CORRESPONDENCErnLetter From Romernby Alberto CarosarnAmerican Handgunners SeekrnVatican RecognitionrnFrom time to time, the Catholic Churchrnhas to address the thorny problemsrncaused bv those liberal faithful who challengernher principles and tenets. Muchrnmore rarely do we hear about initiativesrncoming from the other side of the spectrum,rnsince these initiatives generally dornnot pose any threat to Church doctrine,rnbut are limited to extending the applica-rnHon of existing principles. This is the approachrnof the St. Gabriel Possenti Society,rnInc., which traveled all the way tornRome to plead for the official recognidonrnof St. Gabriel Possenh as the patron saintrnof handgunners.rnThe members of the U.S.-based internationalrnand interdenominational St.rnGabriel Possenti Society uphold the rightrnof law-abiding citizens to keep and bearrnarms to defend themselves against evilrnand tvranny. According to the soeiet)”srnfounder and president, John MicliaelrnSnder, this is an extension of the right tornlife, hi his opinion, the Catholic Church,rnas a genuine and consistent defender ofrnlife, should speak out in favor of preservingrnthe right to defend life.rnThe society believes that a good firstrnstep in this direction would be to proclaimrnSt. Gabriel Possenti (1838-1862)rnpatron of handgunners. To publicize thernissue, John Snyder, during an awards ceremonyrnin the shadow of the Basilica of St.rnPeter on February 27, the feast day of thernsaint, presented .special medallions to a selectrnfew recipients who have demonstratedrntheir commitment to the defense ofrntruth and justice against evil and tyranny.rnIn 1860, St. Gabriel Possenti (betterrnknown in Italy as San Gabriele dell’Addolorata)rnrescued the villagers of Isola delrnGran Sasso in the Abruzzo region from arngang of 20 armed renegades through arnstriking demonstration of handgunrnmarksmanship, slaying a lizard with onernshot. The renegades surrendered, and St.rnGabriel —then a seminarian —drovernthem out of town at gunpoint.rnThe society also promotes the studyrnand exposition of the historical, philosophical,rnand theological foundations forrnthe doctrine of legitimate self-defense.rnTo this end, it distributes a monographrnon “Self Defense and the Bible” by arnBaptist minister, the Rev. Anthonv L.rnWinfield.rnThus far, the Vatican has not compliedrnwith the societ”s ret[ucst. While itrnmay be true that some Church officialsrnget weak in the knees at the sound of gunfirern(or even the mention of the word),rnthe idea has faced opposition from itsrnvery inception. As far back as the earlyrn1990’s, the heads of the two Passionistrnprovinces in the United States (St.rnGabriel was a member of the Passionistrnorder) strongly protested the idea “on thernsheer lack of historical evidence for thernincident.” More recently, in late 1997,rnCardinal Roger Etchegaray, president ofrnthe Pontifical Council for Justice andrnPeace, launched a public attack on thernprivate possession of handguns andrnfirearms of small caliber, claiming thatrnlimihng the purchase of “handguns andrnsmall arms would certainly not infringernupon the rights of anyone” and that allrnfirearms “must remain under the strictrncontrol of the state.”rnOver the years, John M. Snyder hasrnbeen puzzled by the retreat of somernchurchmen on the Possenti issue. Initially,rnsome of them tried to claim thatrnthe lizard incident never happened.rnWlien evidence (such as the account ofrnthe incident in Son of the Passion b- thernRev. Godfrc}’ Poage, C.P.) was t|uoted,rnthey argued that, if it did happen, it didrnnot have much significance. When thernReligious News Service in the UnitedrnStates brought this to the attenhon of FatherrnPoage, he replied that he knowsrnwhat happened because he has done thernresearch and his critics hae not. Hisrnbook carries the imprimatur of thernChurch.rnAs for Cardinal Etchegaray and his attackrnon guns, John Snyder objected to hisrntheses, saying that, in the United Statesrnalone,rnscores of millions of law-abidingrncitizens own firearms of variousrntypes and for a number of legitimaternreasons. There are more gunrnowners here than there are peoplernwho vote for the two majoritv’ partyrnpresidential candidates eveiy fourrnyears.rnApproximately 80 million law-abidingrncitizens own about 200 million handguns,rnrifles, and shotguns, and the recordrnindicates “quite clearly that the abilitv ofrnlaw-abiding citizens to possess firearms isrna crime deterrent and a life saver.” Snyderrnwas particularly crifical of the idea ofrnstate-controlled firearms, since civilianrndisarmament “has been one of the majorrnfactors leading to . . . government-sponsoredrngenocide in this unfortunatelvrnblood’ and murderous century.” AsrnJay Sinikin, Aaron Zelinan, and AlanrnM. Rice show in Lethal Laws, publishedrnin 1994 by Jews for the Preservationrnof Firearms Ownership, Inc., at least sevenrngenocides-namely, in OttomanrnTurkey, the Soviet Lhiion, Nazi Germany,rnChina, Guatemala, Uganda, andrnCambodia-were preceded by civilianrndisarmament. In each case, civilian di.sarmamentrnwas made possible throughrngun-control legislahon.rnFr. Sebasfian McDonald, the superiorrnof a Passionist monastery near Detroitrnwho fax’ors gun control, argued that therernarc three problems with recognizing thernsaint as patron of handgunners. First, liernquestioned the veracit)’ of the handgunrnincident, claiming that Father Poage,rnthough a peritus (expert) at the SecondrnVafiean Council and a holy priest, is “anrnIrishman with a tremendous imaginationrnand a reputation for stor telling.” Second,rnhe claims that the designation as patronrnwould be misleading. Third, he believesrnthat making the saint patron ofrnhandgunners would be giving too muchrnimportance to a small incident in his life.rnSnyder’s reaction to these arguments isrnthat the “good father” and “others likernhim” are “more concerned with beingrnpolitically correct than they are with beingrnhistorically accurate.”rnSnyder maintains that the St. CjabrielrnPossenti Society is not a lobby as the termrnis understood in American law. It doesrnnot officially support or oppose specificrnpieces of legislation or candidates forrnpublic office. Nonetheless, the clout andrninfluence of over 80 million gun ownersrnin the United States is undeniable. Notrnmany ears ago, a madman in Killeen,rnTexas, murdered a number of innocentrn36/CHRONlCLESrnrnrn