The California bishops met Wednesday African American Catholic leaders to begin a year-long initiative meant better to understand and combat racism.
The Sept. 9 meeting occurred on the feast of St. Peter Claver, which numerous U.S. dioceses and Catholic organizations observed as a day of fasting and prayer to end racism.
The bishops said they were “meeting with African American Catholic leaders to begin a journey aimed at converting our hearts to more fully understand the extent and nature of the sin of racism in ourselves, our Church and our nation.”
“This journey is intended to offer tangible change, in which the bishops, together with the clergy, religious and faithful of California participate,” they said.
For three hours last week, the 25 bishops of California listened to two laywomen and a priest convey moments of racism they experienced either inside or outside the Catholic Church.
“The people shared from their heart. Some of the things were pretty tough to listen to,” said Steve Pehanich, director of communications for the California Catholic Conference.
“The bishops were touched. There were some tears. There were some hard to bear moments, but I think they really appreciated it,” he added, according to Angelus News.
The bishops said the first step of the initiative is to listen to the accounts of racism. They said it is important to first understand internal sins before addressing the sins of society.
The bishops’ statement quoted from both Sollicitudo rei socialis, St. John Paul II’s 1987 encyclical on the 20th anniversary of Populorum Progressio, and Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship, the US bishops’ guide to political engagement.
They said that “over the next year, the dioceses of California are committing to measures aimed at understanding and combating the sin of racism by examining our own conscience and probing civil society and our own institutions for signs of the structures of sin.”
The next step of the initiative is dialogue. The bishops have encouraged Catholics in California to take the results of these sessions and discuss the topic of racism within the home, Church, and groups of friends.
The final step of the project is action. They said that during 2021, the Church will implement strategies formed by the discussions in previous months. These strategies will seek to “root out racist thinking and practices and foster a ‘culture of encounter,’” the bishops said. The action plan will include education, advocacy, and dialogue sessions that aim better to identify racism….
The above comes from a Sept. 15 article on the Catholic News Agency site.
Racism where???? The Left seems to find it under every rock and behind every tree, these people are truly in need of help.
Everyone can come up with examples of how they perceive racism has affected them. What a waste of three hours, none of the participants left feeling any better, it’s just virtue signaling from both sides.
Reads like something straight out of corporate HR with all the process jargon and politically correct terminology. Please, bishops, stop with this. I’m not a racist and I won’t have you nor anyone else promoting BLM’s baloney saying that I am. If the Church goes woke, it will go broke because people will leave and close their wallets even more than they already have.
Thank God the Bishops are listening and learning about this very important and timely topic. The Church can help our country heal from America’s original sins: slavery and racism. God Bless them.
The country fought a Civil War resulting in over 600,000 dead Americans to end slavery. Acknowledge the price the nation has paid and recognize the trillions of dollars spent to bring about equality of opportunity. What other country in the world has done this? Yeah, crickets.
The Civil War did not end slavery nor was it intended to.
Sigh, you must have gone to public school.
What were you taught?
I’m not as sceptical as readers who commented above. That said, why doesn’t the article mention the participants?
If Fr. Joshua Johnson or Fr. Frank Black was the priest, I’d be encouraged.
Or, if they listened to and spoke with Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers of Portland or Justice Clarence Thomas, that could be good.
Why the secrecy? (And, that’s not a rhetorical question. They should explain why, if there is a valid reason.)
Good questions! I remember watching on C Span many years ago Ted Kennedy and Jo Biden throwing stones (more like boulders) at Clarence Thomas accusing him of being unworthy of the office for far lesser sins than they themselves had or have committed. The same people hate Cardinal Arinze and Sarah.
Regarding my last post, I meant that some of the same people who hate Justice Thomas also hate Cardinal Arinze and Sarah, even though many of their own sins are far worse then the other three have every done.
Hey, glad to see that the California bishops are making good use of the free time they have since they aren’t celebrating Mass that much anymore. Now they can be like government or university officials solving the world’s pressing problems through listening, dialogue and action. Just what the country needs more of. Eucharist? Pffft.
I was raised in a predominantly black area in SF. Every one in my family suffered major assaults
during this period – some resulting in injuries and hospitalization. Discussion of these criminal
acts by blacks results in charges of racism – not why blacks are racists, but why whites are racist for
talking about crimes that were committed by blacks.
Yes, white people need to acknowledge their racism and improve.
and Yes, black Americans should do the same.
And, let’s end the fiction of BLM, that blacks are the only ones suffering from racism.
Same thing in the book “Chinese Girl in the Ghetto” by Ying Ma about nearby Oakland.
The issue demands more than glib comments. “I’m not a racist.” None of us think that we are, and most of us really aren’t. That isn’t the issue. The issue is what goes on, what we do, what institutions do to create a culture that is not equal for everyone. It is only a few years since it was against the law for people of mixed races to marry, to live together. it is only a few years that we have had laws that forbid discrimination in hiring, that allow everyone to eat in the same restaurant, to sit at a lunch counter. We may, for the first time in 50+ years be confronting the underbelly of the American dream. As the book says, it is fragile. A very good analysis of the forces of bigotry can be found in, https://americanmind.org/essays/the-bigotry-of-social-justice/. It is worth the slog because it also explains the current thinking by those who feel discriminated against as well as why it isn’t all well thought out.
