Preparations for the upcoming Synod have prompted an important question: How might the local church of the United States become a powerful witness of the good news amid cries for racial healing and justice?
Racial Justice
Posted inFaith, Short Take
Jesuit conference president: White American Catholics need to face the truth about slavery
Six years ago, for the first time, I sat face-to-face with the descendants of the 272 people my own religious order, the Jesuits, enslaved and sold 185 years ago.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Jesuits and Georgetown pledge additional $27 million to support descendants of those enslaved by the order
The sale of 272 enslaved persons by the Jesuits in 1838 helped provide financing for the struggling Georgetown University.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
What Catholic institutions should take (and leave) from the D.E.I. movement
The kind of diversity sought after at a hospital, an engineering firm or a Catholic university should differ according to the gifts necessary for the mission of such institutions.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
Bishop Barron fears that Catholicism has been ‘dumbed down.’ But has it also been opened up?
Bishop Barron may be correct that the church has become intellectually weaker, but the way to truth is to continue inviting the voices of those who have been marginalized in the past.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Biography opens new windows into the life of MLK
Jonathan Eig’s new biography, ‘King: A Life,’ is the first major biography of Martin Luther King Jr. in decades and will take its place among the foremost of the many treatments of King.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Riots in French cities reveal deep social fractures. Here’s how the church is trying to help.
Merzouk’s killing blew the lid off years of simmering resentment because of the police treatment of black and Arab youth, the ghettoization of immigrants and their descendants and the general hopelessness among black and Arab youth who feel like second-class citizens in France.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Podcast: Preaching the kingdom of God when justice is delayed on earth
The crisis of preaching in the Catholic Church won’t be solved “unless we emphasize that the preacher needs to be someone who is constantly learning about the Scriptures… and a person of prayer,” Father Bryan Massingale shares with host Ricardo da Silva, S.J. on Preach.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Catholic universities say the end of affirmative action threatens their values and religious liberty
Calling the 6-to-3 decision handed down Thursday “more than disappointing,” the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities said that the court “ignores the more-than-apparent effects of continued racism in our society.”
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Affirmative action is Catholic social teaching in action. We still need it.
Thoughtfully administered affirmative action, as endorsed by the U.S. bishops decades ago, is an incontrovertible part of our shared task to fight racism and promote equal opportunity.