Racism

The racism that is now a part of public life must be named and opposed, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Tex., said in a new pastoral letter.

"We must all take responsibility to reject language that ridicules, condemns, or vilifies another person because of their race, religion, gender, age, culture or ethnic background," the archbishop said.

The Editors: These comments need to be called out as racist, xenophobic and sexist.

Father James Martin was among the religious leaders testifying to members of the Helsinki Commission, which monitors human rights worldwide, about a surge in reported hate crimes.

As researchers report a nationwide surge in hate crimes, a bipartisan coalition in Congress is giving law enforcement funding to adopt both stronger hate crime policies and more accurate data collection.