Preaching to the choir

An interview with Father Richard Sparks of Newman Hall

By Andrew R Quinio
From the February 2005 Print Edition

For Catholics at UC Berkeley, Newman Hall Holy Spirit Parish is the place to be. A typical Catholic mass will consist of prayers, Bible readings, and a homily — but this is Berkeley, so there’s a serving of politics on the side. If lucky, one gets to hear Father Richard “Dick” Sparks’ personal political views during a sermon. It may not be cause for alarm among the general crowd of Berkeley liberals, but for some faithful young conservatives, Sunday Mass at Newman Hall may be more than they bargained for.

Father Dick Sparks is an outspoken and articulate priest who at times expresses his disapproval of President George W. Bush and others in the administration. He once criticized Donald Rumsfeld’s conduct at the now-infamous question-and-answer session with the troops, and professed his dissatisfaction with the direction of the nation. This was all done from the pulpit during a regular mass.

The Patriot paid Father Dick a visit to get to know the priest who raises Catholic Republicans’ eyebrows.

“I think I have been very careful and I think I have handled it well,” Father Dick said in the interview. He explained that he always informs congregations that his political opinions are his own, and not those of the Gospel. Eliciting politics is Sparks’ preaching tool; he wants to be “provocative and evocative” to get people thinking during a service.

The 2004 election ended with moral values topping the list, and the so-called Christian Right seizing the day. Father Dick is clearly situated on the opposite end of the spectrum from the monolithic Christian Right. The Patriot asked for his interpretation of the combined forces of religion and politics triumphing in the election.

He explained that neither of the candidates was “on the side of the angels.” However, he elaborated, “Democrats are far closer to the Gospel … access to health care, social justice, and almost on every other issue, the Democrats are far closer to the Gospel.”

Father Dick’s willingness to express his left-leaning viewpoints is made easier by the prevailing attitudes of his congregation. While he never directly advised church attendants to vote for one candidate over the other, Sparks felt it was important to defend John Kerry from criticisms made by Catholic bishops.

Sparks pointed out Bishop Charles Chaput of Denver, who spoke out against pro-abortion politicians, and Bishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, who denied communion to pro-abortion office holders. Father Dick felt that Kerry was being held to an unfairly different standard just because he was a Catholic.

To understand what a priest can and cannot do regarding political activity, one must turn to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The General Counsel issued political-activity guidelines for Catholic organizations. According to these guidelines, a church official cannot engage in political campaign activity during an official church service. Father Dick Sparks has been careful enough in his choice of words and activity not to have violated this policy.

It is Father Dick’s belief that a priest should empathize with his parishioners, but not necessarily cater to their biases. He felt that it was important to empathize with anti-Bush church members, especially since the Republicans control all parts of the U.S. government. “Republicans have the upper hand in the country,” Sparks said. “I would argue that they stole the 2000 election.”

It appears that Father Dick will need to provide even more empathy to his Democratic parishioners. They are currently the minority within the Catholic Church. According to a study by Georgetown University, 52 percent of Catholics voted for Bush over Kerry. Approximately 16.6 million Catholic voters turned out for the resident, compared to 15 million for Kerry.

To his credit, Father Dick did maintain a level of nonpartisanship within the church. He refused to allow pro-Kerry groups to leave campaign material in the church. In fact, on the Sunday before the inauguration of President Bush, Father Dick prayed for the president, but not without the usual discrete jab. He sermonized, “The people have spoken and a sizable majority has re-elected the president. I want to give him his due. (Notice I didn’t get cute and say, ‘Give the devil his due.’)”

The Patriot would like to give Father Dick his due for speaking with us, and providing our readers with a gracious and enlightening interview.

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