hotel and the rest is history.</p>
<h2>A strategic move</h2>
<p>It is possible that Graham may have used the breakfast’s theme, “Government under God,” to convince the president to attend. Throughout his tenure, Eisenhower promoted God and religion.</p>
<p>When he <a href="https://spectator.org/38107_eisenhowers-religion/">famously said to the press</a>, “Our government has no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith, and I don’t care what it is,” he was not displaying a superficial or wishy-washy attitude to faith. Rather, as Ike’s grandson David Eisenhower explained, he was <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Going-Home-To-Glory/David-Eisenhower/9781439190913">discussing America’s “Judeo-Christian heritage.”</a> </p>
<p>The truth is, Ike was a Christian, but he also was a realist. Working for a “government under God” was more inclusive than calling for a Christian nation. It also was strategic. Under his watch, the phrase “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance, and <a href="http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-eisenhower-signs-in-god-we-trust-into-law">“In God We Trust”</a> imprinted on the nation’s currency. But legitimating the National Prayer Breakfast was a signature achievement. </p>
<h2>A political meeting?</h2>
<p>The National Prayer Breakfast has grown steadily over the years – from 400 attendees to close to 4,000. The presence of the U.S. president has made the event a draw for leaders worldwide and networking before and after the breakfast.</p>
<p>In a 2006 journal article, sociologist <a href="http://www.ruf.rice.edu/%7Esoci/MLindsay/biography.html">D. Michael Lindsay</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4094038?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">described the breakfast</a> as a “veritable 'Who’s who’ of the political and evangelical worlds.” Invitations cast it as an opportunity to “seek the Lord’s guidance and strength … and to renew the dedication of our Nation and ourselves to God’s purpose.” </p>
<p>But according to Lindsey’s conversations with men who attend the breakfast, most attend for political reasons, such as meeting the U.S. president, rather than its spirituality. </p>
<p>For many, the upshot is making new friends with religious, political and business leaders. There also are opportunities for alliances that could happen away from public scrutiny. In 2010, for example, The New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/us/politics/04prayer.html">wrote about possible ties</a> between the breakfast’s sponsors and Uganda’s persecution of homosexuals. </p>
<h2>A guide for the powerful</h2>
<p>The prayer breakfast’s success would have pleased <a href="http://thefellowshipfoundation.org/history.html">Abraham Vereide</a>, the Methodist minister behind the meetings. Vereide immigrated from Norway in 1905 when he was 19. For many years, he ministered to the down and out – society’s cast-offs. </p>
<p>He started Goodwill Industries in Seattle and provided relief work throughout the Depression. But seeing how little progress he’d made, Vereide turned his attention from helping the poor to guiding the powerful.</p>
<p>According to author <a href="http://english.dartmouth.edu/people/jeff-sharlet">Jeff Sharlet</a>, <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780060559793/the-family">Vereide’s ultimate goal</a> was a “ruling class of Christ-committed men bound in a fellowship of the anointed.” A fundamentalist and a theocrat, he believed that strong, Christ-centered men should rule and that “militant” unions should be smashed. Between 1935 and his death in 1969, he mentored many politicians and businessmen who agreed.</p>
<p>During the 1940s, <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780060559793/the-family">Vereide ran small prayer breakfasts</a> for local leaders and businessmen in Washington, D.C. The groups were popular, but he wanted to spread and enlarge them. Senator Frank Carlson was Vereide’s close friend and supporter. When Eisenhower, the first Republican president since Herbert Hoover, was elected, Vereide, Graham and Carlson saw an opportunity to extend their shared mission of nurturing Christian leaders. </p>
<h2>Using the breakfast moment</h2>
<p>In the years since, presidents have used the prayer breakfast to burnish their image and promote their agendas. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson <a href="http://cdsutherland.blogspot.com/2015/02/lyndon-b-johnsons-remarks-at-12th.html">spoke about the harrowing days</a> following John F. Kennedy’s assassination and his desire to build a memorial for God in the nation’s capital.</p>
<p>Richard Nixon, speaking after his election in 1969, said that prayer and faith would help America’s fight for global peace and freedom. In 1998, Bill Clinton, faced with allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a White House intern, asked for prayers to <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?99829-1/national-prayer-breakfast">“take our country to a higher ground.”</a> </p>
