Father Edward Schillebeeckx, an influential Dominican theologian, died at his home in the Netherlands on December 23 after a long illness at the age of 95. Born in Belgium, he was an adviser to the Dutch bishops during Vatican II. Later his theological work emphasized the universal priesthood of the laity, to the extent that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a caution in 1986 that his theories were at odds with the teachings of the Church.

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Interesting event that Cardinal O'Malley mentions in his blog this week:

The following day, I met with the superiors of local religious communities at the Pastoral Center to discuss the apostolic visitation.

My intention of bringing them together was, first of all, to assure the sisters that the Church is very grateful for all of the wonderful work of our religious women. They have a glorious history in the United States that has been essential to establishing Catholic education, Catholic health care, and so many other ministries.

Of course, I was also anxious to hear their reaction as to how the visitation was going.

I encouraged them to participate in and cooperate with the visitations and assured them that the sister in charge of the visitations, Mother Mary Clare Millea, is an extraordinary religious woman who will try to be extremely helpful to the sisters.

Mother Clare

During our meeting, I shared with them some of my experiences as an apostolic visitator to seminaries. There was a certain nervousness about the seminary visitation at the beginning, but it turned out to be very positive and ultimately strengthened our seminaries.

In this case as well, the desired outcome is a study that will help us to strengthen religious life in the United States. There has been such a decline in numbers in the last several decades that, of course, the Holy See is deeply concerned.

I assured the sisters that our participation in the visitation is something that will be good for the Church in America and that we should not hesitate to cooperate.

For their part, some of the sisters shared with me that the instrument itself was difficult to complete, and I will certainly share that with Sister Clare. However, overall, I think it was a very good meeting and that the sisters had a chance to express their opinions and ask questions.

Hopefully, we all left with a greater appreciation of the implications of this visitation.

America Magazine has a brief column by Michael Tueth, S.J. on my favorite new musical:

American theater has thrived on stories about “my crazy family.” Everyone from Tennessee Williams to Neil Simon to last year’s Tony Award winner, Tracy Letts, in his epic “August: Osage County,” has presented domestic dysfunction with tragic or comic overtones, and sometimes both. But aside from alcoholics and drug addicts, none has featured a certifiably “sick” family member and then dared to write a musical about him or her. Two years ago an off-Broadway production of Next to Normal, by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, broke through that barrier with the story of a woman afflicted with bipolar disorder and the effect her illness has on herself, her husband and her daughter. The current Broadway production has received enthusiastic reviews, numerous awards and nightly standing ovations. It will undoubtedly appear in the repertoire of regional theaters throughout the country in the next few years.

The play’s setting suggests several rooms of a family residence, reminiscent of the multi-room sets of “Death of a Salesman” and other domestic dramas of the 1950s, in which the home comes across as a prison of the human spirit. Here the home’s walls are metallic grids resembling cages, and even though the play’s action rapidly moves to other locations—the therapist’s office, the operating room and the musical practice room where Bach serves as an oasis of order for Diana’s daughter, Natalie—everyone, including the doctors, seems trapped.

The emotional core of the play is the suffering of Diana, the psychologically wounded wife and mother. Traumatized by a family tragedy, Diana has been leading a medicated life for almost 20 years. She decides to discontinue her medications and the emotional numbness they have created for her. This leads to bizarre behavior, hallucinatory experiences, electroshock therapy, memory loss and other crises for Diana and her family. It also forces them to re-evaluate their coping mechanisms and patterns of denial and avoidance. (Alice Ripley’s musical and dramatic performance as Diana was honored with the 2009 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.)

The musical’s conclusion is bittersweet and brave, but honestly earned. As one of Diana’s therapists says of a new treatment, “I know it’s not perfect, but it’s all we’ve got.” “Next to Normal” applies that comment to the entire human predicament and the challenges all must face, with or without the support of family or pharmaceuticals.