Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Cross, Page 4
Thursday, March 8, 2001
By James B. Knapp, Jr.
he arrest of FBI employee Robert Philip
Hanssen last week on charges of espionage
should be deeply troubling to every Catholic in
the United States.
Hanssen is alleged to have given up, over a
15-year period, some of this country’s most sen
sitive secrets about its intelligence apparatus,
first to the former Soviet Union, later to the
Russian Federation. We are told that he did so,
not merely for the financial gain which recent
spies like John Walker and Aldrich Ames
sought, but perversely “for love of the game,”
as one of Hanssen’s former FBI bosses put it.
This means that Hanssen, who is reputed to
have admired British spy Kim Philby among
others, carried out his espionage because he
somehow enjoyed consorting with the Russians
while hoodwinking his counterintelligence col
leagues at the FBI.
It has also come to light that Hanssen is not
only a Catholic (and a convert at that), but also
a member of Opus Dei, the international organi
zation dedicated to mobilizing the Catholic laity
for evangelizing the world to Christ. Members
of “Opus,” as it’s familiarly known, are urged to
pursue holiness and uprightness ardently, and
are also expected to practice all the virtues of
model citizenship in line with that pursuit.
Many people both inside and outside the Catho
lic Church who know this are asking: how could
Hanssen possibly square his practice of Catho
licism with his alleged selling of secrets?
For the moment, this is an impossible question
to answer. Hanssen will have to be tried first,
and after the verdict is handed down, there will
be the usual spate of books and articles dissect
ing Hanssen’s motives. But I think one place to
start considering why and how he did these
things is in an area the media will tend to down
play. It was, to an extent, also a factor in the
John Walker spy case some 16 years ago. I am
speaking about doing horrible deeds out of a
misplaced love of family.
Breathing
Reflections on a traitor
Hanssen and his wife Bonnie raised a family
with six children, while he worked at the FBI
and she taught part-time at a Catholic high
school. Like many Catholic families, he and his
wife have had to contend with a multitude of
pressures and prejudices running against them:
dealing with the American repugnance against
having many children; attempting to house,
nourish, and clothe them and supply them with
a decent Catholic education, all the while living
on less-than-robust salaries; and so on. Given
the places in which the FBI posted them (West
chester County, New York, and Fairfax County,
Virginia), the Hanssens also endured ferocious
cost-of-living challenges, since these are two of
the most expensive areas in the U.S. in which to
live. It is not much of a stretch to assume that
Hanssen had felt for a long time, “all this isn’t
fair to my family.”
In the face of such, the vast majority of
Catholic mothers and fathers simply accept the
perennial need to make greater and more varied
sacrifices for their families, and to pray for
God’s providence to cover the shortfalls. But it
is plausible to imagine that Hanssen, in his own
warped way, may have decided to “beat the sys
tem” instead, and to abuse his trust position
with the U. S. government in order to “rectify
the unfairness.” In short, the hideous evil of
selling government secrets may have been justi
fied in his mind because he thought it benefited
the one organization above all he cared about
most: his wife and children.
But what about Hanssen’s membership in the
Catholic Church, and in Opus Dei? Certainly he
understood both of these as two of the finest
“pillars of life” by which to raise his family, and
no one can dispute that he did right by encour
aging himself and all his family members to
zealously embrace the Catholic faith. But in his
own religiosity, he may have succumbed to the
temptation that even Catholics face: to make an
idol of his family, so much so that it could have
blinded him to heinous deeds committed under
the aegis of love. Such “love” could have been
so strong in Hanssen’s case that it blocked out
even the powerful moral messages of the
Church and Opus Dei that he was surely accus
tomed to hearing on a regular basis.
In light of all this, our discomfort makes us
ask, “can anything be done about this so that it
doesn’t happen again?” In one sense, no. If
someone like Hanssen is exposed to the full
gamut of Catholic teaching, especially regarding
citizenship, and performs acts of treachery any
way, then there obviously isn’t a problem with
the teaching or the Church as a whole—it is a
situation of invincible ignorance in the person.
