{"id":5748,"date":"2020-06-29T12:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-06-29T11:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/combonimission.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=5748"},"modified":"2020-06-25T14:38:16","modified_gmt":"2020-06-25T13:38:16","slug":"usa-black-catholics-words-are-not-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/06\/29\/usa-black-catholics-words-are-not-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"USA, Black Catholics: Words are not enough"},"content":{"rendered":"

Black Roman Catholics are hearing their church\u2019s leaders calling for racial justice once again after the killing of George Floyd, but this time they\u2019re demanding not just words but action.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a Church, we\u2019re very good with words. The Church has made clear it stands against racism,\u201d said Father Mario Powell, a black priest who heads a Jesuit middle school in Brooklyn. \u201cWhat\u2019s profoundly different this time is folks aren\u2019t looking for more words — they\u2019re looking for actual change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that all Catholic schools should teach the history of black Catholics in America. \u201cIt\u2019s a history of discrimination and oppression,\u201d said Fr. Powell. \u201cIt\u2019s also a very rich history that should be celebrated, of a population that has overcome a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington, the only African-American archbishop in the United States, in acknowledging the church\u2019s \u201csins and failings\u201d on racial justice said that \u201cPrayer and dialogue, alone, are not enough. We must act to bring about true change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas said: \u201cI think leaders in the church today should perhaps say a little less right now. Instead, we should stand with and give the microphone and listen to those who have been unheard for too long. To those who have suffered our shameful history of discrimination and racial profiling and police brutality. To those who are putting their bodies on the line in protest and in defence of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cLet’s look at the witness of those who are bravely taking up their parts in the drama of salvation unfolding in front of us. If we look past the static, they’re pointing the way to redemptive transformation. They are showing us what the reign of God looks like and what our country can look like when we all have a place at the table. Let’s encourage them. And pray with them. And thank them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Church really wants change, and wants to be an instrument of social justice and racial healing, but the Church for so long has been so busy trying to keep a roof over its head and the lights on that one day we wake up and realize there\u2019s a whole world that has passed us by,\u201d said Vickie Figueroa, the head of Black Catholic Ministry for the Archdiocese of Detroit.<\/p>\n

Figueroa and other black Catholic leaders said that the Church in the United States needs to step up to the challenge of bringing about greater racial reconciliation and confronting the toxic legacy of racism against black- and brown-skinned people that still manifests itself in sinful and unjust social conditions and institutions.<\/p>\n

Percy Marchand, the associate director of the Knights of Peter Claver, the country\u2019s largest black Catholic lay organization, pointed out that while there are separations between black and white Catholics on Sundays, he sees that more as a result of different worship styles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a hard line in terms of, \u2018I\u2019m black, and I\u2019m not made to feel comfortable in this white church,’\u201d said Marchand, who added that he never experienced discrimination while being brought up in a predominantly white parish. In his black-majority parish today, Marchand said white parishioners are welcomed and are active as lectors, choir members and in other capacities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat said, the Church could be more integrated. And that comes with exposure,\u201d said Marchand, who added that representative leadership \u201cmakes a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re saying that you should love everyone and don\u2019t (mistreat) them based on their race, but then you look at your leadership and out of 400-something bishops there are only a few black ones, and then on your board, there\u2019s only one black person \u2014 if even that one \u2014 then you\u2019re not living out the example of what you\u2019re preaching,\u201d Marchand said.<\/p>\n

According to the conference, there are about 3 million African American Catholics, roughly 4% of the nation\u2019s 69 million Catholics. But there are just 250 black priests, or less than 1% of the total of 36,500, along with eight active black bishops out of more than 250, or about 3.2%.<\/p>\n

(Photo: Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, kneels at El Paso’s Memorial Park holding a Black Lives Matter sign)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Black Roman Catholics are hearing their church\u2019s leaders calling for racial justice once again after the killing of George Floyd, but this time they\u2019re demanding not just words but action. \u201cAs a Church, we\u2019re very good with words. The Church has made clear it stands against racism,\u201d said Father Mario Powell, a black priest who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}