Bob – wake up. With respect to my comment above: My Mother died of a heart attack after a black guy stole her purse…How about my brother, in the hospital for a month after an assault by a black gang. And three more family members assaulted.
It’s time for you go get off the standard left liberal BLM belief that only black people are harmed here, by white racism.
Let’s stop this BLM fantasy, along with the riots.
Every traditional Catholic knows what it is like to not be heard by pastors and bishops and to be treated badly by other parishioners.
We all know peace and justice Catholics that you better not get on the wrong side of.
I only know 2 women at my Church who are not mean when they are in a disagreement. i know a lot of rude people..
I am making this about me because if I have had bad experiences at Church, other Catholics have too.
I am glad that bishops are listening and starting to care if people are treated wrong at Church.
People ideally should not have to turn the other cheek at church.
Well yes the War between the states did indeed end slavery but you are correct it really was not about slavery but all about states rights, in this case the North strangling the South which resulted in over 700,000 American lives on both sides and YES all Americans.
For three hours last week, the 25 bishops of California listened to two laywomen and a priest convey moments of racism they experienced either inside or outside the Catholic Church.It took 3 hours to listen to 3 people? What horrible place do they live? What parish do they attend? I think that many times people perceive racism and it is just rudeness b/c the people are tired, angry or arrogant. Mean people hit you where you are vulnerable, Fat, handicap, race, sex age etc.Catechism classes are going to be hit with this big time. Kids are not racist. They get this kind of training at their schools. We already stress minority saints and treating people with kindness all the time. …will seek to “root out racist thinking and practices and foster a ‘culture of encounter,’” the bishops said. The action plan will include education, advocacy, and dialogue sessions that aim better to identify racism…. Do you think that real racists will go to this? Mostly is will be a nice encounter for those who already want to help other people and show their Christian love.
It would be nice if the bishops would have an opportunity for us to air our grievances about how the Faith has been destroyed the last 60 years and how those of us who want Traditional Catholic Mass and teaching and practice are met with derision and are summarily dismissed.
Too many of us know not what we don’t know. As a white person, I have privileges that a Black person doesn’t, but I seldom realize it because the system really is a white system. The simple act of the police stopping a Black person for driving through an upscale white neighborhood at night is racism. They wouldn’t stop a white person doing the same thing.
Most white people, especially women no matter their income, do not go through all black neighborhoods at night. We avoid them. One of my light-complected relatives wandered off into a black neighborhood one day, and two black men got on each side of him and told him, “We do not want you here ‘whitey’, and we are being nice”. They then escorted him out of the area and told him not to come back. Maybe they thought he was going to sell drugs to their teens. I do not know, but these things work both ways. All people are naturally suspicious of strangers who look like they might be up to no good. More so if they have been robbed.
If the black person were arrested for no good reason such as just driving through a white area, perhaps looking for the house of a friend, and has no police record, that would be wrong. If the person has a police record and the residents have been robbed or burglarized before, naturally they will be suspicious. People of any area of another color would be.
They might stop a white person, too, if they have a police record, and there have been burglaries. We need to know all the details before we judge such things.
Most of the world is non white, but racism exists everywhere. By sheer numbers, there are more non white racists than white ones.
A straw man. By straw men.
Perhaps the bishops could read Candace Owen’s new book, Blackout. You know, just for “diversity”…
I am White. I have been mugged twice. Once, many years ago I was leaving work at 8 pm from UCSF. I was thrown to the ground by 3 black men and my purse was stolen. Fortunately, I had my car keys in my pocket so I was able to drive home (scared, though, since they had my drivers license and address).
The 2nd time, I was in my car at noon in a Gemco parking lot. A black man got into my car seat, reached across me and stole my purse.
These situations could easily have occurred by any other ethnicity. I harbor no racist feelings.
Our country elected a Black man as president — twice. We are not a perfect country but we do not have systemic racism. And, BLM is not about racism. It is a Communist trained organization, determined to overthrow our government.
It is very good to hear these comments related openly – many more white people should talk about the crimes committed against them, by blacks.
Blacks seem to be of the belief, that they are the sole victims, here. Many, many white people have been the victims of crimes from black criminals. We need to talk about this openly, as in the past, these stories have been suppressed by accusations of “racism”. Blacks need to understand that they are not alone. So many of all races have been victims. Perhaps if more whites and asians talked openly of the crimes committed against them, blacks might understand that BLM is basically incorrect – because it fosters the delusion that only blacks are victims. Very far from the truth….
You were doing fine until the third paragraph when you went into denial and felt the need to apologize. These attacks were not random. I’d quote you your San Francisco racial crime statistics but Cal-Catholic won’t let me. They’re in denial too.
You understand don’t you that because we have “white neighborhoods and Black neighborhoods” of Latinx neighborhoods that that is racism. It results in large part because of redlining and other discriminatory practices that we take for granted.
No, if you have the money you can live in any neighborhood. The only color that matters is green.
No Anon its that way because most people tend to want to live around others who are like themselves.
Don’t discriminate against anyone, even beautiful people. Remember, we’re just like you, only better looking.