<p>But while presidents are cautious about their prayers, preferring generalities to specifics, keynote speakers (who are not announced until the morning of the event) are forthright. </p>
<p>In 1995, Mother Teresa <a href="http://www.priestsforlife.org/brochures/mtspeech.html">condemned abortion</a> as President Clinton, who supported women’s right to choose, quietly listened. In 2013, pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson castigated the nation’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83IiLN_EaF4">“moral decay and fiscal irresponsibility”</a> while President Barack Obama sat in the audience. </p>
<p>And just last year, Hollywood power couple <a href="http://variety.com/t/mark-burnett-and-roma-downey/">Roma Downey and Mark Burnett</a>, who produced the television miniseries “The Bible,” recounted how their Christian faith led them to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDDMry6Fw8k">create “family-friendly entertainment”</a> that, they hoped, inspired viewers to talk about God, prayer and the Bible. </p>
<h2>More changes with time</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155238/original/image-20170201-29931-gotlso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155238/original/image-20170201-29931-gotlso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155238/original/image-20170201-29931-gotlso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155238/original/image-20170201-29931-gotlso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155238/original/image-20170201-29931-gotlso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155238/original/image-20170201-29931-gotlso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155238/original/image-20170201-29931-gotlso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There is a wide diversity among breakfast attendees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dominicanfriars/17310857130/in/photolist-snGEHY-nwETTB-EVJtzL-dSSN76-dSYpmS-dSYp13-nyJR9R-dSSPav-nwGLru-nyhwxx-4K2qmz-nuVakN-4K2qkX-nwXZ9g-4K6ENA-nwXYyi-nwGM53-4K6EMS-dSYnC5-3nbnzX-dSSLMD-dSSLqz-nwZgvm-nwGKNL-nftgWH-F4V5BL-nftexe-nh5Yv3-dSYo1d-nwXZXa-njxE8H-7BH6Cp-9iYKey-9iYK9f-snGzQm-DsL2ZV-EVJnts-DsL2UK-7BLT7C-E9vhXb-7BH6sx-EDD1s3-EVJpRJ-E9QH5F-F7e19D-EY38kZ-E9QLnx-F7e7ox-F7e5pc-F7e4hx">Saint Joseph</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Just as speakers have become more diverse, so have attendees. There are Muslims and Jews as well as Christians of all stripes. The <a href="http://thefellowshipfoundation.org/index.html">Fellowship Foundation</a>, an organization started by Vereide that sponsors the breakfast, considers the National Prayer Breakfast as an inclusive event. Hillary Clinton has attended, as has Tony Blair, Senator Joseph Lieberman and musician Alison Krauss.</p>
<p>But while the breakfast is an open tent, the small seminars and discussions that fill the days before and after are exclusive. These meetings, also organized by the Fellowship Foundation, convene clergy, politicians, military leaders and businessmen for high-level discussions on the global intersections of faith, power and money. The president does not attend these meetings, but his confidantes do.</p>
<p>Historians, who might have hoped to listen for echoes of Vereide’s call for strong Christian leadership and journalists, for clues for his future plans, were not disappointed. </p>
<p>Reminding listeners that <a href="http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/02/trump-praises-religious-freedom-national-prayer-breakfast-speech/">“I fix things,”</a> Trump pledged to be “tougher” in international dealings and to protect religious liberty. Specifically, he promised to “viciously” confront terrorism, take “necessary action” against dangerous immigrants and “destroy” the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/us/politics/johnson-amendment-trump.html?_r=0">Johnson Amendment</a>, which restricts religious organizations from involvement in political campaigns. </p>
<p>On a lighter note, the new president dropped “hell” into his impromtu compliment to Senate Chaplain Barry Black and suggested prayer to help the ratings of his Celebrity Apprentice successor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.</p>
<p>The new president’s performance was a departure from his predecessor who, in 2016, concluded his remarks with this prayer: </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tiw0sl3KuEY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Obama’s National prayer breakfast address.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<blockquote>
