Amid the ongoing racial reckoning taking place in the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd, parishioners of St. Martin de Porres Parish gathered on Nov. 8 for a Feast Day Mass for their patron saint in an atmosphere of faith, love, and hope.
It has been five months since George Floyd died at the hands of police in Minneapolis — a tragedy that unleashed massive protest demonstrations in cities across the country and ushered in a new era of racial reckoning in America.
When it comes to matters of racial justice, there’s not a need for the church to say more, but a need for the church to do more, retired Bishop Edward K. Braxton of Belleville, Illinois, told pilgrims gathered at the Catholic Enrichment Center in Louisville.
After a controversial grand jury decision surrounding the death of Breonna Taylor, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., pleaded for peace and the rejection of violence and called for unity to work for racial justice.
Kamala Harris’s campaign positions on immigration reform, aid to refugees, and poverty, align with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. But some Catholics won’t approve of her stance on abortion. Some advocates of religious freedom claim Harris has been openly hostile to their beliefs.
J. Scott Thomson held tight to his Catholic faith as police chief in crime-ridden Camden, N.J. He presided over the unconventional scrapping of his embattled department. The new department followed a community policing strategy that motivated the once-distrustful residents to share information on local thugs.
There is an African proverb that says, “As long as a person’s name is called, they never die.” With the spirit of that proverb in mind, John Thorne, pastoral minister at Sacred Heart Parish in Detroit and executive director of the Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance, created a memorial in his front yard for Black men and women whose lives have been taken unjustly, complete with crosses bearing their image and name.
It took 23 days for the protests that started after the killing of George Floyd to make their way to the statue of George Washington. What exactly is happening in our country?
The chairmen of three U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committees have called for “better practices for formation and accountability for police” in a joint letter to all members of Congress.
Italian-Americans in the Diocese of Brooklyn and elsewhere are decrying efforts by protesters who want to tear down statues of Christopher Columbus.
