The Bishop's Weekly Column from the Parish Bulletin

OUR LADY OF FATIMA

CATHOLIC CHURCH

"Trust but verify"

"Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down That Wall !"

July 8, 2009

"Trust, but Verify" was a signature phrase of Ronald Reagan. When Reagan used this phrase, he was usually discussing relations with the Soviet Union and he almost always presented it as a translation of the Russian proverb "doveryai, no proveryai" (Russian: Доверяй, но проверяй) - Trust, but Verify. At the signing of the INF Treaty he used it again and his counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev responded: "You repeat that at every meeting," to which Reagan answered "I like it."

Recently the American President, Barack Obama, in signing treaties with the current Russian President, announced a desire for further decreases in ICBMs as a new period of detente seems to be sweeping in. As a newly elected president, with more than his fair share of problems on his plate (so to speak) he needs to take a leaf out of the book of diplomacy written by the late master of politics himself, Ronald Reagan.

I, for one, will be glad when this is all over, and a true and lasting peace is declared, and I pray daily especially for a quick healing for all involved in the negotiations (those "under the knife" or not) especially by name (as you know I always do) in the canon of the Mass. May God's Will be done and may they tear down those walls - once and for all !

+TF