<p>“I pray that our leaders will always act with humility and generosity. I pray that my failings are forgiven. I pray that we will uphold our obligation to be good stewards of God’s creation – this beautiful planet. I pray that we will see every single child as our own, each worthy of our love and of our compassion. And I pray we answer Scripture’s call to lift up the vulnerable, and to stand up for justice, and ensure that every human being lives in dignity. That’s my prayer as well for this breakfast, and for this country, in the years to come.”</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71978/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diane Winston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>President Trump gave a speech at the Prayer Breakfast that pledged to be “tougher” in international dealings and protect religious liberty. How does it compare with past Presidents?Diane Winston, Associate Professor and Knight Center Chair in Media & Religion, USC Annenberg School for Communication and JournalismLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/647432016-09-02T01:36:07Z2016-09-02T01:36:07ZQuestioning the ‘miracles’ of Saint Teresa<p>In 2002, the Vatican officially recognised as a miracle the healing of an Indian woman’s cancer of the abdomen. This occurred as the result of the application of a locket containing Mother Teresa’s picture. The woman, Monica Besra, said a beam of light had emanated from the picture, curing her cancerous tumour. </p>
<p>This one miracle was sufficient for Mother Teresa to be beatified in 2003. This meant that she had the title “Blessed” bestowed on her and that she was, from then on, able to intercede with God on behalf of individuals who prayed in her name. The late Christopher Hitchens (who had written a pretty scathing book about her) had been called upon by the Vatican to act as “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/devils-advocate">the Devil’s advocate</a>” and to give evidence against her character. Hitchen’s <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2003/10/mommie_dearest.html">criticisms</a> made no difference (which was not really a surprise to anyone). </p>
<p>On 17 December 2015, Pope Francis recognised a second miracle attributable to Mother Teresa. This was the healing in 2008 of a 42-year-old Brazilian man with a number of brain tumours – moments before he was due to undergo surgery. This healing cleared the way for her canonisation as Saint Teresa. </p>
<p>On Sunday, Mother Teresa will be recognised as a saint within the Roman Catholic Church. It is a decision made by Pope Francis on the recommendation of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints – made on the basis of a thorough investigation of the holiness of the candidate’s life. </p>
<p>But it is crucially dependent on the recognition by the Congregation that two miracles, usually of healing, have been performed by God as a direct result of the intercession with God by the candidate.</p>
<p>These cures are only accepted as “miracles”, that is, as the result of the direct intervention of God, on the basis of strict medical evidence to the effect that the illness was medically incurable, that the cures were decisive, and that they were clearly the result of appeal to the candidate. </p>
<p>Thus, on this account, miracles do happen to people diagnosed with incurable diseases and these are the result of the direct action of God at the behest of deceased persons like Saint Teresa. Apparently, she and other saints, have a lot of influence in heavenly places over what happens down here. So, on the face of it, we’ve taken off our modern thinking caps and gone all medieval.</p>
<p>Let’s not argue over whether scientifically inexplicable events occur. They do. And let’s allow that, in the case of the two cures put forward as proof of Mother Teresa’s saintly status, the medical evidence stacks up in favour of something medically inexplicable having occurred. </p>
<p>Even so, there are any number of reasons why the absence of a scientific explanation should not propel us to uncritically endorse divine intervention as the cause of these events. </p>
<p>The first of these goes to what is known as the problem of “the God of the Gaps”. It’s always a theologically risky procedure to plug God in as an explanation where science fails. This is for the simple reason that, if a scientific explanation were to come about tomorrow, the miracle would then be shown not to have occurred. The arena of God’s activity has significantly shrunk over the last 300 as a consequence of this theory. </p>
<p>The second reason to be sceptical has to do with God’s apparent disinclination to intervene more often. If God can heal the sick on one occasion, why is he not more active on other occasions of incurable illness? And if he can act on occasion to cure illnesses, why can’t he intervene to stop earthquakes and other natural disasters?</p>
<p>God’s apparent disinclination to act as often as he might, and probably should, raises awkward questions about whether he is unwilling to act or whether he is incapable of doing so. </p>
<p>Thirdly, at least since the Reformation, miracles have been an important part of Roman Catholicism’s claims to religious truth, particularly against Protestantism. Miracles were then, and remain now, key features of Catholicism’s evangelical outreach. Miracles, Saints, and conversions all go together. So miracles come trailing clouds of Catholic doctrines, exclusive claims to religious truth, invitations to join up, and encouragements for the faithful to keep coming back. </p>