In another sense, though, Hanssen’s case should
make us think about the new challenges weigh
ing on Catholic husbands and fathers today, and
encourage them—more so than wives and moth
ers who tend to communicate with each other
more naturally anyway—to get to know other
men and share their experiences with one anoth
er in a positive, organized way. (Here I am
thinking of groups such as Saint Joseph’s
Covenant Keepers.) I dare say that because
Hanssen was probably so caught up in the myri
ad private compartments of his world—spawned
mainly by his FBI counterintelligence work
coupled with his participation in Opus Dei—
that he couldn’t talk freely about his family
experience or his needs, much less anything
going on outside his household, and resorted to
subterfuge when he felt his family aspirations
were being thwarted.
Let us pray for God’s just mercy to be with
Robert Hanssen and his family, and for his
blessing to be on all working men and women
who make sacrifices for their families each day.
James B. Knapp, Jr., a parishioner of the
Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist,
Savannah, is Technology Services
Coordinator for the Diocese of Savannah.
for relaxation and inspiration
By John C. McCormack
reathing, as a necessary part
of life, is almost always auto
matic and involuntary. We take it
for granted until it is interrupted.
When we are very anxious, our
breathing comes in shallow and
rapid throbs, irregular and ragged.
By contrast, when we are relaxed,
we breathe like a sleeping baby,
slowly and deeply.
Our capacity to slow our breath
ing and to breathe deeply is a gift
from God. Taking control of our
breathing, slowing it down and
breathing deeply, is the easiest and
most reliable way to trigger the
relaxation response: our built-in
mechanism for relaxation and
recovery. When we consciously
shift from the shallow and ragged
breathing of anxiety to the rhyth
mic deep breathing of restful
sleep, we trigger the relaxation
response. Heart rate slows, blood
pressure decreases, and muscles
relax, as we signal our body to
shift from fight-or-flight to rest,
simply by shifting our breathing.
Unfortunately, when I am anx
ious, worried, or afraid, I do not
even notice the quick and shallow
rhythm of my breathing. My
inhale barely gets to the third but
ton on my shirt, high in my chest.
Sometimes, involuntarily and
without awareness, my body will
heave a long sigh of relief, which
lasts a few seconds. But this is
hardly sufficient for the building
anxiety. Sometimes the only thing
that calms me down is a long run.
It forces me to suck in air, deeply,
all the way to my belly. My body
lets go of the tension.
The experts advise us that we
can retrain our bodies to trigger
the relaxation response through
deep breathing and progressive
muscle relaxation exercises. Your
nearest large bookstore would
yield several offerings on relax
ation training. Find a book you
like and retrain your body to relax.
The exercises are simple, they
work for a high majority of peo
ple, and mastery of these tech
niques can usually be achieved in
two weeks of twice daily practice.
Your peace of mind is worth the
effort. The self-discipline of daily
practice will most often yield
results.
Shifting from a psychology to a
faith perspective, the word “spir
it,” as in Holy Spirit, comes from
the Latin word for “breath.” The
Holy Spirit is a breath of air that
inspires us. Even the word
“inspire” has as its original mean
ings to breathe in, just as the word
“expire” means to pass one’s last
breath. Imagine that God breathes
his Spirit into us with each breath
we take. Consider that breathing is
not only a way to trigger the relax
ation response, it is also inspiring
when we acknowledge every
breath is a gift from God.
Slowing my breathing and
focusing upon each breath I
receive allows me to appreciate
God’s gift of life. I replace
Martha’s name with my own, as I
slow my breathing and gently
whisper the words of Jesus: John,
John, “you are anxious and upset
about many things; one thing only
is required” (Luke 10: 41-42).
John C. McCormack, PhD, PC,
a parishioner of Saint Mary’s
on the Hill, Augusta, is a cli
nical psychologist. This is the
second in a series of four arti
cles.