An anonymous saint?

When we think of saints, we often associate them with mighty spiritual feats – dramatic martyrdoms, the production of works of great theological learning or spiritual insight, the founding of religious orders or vast charitable enterprises, and so on.  But saintliness, like the still small voice heard by Elijah, can manifest itself in subtler ways.  An illustration is provided by the life of Fr. Ed Dowling, SJ, the subject of Dawn Eden Goldstein’s fine new book Father Ed: The Story of Bill W.’s Spiritual Sponsor. 

The “Bill W.” of the subtitle is Bill Wilson, cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.).  Though not an alcoholic himself, Fr. Dowling was highly impressed by A.A.’s principles and success rate, and became a lifelong proponent of the movement and a close friend and advisor to Wilson.  Ministering to those struggling with alcoholism was of a piece with Dowling’s devotion to all those afflicted by mundane but intractable difficulties – marital unhappiness, depression and anxiety, drug addiction, and so on.  He helped found the Cana Conference movement to assist married couples, was involved with the Recovery organization’s efforts to help the mentally ill, and worked also with other such groups.  And in innumerable one-on-one relationships he personally helped suffering human beings – and brought them, where he could, into the sacramental life of the Church, where alone the most important source of healing can be found.

Suffering was something Dowling knew well.  Goldstein recounts the spiritual crisis the Jesuit priest went through in his early life, before becoming certain of his vocation.  And she provides a poignant account of the poor health and physical pain that afflicted him throughout his life.  Ankylosing spondylitis, a severe form of arthritis, calcified Dowling’s spine and one of his legs, to the extent that (as he liked to put it) it was as if he were gradually turning to stone.  But he doggedly embraced this suffering out of solidarity with others who suffer, and as God’s means of perfecting him.  Fr. Ed’s view was that “the shortest cut to humility is humiliations.”

Goldstein’s description of Dowling’s first meeting with Bill W. is especially moving.  Wilson was lying on his bed, at a low moment in his life, when the rumpled priest ambled up his stairway for a visit.  As they discussed A.A. and Wilson’s personal struggles, Bill later reported:

My spirits kept on rising, and presently I began to realize that this man radiated a grace that filled the room with a sense of presence.  I felt this with great intensity; it was a moving and mysterious experience.

But this was not the result of any shallow self-help happy talk on Fr. Ed’s part.  On the contrary, one of the remarkable aspects of their long discussion that evening is the emphasis the priest put on the divine call to patient endurance of dissatisfactions for the sake of a higher reward in the hereafter.  But he did so with such gentleness, kindness, and empathy that Bill took comfort and hope from it.  And it inaugurated a close friendship that lasted until Dowling’s death.

Dowling was struck by parallels he saw between A.A.’s Twelve Steps and St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises – especially after Bill told him that he had no knowledge of Ignatius, so that any similarity was coincidental.  In the years that followed, Bill would come to be attracted to the Catholic faith, receiving instruction not only from Fr. Ed, but also from Bishop Fulton Sheen.  Yet Wilson nevertheless stopped short of conversion.  The desire to keep A.A. free of an association in people’s minds with any particular religion might have been a factor.  Wilson seems also to have had difficulty with the requirement to submit to the mind of the Church on doctrinal matters.  In one letter to Dowling, he admits: “Maybe deep down I don’t want to be convinced – I just don’t know.”

Wilson was in any case also drawn to rivals to the Christian faith – Jungian therapy, spiritualism, even experimentation with LSD in the days when the drug hadn’t yet gained the notoriety it would later come to have.  Dowling tried gently but firmly to warn him away from such enthusiasms, with only limited success.  Goldstein’s account of the years-long back-and-forth between the two on the subject of Catholicism affords an interesting case study in the literature on conversion (or lack thereof).  As Goldstein writes, Dowling and Wilson himself seemed to agree that there was perhaps “an element of willfulness” in Wilson’s reluctance.

In any event, they maintained their friendship to the end.  And Wilson was just one of many who felt especially indebted to Fr. Ed for the help and spiritual guidance he provided.  Goldstein’s touching description of the humble priest’s funeral, and the sea of mourners who attended it, is a fitting conclusion to this excellent biography.

All the same, because it is a biography rather than a work of moral theology, it suggests, but without addressing, some tantalizing questions that seem worthy of future exploration (whether by Goldstein or someone else inspired by Dowling’s life and work).  For example, how would Dowling have applied his approach to dealing with people in thrall to addictions like those that predominate today?  Alcoholism continues to be a problem, of course.  But drug addiction has now spiraled well beyond anything Dowling had to encounter, and has taken on ever more destructive forms (as the meth and opioid epidemics illustrate). 

There is also pornography addiction, and a plethora of sexual vices which are no longer even recognized as such.  It is absolutely fundamental to the Twelve Steps approach endorsed by Fr. Dowling that one admits that one has a problem.  But stubbornly refusing to admit that one’s behavior is in any way problematic is characteristic of sexual sin today.  Fr. Ed also consistently emphasized the need to learn humility in the face of one’s struggles with sin.  But the emphasis today is instead on pride in what the Catholic faith teaches is sinful, and on indulgence in it rather than struggling against it.  The basic moral assumptions taken for granted in contemporary society are simply radically different from those that prevailed in Dowling’s day.  By no means does that make his approach any less necessary today.  But it does make its application more difficult.

Another area for possible exploration is the relationship between Fr. Dowling’s work and that of a contemporary of his, the moral theologian Fr. John C. Ford, SJ.  Ford is mentioned only a couple of times and in passing in Goldstein’s biography.  But Ford also knew Bill Wilson, admired A.A., and indeed at one point had struggled with a drinking problem himself and found A.A.’s approach useful.  Moreover, he wrote on the topics of alcoholism, and habitual sin in general, in a way that combined orthodox moral reasoning with psychological nuance and pastoral sensitivity.  It would be intriguing to bring his work to bear on the study of Fr. Dowling’s approach to dealing with people with problems.

But these remarks are not meant as criticisms of Goldstein’s book.  They are, again, rather in the nature of suggestions for further inquiry.  As it is, Father Ed is inspiring reading, and will do much good both for its readers and for the reputation of a holy priest who deserves to be more widely known.