Gifts of the Spirit

John Boehner was sobbing through much of yesterday's papal speech to congress.

I know just how he feels. Really. I had the same reaction to Pope John Paul II when I attended the papal mass in Toronto in 1984. The immediate presence of the Spirit can do that to you. It turns out Boehner is not just a cynical pol. He has a soul.

The ability to evoke this response is no Catholic monopoly. Wasn't it the essence of a Billy Graham revival, for example? But it does speak well of the church, that the charism—the gift of the Holy Spirit—does seem to be predictably present in its leadership.

More generally, isn't it undeniable that Catholics tend to be charismatic? Marco Rubio, for example, stands out among the current contenders for the US presidency as charming, as did John F. Kennedy in his day, or Pierre Trudeau in Canada. All Catholics, born, and, importantly, bred. An Evangelical Protestant background can produce something similar: Elvis, Bill Clinton, Mike Huckabee, Martin Luther King Jr. But in either case, surely, you can sense the religious upbringing in the man.

Charisma is plainly not a guarantee of individual goodness. Hitler, after all, was said to have it. And this makes sense. It is, after all, by definition, a “gift.” It is not a reward for good behaviour.

What it is about is not moral goodness, but an inner awareness of fundamental truth. A charismatic person radiates “savoir faire,” which is to say, an unshakable sense of knowledge of some ultimate. Such a sense must most naturally and fully come from true religion.

This, not incidentally, is why Hitler cannot be excused by suggestions that he simply had his own consistent morality of survival of the fittest, and stuck to his peculiar principles. No, his very charisma shows that he knew the Truth with that capital T, and so knowingly turned from it, like Faust. This is what gives Lucifer his charisma in turn: he has known the true presence.

Lucifer departs the divine presence.

So charisma can be used for good or ill. Either way, it is powerful. Someone who is in touch with ultimate truth is less likely to be swayed or frightened by immediate events. The bomb goes off behind him, but the guy with charisma does not flinch, continuing to walk steadily toward the camera.

So, no surprise, that “tough guy” roles seem to be something of a Catholic specialty in Hollywood. Gary Cooper, Nicholas Cage, James Cagney, Liam Neeson, Sean Connery, Clark Gable, Mel Gibson, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Gregory Peck, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Martin Sheen, Sylvester Stallone, Spencer Tracy, John Wayne, Patrick McGoohan (Secret Agent, The Prisoner—perhaps the most charismatic actor ever), Jean Claude Van Damme. Not everybody—Humphrey Bogart, for example, was Episcopalian—but an impressive showing for a minority group.

Patrick McGoohan's stage presence was so powerful that Leo McKern reputedly suffered a nervous breakdown from acting the role of his adversary.

Now how about the most charismatic women? Here, the case is perhaps best made by beauty pageants, which measure not just beauty, but poise and presence. How often have they been won by Miss Venezuela again? Answer: for Miss Universe, Venezuela 7 times, second only to the US with 8. And the US has home field advantage. Catholic Puerto Rice third, 5 times. For Miss World, Venezuela leads with 6 wins. The UK, with home field advantage, comes second. For Miss International, Venezuela leads with 6 wins, Catholic Philippines second with 5. For Miss Earth, Venezuela is in a three-way tie for first place with Brazil and the Philippines, all Catholic countries. On the screen, we can cite Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jessica Alba, Katharine Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, Raquel Welch, Faye Dunaway, Suzanne Somers, Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Mae West, Mary Pickford ...

By their fruits, ye shall know them.

Nice fruits, eh?

That Jones girl.