Sanctuary: A Place Apart
Sanctuar y: A Place Apart
Edward W. Schmidt S.J.
Follow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations Recommended Citation
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King Edward IV and his Yorkist troops are beseeched by a priest to stop the pursuit of their Lancastrian foes who have
requested sanctuary from Tewkesbury Abbey. Richard Burchett (1815–75)
A sanctuary is a holy place. It is a place set aside, set
apart for sacred encounters between God and his
human subjects. It is a place for worship, for ritual,
for prayer, for special time when everyday things are
allowed to rest for a while.
In the bible, sanctuary refers most precisely to the
Temple in Jerusalem, whether to its Holy of Holies or
to the whole Temple complex. References vary. This is
where the people made sacrifice and other offerings to
the Lord. A priest presided over these rites.
According to the Bible Dictionary, sanctuary is
used twice in a derived sense, indicating a place of
refuge, where “the Lord refers to himself
metaphorically as the ‘sanctuary’ (i.e. refuge) of faithful Israelites
in distress.” This occurs in Isaiah 8:14 and Ezekiel 11:16.
The book of Numbers too establishes six
sanctuaries, cities of refuge, where someone who has
accidentally killed someone else can flee for safety and
for trial. There are strict rules governing these places
of refuge. But their point is to provide a place where
a society can face a bad situation fairly and calmly.
In Christian churches, the sanctuary is the area
around the altar, considered especially sacred for the
rites performed there. This area is often raised above
the level of the floor of the main space of the church.
In earlier times it was set off by an altar rail, which
is still sometimes seen.
In Christian Europe “sanctuary” early
developed the sense of a place where one who was
pursued for political or criminal reasons could flee for a
time of safety. These places were usually the
churches, and the concept was governed by civil law.
But they were recognized as a societal need to let
passions cool and to allow truth to be discovered and
heard. Here the church provided an alternative to
the workings of the state.
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English usage often extends “sanctuary” to a
place of safety for birds or other animals or for
plants. In my younger days, Kennedy Park in our
neighborhood in Chicago had a “bird haven” at
113th and Maplewood. “Haven” is a regular
synonym for “sanctuary.”
In the United States, sanctuary became
important in the resistance to the war in Viet Nam, where
churches offered to protect men drafted from having
to go into the army. Results were not great. Canada
too had a sanctuary movement for U.S. draftees who
did not support the war.
Recent times have seen the rise of “sanctuary
cities,” cities that have declared themselves safe for
migrants and refugees. Sanctuary cities were
established for refugees from wars in Central America
during the 1980s. And today the concept has
returned to provide some protection for refugees that
some government policies seek to exclude or expel.
A group of religious sisters based in Pennsylvania,
the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, among their good
works have been active in ecological issues. They have
issued a “Land Ethic” which reads in part: “Whereas,
we Adorers of the Blood of Christ believe creation is a
revelation of God, we proclaim that … As prophets, we
reverence Earth as a sanctuary where all life is
protected; we strive to establish justice and right
relationships so that all creation might thrive.”
Sanctuary now becomes a movement for
American universities. When plans for mass deportations
were announced in November 2016, many students
rose up in protest, particularly to protect their fellow
students who might have been undocumented. And
without using the term “sanctuary,” at the end of
November 2016 most of the presidents of the Jesuit
colleges and universities signed a statement expressing
their commitment to their students who might be
targeted for deportation.
The specific issues have changed through the
ages, but the need for protection, for a place of safety,
for refuge, for sanctuary endures.
Edward W. Schmidt, S.J., is the editor of Conversations;
he is also a senior editor at America Media.
(Note that other articles in this issue help to explain
the term sanctuary: Howard Gray’s “Sanctuary of
the Heart,” page 8, and John McKay’s “Law, Policy,
and the Sanctuary Campus,” page 30.)
Notes on aJCu presidents
On July 1, 2017, Dr. Mark Nemec became the ninth
president of Fairfield University, succeeding Fr. Jeffrey
von Arx, S.J., who resigned last December. This brings
the number of lay presidents of A.J.C.U. schools to 14,
which is exactly half of the 28 Jesuit colleges and
universities in the United States.
Doctor Nemec is the
fourth new president
since August 2016,
when Jo Ann Rooney
became president of
Loyola University
Chicago. In Janua (...truncated)