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February 8, 2018
Patricia L. Guilfoyle
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Catholic Church must confront the sin of racism, listen to people who have been oppressed, and seek reconciliation in part by promoting people of color into leadership roles, said Bishop George Murry of Youngstown, Ohio.
As chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, he gave a talk Jan. 27 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Charlotte about racism in the church’s history and how the committee is addressing the issue.
The dialogue came in the wake of a fatal police shooting that sparked violent protests in the city in 2016, leaving one Consolation parishioner dead.
Bishop Murry, a Jesuit whose background is in education, summarized Catholic teaching on racism and inequality, noting that the church’s teaching on the fundamental dignity of all people has not always been reflected in its actions – especially in the United States, where racism is “deeply rooted.”
Bishop Murry, who is one of the nation’s black Catholic bishops, criticized the church’s lethargic response to racism in America even after the U.S. bishops issued a 1979 pastoral letter on racism, “Brothers and Sisters to Us.”
“When considering the history of racism in the Catholic Church, one cannot help but wonder why, in the United States, there was so little social consciousness among Catholics regarding racism,” he said. “Why does it appear the church in America is incapable of taking decisive action and incapable of enunciating clear-cut principles regarding racism that have led to a change of attitude?”
“Racism is a sin that divides the human family and violates the fundamental human dignity of those called to be children of the same Father,” Bishop Murry said, and the church must become “a consistent voice” to eradicate it.
“Today the Catholic Church in America must recognize that Christ wishes to break down the walls created by the evils of racism, whether that evil is displayed publicly for all to see or buried deep in the recesses of our hearts,” Bishop Murry said. “If not, we are destined for history to continue to repeat itself, and once again the church will be perceived as a silent observer in the face of racism.”
Besides listening and learning, Bishop Murry said, the church must “break her silence.”
The U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, formed last August, aims to address the problem of racism in the Catholic Church and the wider community, “and the urgent need for the nation to come together to find solutions,” he said.
He said the committee is working to bring together people of various races, faiths, cultures and backgrounds – and then listening to them. A national summit of religious leaders and others will be convened this year to discuss the sin of racism and find ways to build bridges, he announced.
The Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism also is organizing a series of “listening sessions” across the country, Bishop Murry said. Intended to be a “national conversation on race,” these sessions will take place in parishes, schools, seminaries, Catholic Charities organizations, Catholic health associations and social service agencies – “in every Catholic organization throughout the country,” he said.
The committee will issue a study guide designed “to encourage people to come together and to overcome their hesitations and their fears, and to talk frankly with each other,” Bishop Murry said.