Proximities: Father Coughlin and the Shrine of the Little Flower

Having been brought up vaguely as a Protestant, I converted to the Roman Catholic Church as an educated adult with my eyes wide open. In some ways, it's probably easier to digest and contextualize the human frailties and evils committed by fellow members of the church without letting those sins interfere with faith in the basic precepts than it is for for many who went through the confirmation process as children, kicking and screaming and fearful of the spookiness of it. As I've stated before, I'm very much heterodox in my approach and beliefs, and choose to emphasize the beatitudes, the mysteries, and the compassion of Jesus and Mary without abiding certain official doctrines of relatively recent creation, such as the notion of papal infallibility -- after all, what human is infallible?

When I converted at St. Ambrose Church after living in downtrodden Metro Detroit for several years among a fascinating and ubiquitous Catholic community, I embraced the rituals of mass, the accoutrements (candles, incense, the rosary) and anything related that helps focus and calm my spirit and mind. I credit Catholicism, a sense of humor and sheer good luck for giving me the strength and patience to love living in and around Detroit, and for staying far longer than I've lived anywhere else at one time. I am more typically a nomad at heart, so this has been a pattern-breaking experience that's given me the time and space to reflect, something I've come to value and appreciate far more now than in my frenetic youth.

During the process of conversion (the Rite of Chrisitan Initiation of Adults), the St. Ambrose group took part in a welcoming ceremony hosted by Bishop Maida of Detroit at the beautiful and sumptuously appointed Shrine of the Little Flower Church in Royal Oak. The church itself, with art deco touches, unusual shape, and large tower overlooking Woodward Avenue, is a serene place. Yet it is also haunted, partly by the legacy of Father Charles Coughlin (10/25/1891-10/27/1979), its controversial first priest in charge.

Coughlin, like other astute leaders and demagogues of the Great Depression period, took to broadcasting a frequently changing message over the radio, and people listened. When he began his work at the Little Flower, he focused on building construction and flock-building, but by the early 1930s, took up social and political issues with a zeal almost as fanatical as Joseph Goebbels was developing in Germany. In addition to endless radio diatribes, he published large numbers of pamphlets, transcripts and speeches delivered to edify his fellow Catholics. At first, he helped FDR, claiming "Roosevelt or bust;" but once the New Deal kicked into gear, Coughlin changed his tune and began criticizing him and that, as well. He became obsessed with international conspiracies, the usual daft ideas about a Jewish-Bolshevik plan afoot to take over the world, while he also expressed a liking for fascism, seeing Mussolini and Hitler as excellent safeguards against the Godless Soviets. (As opposed to the Nazis, who were obviously so steeped in New Testament values, goosestepping their way to Heaven. . .)

To make a long story short, Coughlin overreached himself, and though he developed a faithful radio audience of tens of millions of Americans, his anti-Semitism became so blatant and deranged that even the slow-moving higher Catholic leadership directed him, in 1942, to cease all broadcasts and focus solely on his local parish responsibilities. Mercifully for all, he complied. He lived a relatively quiet life from then until his death some 37 years later. It must be true -- miracles never cease.

Father Coughlin and the Shrine of the Little Flower reflect tellingly about the complexity of the Catholic Church. Resilience in the face of disaster is a quality I admire; in cases like this, it is indeed better to figuratively shoot the messenger and rethink the message. Here's a link to the website of the resilient and glittering Shrine of the Little Flower Church, a place for Catholics or anyone interested in architecture or religious spaces well worth visiting: http://www.shrinechurch.com/

Peace be with you.