Archbishop Chaput on Catholics, America, and a World Made New

"When you spend a couple of years writing a book like Strangers in a Strange Land, your brain ends up as a magnet. It starts collecting all sorts of data like little metal slivers that seem important, but don't quite fit together as a whole.

"Here's an example. A third of American men will sooner or later have an anxiety disorder. So will 40 percent of women. More than 70 percent of American young people are now physically or mentally unfit for military service. At least a third of college seniors, even at our best schools and after years of elite education, can't make a coherent argument. Nearly half of American men have genital infections caused by a sexually transmitted virus. And 16 percent of women in the Navy deployed to shipboard service come back to shore pregnant. That last item may not need a lot of explaining.  Human nature is human nature.

"All these facts are true.  All of them come from the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press.  But they don't necessarily mean anything.  We could just as easily find a bundle of good-news nuggets in exactly the same sources.  So what's my point?

"It's this. Benjamin Disraeli famously said that 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'  Information can be true without telling the whole truth. We live in what Peter Drucker called the world's first knowledge economy. A Niagara of facts in a 24/7 news cycle. But knowing is not the same as understanding.

"Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom, not knowledge, is the framework of a fully human life; the architecture of interior peace. Scripture is the Word of God, and Ecclesiastes tells us that 'the words of the wise in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.' Wisdom is more powerful than might and better than the weapons of war (Eccles 9:16-18). Wisdom is more precious than jewels, and once we have it, then knowledge becomes pleasant to the soul (Prov 8:11; 2:10)."

In a recent presentation, Archbishop Charles Chaput, of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, reflected on some of the challenges Catholics face as they live in today's American culture.

To access the text of Archbishop Chaput's address, please visit:

Archdiocese of Philadelphia: Archbishop Chaput's Address at the Napa Institute Conference - What's Next: Catholics, America, and a World Made New (27 JUL 17)