Commentary 25/01/30 Speaking truth to power

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Published: January 30, 2025 03:52 AM

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Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde (left) arrives as U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, in Washington, DC. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP)

There is a category of rhetoric technically known by the Greek word parrhesia, usually defined in English as “speaking truth to power.” The word conveys not only the right to speak truth to those who do not want to hear it but the duty to do so regardless of the cost.

Many people mistakenly think that prophecy means predicting the future. That is a pagan idea, not the Jewish or Christian concept. For us believers, prophets are those who look at the reality around them and proclaim God’s judgment upon it.

The prophets of Israel as well as John the Baptizer and Jesus and his followers all exercised this sort of parrhesia. In the name of God, the prophets railed against the oppression of the poor and the alien. The Church shares that prophetic vocation to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”

For the prophet, and therefore the prophetic Church, the law of God must take precedence over, trump, human laws and customs.

Throughout the history of the Church, preachers and others have exercised parrhesia toward emperors, kings, nobles and others in power, sometimes paying for their courage with their lives. Those who speak the Word must please God rather than the powerful. As St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) said, “We must not mind insulting men, if by respecting them we offend God.”

It is little wonder that for his preaching that disturbed the emperor and especially the empress he wound up being exiled.

“Do you wish to honor the Body of Christ? Do not despise him when he is naked. Do not honor him here in the church building with silks, only to neglect him outside, when he is suffering from cold and from nakedness. For he who said, “This is my Body” is the same one who said, “You saw me, a hungry man, and you did not give me to eat.” Of what use is it to load the table of Christ? Feed the hungry and then come and decorate the table. You are making a golden chalice and do not give a cup of cold water? The Temple of your afflicted brother’s body is more precious than this Temple (the church). The Body of Christ becomes for you an altar. It is more holy than the altar of stone on which you celebrate the holy sacrifice. You are able to contemplate this altar everywhere, in the street and in the open squares.”

But parrhesia is not directed solely at secular power. The bishops and superiors who covered up the abuse of children and vulnerable people by clergy and other Church workers have faced parrhesia. How different might history have been had Martin Luther’s parrhesia in the early stages of his call for reform been met with conversion or at least conversation instead of vituperation and threats, vituperation that was then returned by Luther?

In a complicated situation where there have been too many simple answers, Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of Washington DC called upon President Donald Trump to exercise mercy while seeking solutions to the presence of undocumented immigrants in the United States.

“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.” Trump’s response was, “She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”

On the Catholic side, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has said that Trump’s orders, some of which allow the government to raid churches for undocumented immigrants, were “deeply troubling” and “will harm the most vulnerable among us.” Vice President J.D. Vance, who has been a Catholic for five years, accused the bishops of being mainly concerned about protecting income for the conference.

He said, “I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?” Vance apparently rules out the possibility that the bishops might be motivated by the Gospel.

What might Vance have to say to Pope Francis who in his decree for the Holy Year said:

“May the Christian community always be prepared to defend the rights of those who are most vulnerable, opening wide its doors to welcome them, lest anyone ever be robbed of the hope of a better future. May the Lord’s words in the great parable of the Last Judgement always find an echo in our hearts: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me’ for ‘just as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me’ (Mt 25:35.40).”

Sadly, it appears that over the next few years in the United States there will be many situations justifying and requiring parrhesia directed at the administration and American society as a whole. It remains to be seen if those who exercise a prophetic ministry are up to the challenge.

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.