Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
How the US bishops’ anti-racism committee will address social problems

How the US bishops’ anti-racism committee will address social problems

Last updated on: October 3, 2017 at 9:01 pm by CNA Daily News

How the US bishops’ anti-racism committee will address social problems 2017-10-03T21:01:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Washington D.C., Oct 3, 2017 / 03:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Racism is not going away. Catholics can’t pretend that it will just disappear, the chair of the U.S. bishops’ new anti-racism committee said on Monday.

“The problems of racism are deep and widespread, and will take time to heal,” Bishop George Murry, S.J. of Youngstown, chair of the U.S. bishops’ new Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, told CNA on Monday.

That doesn’t mean Catholics can simply do nothing, he said.

“Racism has been around for a long time. The result of racism is discrimination,” he said. People of all ages and races “have been prevented from a number of opportunities,” he said, like “housing, schooling, job opportunities.”

“Young people are understandably frustrated. We don’t do them a service by not talking about this, by hoping it’ll go away,” Murry said.

“We need to turn to them and say instead of throwing rocks, instead of destroying buildings, and instead of setting cars on fire, let’s sit down and talk about what concrete steps can we take to overcome this problem.”

“Sometimes a person will have problem, a physical problem, a psychological problem, and they ignore it. And they think that 'well, if I don’t do anything about it, it’ll eventually go away'. I think that’s what we have in many of the social situations in our country,” he said.

Murry spoke with CNA at an Oct. 2 gathering of Christian leaders at the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The leaders, including Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, invoked King’s 1957 essay “Non-Violence and Social Justice” to call for a peaceful response to injustice in society.

Murry explained that the bishops’ new anti-racism committee will promote human dignity, which he hoped would channel social frustrations towards peaceful solutions.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced the establishment of the committee in August after white supremacists and neo-Nazis rallied in Charlottesville, Va., and a 20 year-old man drove a car into the counter-protest killing one and injuring 19.

The bishop members of the committee, Murry told CNA, are Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit, and Bishop Martin Holley of Memphis.

Bishop consultants to the committee include Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago; Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, D.C.; Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore; Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice; and Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin.

Lay consultants to the committee will be announced later this week, Murry said.

The Charlottesville violence came after months of heightened racial tensions in the United States, and demonstrations across the country. The committee was formed to respond to this developing social tension, the USCCB noted

The committee will explore ways the Church can address the root causes of contemporary manifestations of racism, the conference said. The bishops will also hold public conversations about racism and race-related problems.

The committee will collaborate with the Knights of Columbus to combat racism and violence, he added. The Knights, he said, “have been a consistent voice for racial equality since they were created.”

The goal of collaboration is “to try to help people to experience a change of heart, and to recognize every human being is created in the image and likeness of God.”

Although some protests in recent years turned violent – like riots in Baltimore in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray – many demonstrations have been non-violent, and many parishes have worked admirably to address the problem of racism, Murry said.

He pointed to St. Peter Claver Parish in West Baltimore, Md., St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Springfield, Ill., and Holy Trinity Parish in Dallas, Tex. as examples of Catholics “coming together to address these issues frankly and to find solutions in a non-violent way.”

Previous Post

October 3, 2017

'The Stray' inspired by director's real-life turnaround

Next Post

October 3, 2017 Cardinal Parolin: When protecting kids in the digital world, don't forget the peripheries

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: The Israelites crossed the Red Sea by boat.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE