Spain: worse off than Haiti?

Spain is suffering more than Haiti right now, according to José Ignacio Munilla, Archbishop of San Sebastián, Spain.

"There are worse evils than the ones that the poor people of Haiti are suffering these days," he said in a radio interview. "We should also weep for ourselves, for our poor spiritual situation, for our materialistic concept of life. ... Perhaps we are suffering from a bigger evil than the one these innocent people are enduring."

Like other people in Spain, my husband and I made cruel fun of his words:

"Such horrible materialism. We have all the food we need. In fact, more than we need."

"We could invite a Haitian to dinner."

"Several Haitians. We have enough."

But it would hardly be practical to bring them here to Madrid, though it would be a pleasure to serve them a fine meal, and I know they're hungry right now. And even if I could find a big round padded envelope, I couldn't send a paella through the mail very well.

So instead, we could only make a donation to charity — like so many other debased materialists in Spain and around the world.

Don't weep for me. Material comfort is not worse than unimaginable death and destruction. Really.

— Sue Burke