Confronting the Sin of Racism and Understanding Cultural Differences
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Saint Mary Magdalene Parish seeks to teach and witness to the intrinsic dignity of each person. As a parish, we look to recognize all aspects of our institutional racism and work to become a welcoming and inclusive community.
To meet that goal, our parish groups suggest these resources that are available to help us meet the challenges of understanding racism and cultural differences within our parish and the community at large.
We cannot achieve this vision unless we are better informed about these issues related to race, specifically people of color in the United States, and other differences about how we see the world.
There are many resources available and this page contains some options as we seek to better understand ourselves and others.Pastoral Council, Cultural Action Team (CAT), Social Ministry and Community Outreach Committee
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Prayer to Overcome racism
Mary, friend and mother to all, through your Son, God has found a way to unite himself to every human being, called to be one people, sisters, and brothers to each other.
We ask for your help in calling on your Son, seeking forgiveness for the times when we have failed to love and respect one another.
We ask for your help in obtaining from your Son the grace we need to overcome the evil of racism and to build a just society.
We ask for your help in following your Son, so that prejudice and animosity will no longer infect our minds or hearts but will be replaced with a love that respects the dignity of each person.
Mother of the Church, the Spirit of your Son Jesus warms our hearts: pray for us.
Amen. -
All men and women are created in God's image
Racism is a sin, the effects of which have become painfully and violently evident in cities across the U.S. in recent weeks. The Catholic Church has always held that every human being, regardless of his or her skin color, is made in the image and likeness of God, and therefore, has intrinsic value and worth. Racism destroys that dignity that God bestows. It has no place in our societies or in our hearts.
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USCCB Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism Mandate
“Racism is a sin: a sin that divides the human family, blots out the image of God among specific members of that family, and violates the fundamental human dignity of those called to be children of the same Father.” (Brothers and Sisters to Us, 1979). Racism lives in a particular and pernicious way in the United States, in part because of the complex history of slavery in the country, and the beliefs and policies that sustained it. African Americans have suffered intensely from those who have committed, and continue to commit, the sin of racism. But racism has also ravaged the lives and livelihoods of many other groups of people, and its targets and destructive manifestations are ever-evolving.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism seeks to teach about and to witness to the intrinsic dignity of the human person as an antidote to the grave sin of racism. The Committee explores and implements concrete solutions to address the racism that still pervades our society and our Church today, and works in collaborative ways to strengthen the response of all people to this evil.
This mandate includes the following areas of responsibility:- Listening sessions, dialogues, and convenings concerning racism within and outside of the Church, including its roots and impacts (spiritual and civil, individual and structural), as well as the voices of people suffering because of it;
- Creation and dissemination of theological, liturgical, pastoral, and community resources;
- Education and catechesis, including work with dioceses and parishes, about racism and effective models to respond to it;
- Implementation of the USCCB’s pastoral statements on racism;
- Communications strategies that promote effective responses to racism;
- Focused evangelization with an aim toward understanding racism and the need for healing and reconciliation;
- Efforts toward conversion of those who harbor racist beliefs and commit racist actions, and care for those who are the victims of racism;
- Outreach and coordinated activity, including interfaith and ecumenical work, to combat racism;
- Support and encouragement for financial and other investments in efforts, programs, and strategies to address racism;
- Public policy advocacy focused on issues that perpetuate or are a result of racism.
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