Healing the Racial Divide. Lincoln Rice

“Black Church.” The bishops encouraged black men to be responsible fathers and caring husbands despite the economic hardships of a society that often makes gainful employment for black men extremely difficult. Black women were called to complement the role of black men with service to the black community and the Church. For their task, black women have role models in Harriet Tubman, Mary McLeod Bethune, Mother Theodore Williams, Elizabeth Lange, and Henriette Delille, who all worked tirelessly for the betterment of the African American community.39

“What We Have Seen and Heard” is predominately a letter on evangelization, with the second half of the letter focusing on the requirement that blacks take an active role in this endeavor. The greatest hindrance to African American Catholics sharing their faith with others was racism within the Catholic Church itself. Therefore, African American Catholics must “demand” recognition and leadership roles in order to seriously carry out the work of evangelization. In addition, the black bishops observe the need for more African American vocations to the priesthood and religious life, the lack of which has been complicated by racism. Black leadership should also be fostered in the promotion of the permanent deaconate, a trained and empowered black laity, opportunities for child education, inculturation in the areas of liturgy, the Rite of Christian Initiation, and dedication to work for racial and social justice.40

Moreover, the document was partially informed by the input of African Americans in the United States. Feedback from listening sessions held in Catholic churches with predominantly black congregations was incorporated into the document. This may account for the emphases on the gifts that African American spirituality can bring to the Catholic Church as well as the perceived roles for black men and women in transforming society.41 In the conclusion, the African American bishops called upon all people in the Catholic Church, in their respective roles, to foster a climate conducive to evangelization among African Americans, and they specifically asked black Catholic lay leadership “to help implement the actions called for in this letter” on the local and national level.42 This document is a stunning example of how valuable and practical a document can be that is informed by the African American experience and encourages black agency.

      Individual Bishops’ Statements

In a set of twenty-one statements from individual bishops and bishops’ conferences from 1990 to 2000 analyzed by Massingale, only three utilize “What We Have Seen and Heard.” Otherwise, African American sources are completely absent from these bishops’ statements.43 Since 2000, four American bishops have issued documents on racism: Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, Bishop Dale J. Melczek of Gary, Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, and Archbishop Alfred Hughes of New Orleans. I will very briefly examine these documents in chronological order, though the use of African American sources and the notion of black agency vary widely from document to document. Although I will be largely critical of these documents, these bishops should be commended for prioritizing racial justice.

In 2001, Cardinal Francis George of the Archdiocese of Chicago published Dwell in My Love: A Pastoral Letter on Racism, with aid from Bishop Joseph N. Perry and Sr. Jamie Phelps.44 Perry, an auxiliary bishop in Chicago, and Phelps, a Dominican sister and systematic theologian, are both African American. Their names are the first two mentioned on a list of four researchers and writers. At face value, the document appears to have had significant input from the black Catholic experience. Nevertheless, it does not significantly address the role of black agency. Despite writing of the need for schools to “celebrate” the contributions of minorities to our society, the only role that blacks appear to be given in the document is that of “forgiving those who have offended them,” and even this sentence is not race specific.45 The conclusion offers many concrete structural changes that can and should occur on the parish, archdiocesan, educational, and societal levels, but there is not any specific role or mechanism for African Americans in ensuring that these changes take place.46 Without a doubt, the absence of any significant role for African Americans in pursuing racial justice is the greatest weakness of this document. In addition, because this document does not relate narratives of black empowerment, the notion of black agency is not even implicit.

In August 2003, Bishop Dale Melczek of the Diocese of Gary issued Created in God’s Image: A Pastoral Letter on the Sin of Racism and a Call to Conversion, which states that its sources are scripture, Church teaching, and the social sciences. For Melczek, racism is a sin that permeates society on an individual, cultural, and institutional level. The proper response to racism is threefold: (1) to analyze racism, (2) to convert Christian hearts to a more inclusive vision, and (3) for whites and people of color to work toward racial justice in solidarity. His concrete steps for confronting racism stress bringing whites and people of color together under various circumstances to nurture dialogue. Melczek does not make explicit use of the African American experience, utilize black sources, or put forth a coherent role for African American Catholics to address racism apart from collaboration with whites. His explicit use of black resources is limited to a generic citation from the African American philosopher Cornel West and an acknowledgement that a black priest and black bishop gave him feedback on a draft of the document.47

In addition, a recent dissertation that evaluated the Diocese of Gary’s initiative to end racism states, “Although the Bishop referred to some of the history of the various ethnic groups in his Pastoral Letter, and individuals were able to tell their story within the context of Listening Sessions, a comprehensive history of white supremacy and racism in this region of Northwest Indiana and the Church’s response was absent.”48 The dissertation also mentions that even though people of color have been present on the anti-racism committee for the diocese, the “primary architects of the Initiative were white.”49 Despite the genuine attempt of Melczek to confront the problem of racism in his diocese, both the use of black sources and the promotion of black agency are noticeably absent.

In September 2003, Archbishop Harry Flynn of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis (retired in 2008) promulgated In God’s Image: Pastoral Letter on Racism. Flynn clearly states that the “demands of the Gospel” require that the Church take concrete actions to address the personal and social manifestation of racism. He views racism not only as a personal reality, but one in which the “dominant culture” negatively impacts people of color for its own benefit—often without knowing it. His proposed responses to racism include personal and structural strategies. Regarding the ecclesial realm, he recommends that African Americans be given leadership positions and play a role in decision-making. Although Flynn does not single out a particular role for African Americans in correcting racism, he does ask the “white community [to] work in solidarity with people of color.”50 This type of advice indicates that white persons require the input and collaboration of African Americans if they want to adequately address racism.

In 2006, Archbishop Alfred Hughes of the Archdiocese of New Orleans (retired in 2009) published “Made in the Image and Likeness of God”: A Pastoral Letter on Racial Harmony. Near the beginning of the letter, he relates his belief that the continued existence of African American parishes is important for “the development of black Catholic identity, community, leadership, liturgy, and spirituality.”51 Hughes’s belief may be a result of his experience of deciding to merge St. Augustine Parish with a neighboring parish. News of the merger resulted in a sit-in from some parishioners, community