City on a hill

Today, as the global community confronts more starkly than ever the challenges of survival, two images of America, President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, have come into focus. Two American faces, two personal histories, two pathways to high office, two fundamentally different expressions of our life as a culture and a people. On the same day that Robert Prevost became Pope, Trump announced the framework of a trade deal with Great Britain. One celebrated what we are capable of "getting." The other asked us to be capable of "giving." Both will travel paths of uncertainly and betrayal. Both will face a future that is even now changing in response to their thoughts, beliefs and actions. But how different they are! Leo was five years old when Kennedy because President. Eight when he was assassinated. Thirteen and living in Chicago when the Democratic Party National Convention was held in that city, nearing his 20th birthday when Martin Luther King Jr. visited Chicago in the historic summer of 1965. As a Catholic missionary, he joined many of us who were committed to more secular programs like the Peace Corps in all parts of what was then called the Third World. We might call programs like the Peace Corps secular, but they were clearly inspired by the same "missional" values, the same desire to contribute to a more just, a more peaceful and a more prosperous world. President Kennedy said in his message to Congress establishing the program, "that we have in this country an immense reservoir of dedicated men and women willing to devote their energies and time and toil to the cause of world peace and human progress." Robert Prevost was among them. Others sought medical exemptions a few years later to avoid service in Vietnam, and dedicated their lives to making a personal fortune. What example do we offer other nations? What role model do we show our children? Neither Leo nor Trump are the quintessential American. We follow many paths. We worship many Gods. We struggle with many demons. And yet, the question is still unanswered. Who lives in this "shining City on a hill?" As John Winthrop said, on the deck of the Arbella, about to arrive in a new land, envisioning that "City,: "… the eyes of all people are upon us." President-Elect John F. Kennedy upon leaving Massachusetts for Washington more than 300 years spoke of Winthrop's vision: "For of those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each one of us — recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state — our success or failure, in whatever office we may hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions: First, were we truly men of courage — with the courage to stand up to one's enemies — and the courage to stand up, when necessary, to one's associates--the courage to resist public pressure, as well as private greed? Secondly, were we truly men of judgment — with perceptive judgment of the future as well as the past — of our own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others--with enough wisdom to know that we did not know, and enough candor to admit it? Third, were we truly men of integrity — men who never ran out on either the principles in which they believed or the people who believed in them--men who believed in us — men whom neither financial gain nor political ambition could ever divert from the fulfillment of our sacred trust? Finally, were we truly men of dedication —with an honor mortgaged to no single individual or group, and compromised by no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good and the national interest." John Bing is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Heidelberg University and writes a by-weekly newsletter at johnb0c.substack.com