As of this writing, Vice President Kamala Harris had declined an invitation to the traditional Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner on Oct. 17, a unique event hosted by the Archdiocese of New York to support regional Catholic charities. In past election cycles, somewhat striking photos have emerged with two bitter rivals sitting on either side of the cardinal of New York in the heat of election season, very often laughing together at a self-deprecating, lighthearted “roast.”
The dinner, which has become a near ritual in American politics, was founded by Cardinal Francis Spellman in 1945. In 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon launched the current iteration of the event. The last time a major candidate turned down an invitation was Walter Mondale in 1984. There have been reports that advisers have tried to convince the vice president to reconsider, largely due to fears that it could deal a permanent blow to the future of the bipartisan event.
The event’s namesake, usually referred to as Al Smith, served four terms as the governor of New York between 1919 and 1928. In 1928, the Democratic party made him the first Roman Catholic to be nominated for president of the United States. While of course anti-Catholic sentiment played a role in his eventual loss to Herbert Hoover, many political scientists theorize that his candidacy helped realign national voting patterns that eventually led to the New Deal era.
The event is primarily a fundraising exercise, which can bring in millions of dollars for Catholic charitable organizations. The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation is “dedicated to bringing hope to the poor, sick and underprivileged within the Archdiocese of New York regardless of race, creed or color. Organizations which are selected [to benefit from the funds] are well-managed, financially stable and for which the submitted project is for a worthy cause and is objectively targeted.” Current grant recipients include entities such as the Elizabeth Seton Children’s Center, Covenant House Youth Homelessness Crisis Care, Inner City Scholarship Fund and The Center for Discovery, which cares for people with complex conditions, including autism.
The corporal and spiritual works of mercy have long been called “means of grace,” or actions whereby human beings receive, appropriate and respond to the self-communication of God. These undoubtedly find expression in our interpersonal lives and relationships, but also in societal structures and institutions. When Catholic organizations across the world labor to feed the hungry or clothe the naked or shelter the homeless or visit the imprisoned, they are not instructed by Jesus to first check for the sufferer’s baptismal credentialing, or frame such activities in terms of whether or not others “deserve” it. It’s clear throughout the Scriptures that we are recognized by our fruits, and cannot hope to produce grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles. (Mt. 7:16) Though obvious examples of counter-signs, corporate sin and human failings abound, the plentiful bounty of Christian service to the human family has flourished for centuries. The good fruit of the Church’s binding up the wounds of an anguished world continues into our day.
Upon accepting the nomination as a presidential candidate, Al Smith said, “I am entirely unwilling to accept the old order of things as the best, unless and until I become convinced that it cannot be made better.” With such an approach, even in defeat, he markedly changed the way Catholicism was viewed in the United States and beyond.
Prominent Church leaders of all stripes would likely agree that our next election is too important to have one’s vote be determined by whether or not a candidate attends a particular gala dinner. And, like the satirical magazine “The Realist” once claimed, perhaps in the bitter, tribalistic politics of our deeply divided country, “irreverence is our only sacred cow.” But I, for one, hold out hope that this specific tradition can weather the current stormy season and survive, if only to continue to draw national eyes and affluent checkbooks toward the work of so many unsung heroes serving Christ in the most vulnerable and abandoned.
An alumnus of Camden Catholic High School, Cherry Hill, Michael M. Canaris, Ph.D., teaches at Loyola University, Chicago.
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