Black History Month is being called to mind in several ways for Catholics this month.
Last year, by a nearly unanimous vote, the U.S. Catholic bishops issued Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love – A Pastoral Letter Against Racism. In the pastoral letter, the bishops examined the “persistent” history of racism in the U.S. (download here or see this summary).
According to the Bishops, to rebuild the relationships broken by centuries of oppressive acts of racism requires us to “love goodness” and to ‘walk humbly with God.”
A Catholic Social Ministry gathering will take place February 2-5 in Washington, D.C. that will include the topic of racism and restorative justice. Click here to learn more.
The Mid-Atlantic Congress (MAC) taking place February 13-16, 2019 in Baltimore, MD, has several sessions that may be of special interest such as “Building Intercultural Competence for Ministers” led by the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church. Click here for more info.
As always, please pray for the canonization of African Catholic being considered for sainthood – Fr. Augustus Tolton, Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, Mother Henriette DeLille, Pierre Toussaint, Julia Greeley and Sr. Thea Bowman – or watch a video.