<p>For its part, Protestantism countered, not by attempting to score more miracles, but by taking its bat and ball home. It denied the doctrine that the Saints intercede to God on our behalf (because there were no Saints to do so). And it argued that the age of miracles had ceased at the end of New Testament times. It also declared that all Christians (or at least all Protestants) were Saints. As a counter-claim, this always looked a bit soft. Neither most Protestants nor most Catholics, nor for that matter most of us, are conspicuous for outstanding goodness and holiness. </p>
<p>Alternatively, in more Fundamentalist branches of Protestantism, miracles continued but as the direct intervention of God. The saintly middle men and women had been made redundant. </p>
<p>All this is not to deny Mother Teresa’s particular claims to goodness and holiness. Nor is it to question the sincerity of those who believe that her intercession can result in the cure of the incurable. </p>
<p>But it is to remind us that we should be wary of uncritical endorsement of claims to the miraculous. Religious belief of any sort can be a motivation to perfect goodness, as it is in many religions. As we are unfortunately all too currently aware, it can just as easily inspire appalling acts of evil.</p>
<p>And granted that God does have the capacity to act in the world, it does often look as if he is not paying the sort of attention to what’s going on that he should be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64743/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip C. Almond does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Mother Teresa will become a saint on Sunday, on the basis of two miracles of healing. But let’s not remove our thinking caps and go all medieval: we should be wary of uncritical endorsement of claims to the miraculous.Philip C. Almond, Professorial Research Fellow in the History of Religious Thought, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/644642016-09-01T08:38:02Z2016-09-01T08:38:02ZTwo miracles and 19 years later: why Mother Teresa’s journey to sainthood took so long<p>The Catholic Church will formally make Mother Teresa of Calcutta a saint during a ceremony at the Vatican on September 4, a little under two decades since her death in 1997. </p>
<p>To her admirers, she should have been canonised even earlier. Few religious personalities were as successful as Mother Teresa in serving and promoting the Catholic faith worldwide in the second half of the 20th century, particularly after she was awarded the <a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/">1979 Nobel Prize for Peace</a>. According <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/404158.stm">to the BBC</a>, by July 1999 the Vatican had already received a huge mailbag from people requesting her speedy sainthood.</p>
<p>Mother Teresa’s delayed canonisation has turned into a sensitive issue because of the saintly status she enjoyed in her lifetime, an issue I have looked at in my <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Mother-Teresa-Saint-or-Celebrity/Alpion/p/book/9780415392471">research</a>. Mother Teresa was born Anjeza Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje, present-day Macedonia, to Albanian parents in 1910 and moved to Calcutta at the end of 1928 to join the Loreto order. As early as 1949, a reporter first used the word saint in relation to the nun, who had just left the Loreto order and was about to set up the <a href="http://www.motherteresa.org/07_family/volunteering/v_cal.html">Missionaries of Charity</a> to help the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. </p>
<p>Her status as a media saint gained momentum in the West especially after a BBC interview in 1968. In an ensuing documentary about her life in Calcutta, the journalist Malcolm Muggeridge made the infamous claim that the camera had captured a halo around Mother Teresa – even though his cameraman tried to explain it was to do with the film used. Embarrassing as Muggeridge’s claim was even for the church, it stuck and she became known as the “saint of the gutters” with both Indian and world leaders paying tribute to her work. This portrayal reached a climax when her portrait was featured on the cover of <a href="http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19751229,00.html">Time magazine in 1975</a> with the caption “Messengers of Love and Hope – Living Saints”. </p>
<h2>Quick start</h2>
<p>So it is understandable why shortly after Mother Teresa’s death, her supporters were looking forward to her speedy <a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=32114">beatification</a>, the first step in a two-step process to sainthood, in which the Pope declares the candidate saint is in a state of bliss. </p>
<p>Mother Theresa’s supporters were hopeful that this would not take long, given her close friendship with Pope John Paul II. By then, he already had an impressive record in saint-making and had supported reforms that made the process simpler. The number of people beatified and canonised during his pontificate increased dramatically. While approximately 100 people were made saints by all of his 20th century predecessors, John Paul II <a href="http://www.catholicnews.org.uk/Home/Special-Events/Popes-to-Saints-Canonisation-of-Pope-John-XXIII-and-Pope-John-Paul-II/St-Pope-John-Paul-II">canonised</a> close to 500 individuals. </p>
<p>In order for a candidate to become a saint, two miracles are required – one for beatification and one for the final canonisation, when the person is declared a saint. The miracles should happen after the candidate saint has died, proving that they are in heaven and have the power of intercession – to put in a good word with God to help cure the sick on earth. </p>
<p>In Mother Teresa’s case, in 2001 an Indian woman called Monica Besra <a href="http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1000642,00.html">claimed</a> that she had been cured of an abdominal tumour through Mother Teresa’s intercession in 1998, on the first anniversary of the nun’s death. The whole beatification process <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/10/19/pope.mother.teresa/">was then brought to conclusion</a> in 2003, just over six years after Mother Teresa’s death. Only the beatification of John Paul II was completed in a shorter time (but only by a mere two weeks).</p>
<p>John Paul II was keen to wrap up Mother Teresa’s entire canonisation process as soon as possible because of his deteriorating health. But he was not able to complete what he had started and after his death in 2005, Mother Teresa’s canonisation no longer appeared a priority for the Vatican. </p>
<h2>Wobbles on the way</h2>
<p>There were also problems with some private writings by Mother Teresa which revealed the length and intensity of her doubt in the existence of God, more often referred to euphemistically as “spiritual darkness”. As my ongoing research has examined, John Paul II had been made aware of this in 1999, a few excerpts appeared in two articles penned by Mother Teresa’s friends in 2000 and 2001, and it was mentioned by the Archbishop of Calcutta, Henry D’Souza <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/09/07/mother.teresa/">during a 2001 CNN interview</a>. But a larger body of the nun’s controversial writings only became public in 2007 – four years after her beatification – in a <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Mother_Teresa_Come_Be_My_Light.html?id=FghXwaLcBRYC&source=kp_cover&redir_esc=y">book</a> which made her path to sainthood more precarious. </p>
<p>Despite this, outside pressure on the Vatican continued from Mother Teresa’s supporters for her to be canonised. The delay in making Mother Teresa a saint also <a href="https://matisak.wordpress.com/2014/09/21/on-pope-in-albania-relations-with-muslims-and-mother-teresa/">rekindled debates</a> about the Holy See’s “double-standards” in recognising the contribution of nuns and the longer queue to sainthood that women apparently have to follow compared to men.</p>
<p>Even before his election to the papacy, Pope Francis <a href="http://time.com/4470920/how-pope-francis-and-mother-teresa-are-linked/">had made it clear</a> his huge respect for Mother Teresa’s work and legacy, something he <a href="http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/640147/pope-francis-mother-teresa-would-have-scared-me">reiterated</a> during his 2014 visit to Albania. </p>
<p>In view of the hiccups between 1999 and 2003, the entire preparatory work for Mother Terea’s canonisation has been conducted in utmost secrecy. The second “miracle” required for her to be made into a saint <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-35129463">was approved</a> by Pope Francis in December 2015. This was despite the fact that the miracle had apparently taken place in Brazil seven years earlier in 2008, when a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-35129463">man was apparently</a> healed from a bacterial infection in the brain after prayers were said for him to Mother Teresa. </p>
<p>So it has been a long road to sainthood for somebody many believed lived a saintly existence while on earth. Mother Teresa is a worthy saint – if only for her exemplary devotion to her calling and in spite of her lifelong gnawing spiritual darkness. This will ensure that she will still be remembered and inspire people of all faiths or none, when many saints will have been long relegated to obscurity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64464/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gëzim Alpion does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Called a saint in her lifetime, it has not been a straightforward process to canonise Mother Teresa.Gëzim Alpion, Lecturer in Sociology, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.