Archdiocese of Baltimore Will Use This Moment in History to Combat Racism

Archdiocese of Baltimore will use this moment in history to combat racism

Sherita Thomas and her husband were watching news reports during this tempestuous time when one of her daughters saw a TV headline and asked, “Are we safe?”

After Thomas and her husband spoke with her about justice and racism, the daughter asked her, “What are you going to do?”

One of the things that Thomas will do is take on the role of interim director for the Office of Black Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. She will retain her job as global associate engagement manager at T. Rowe Price, where her experience includes key roles with the T. Rowe Price Foundation, Diversity and Inclusion, and Global Client and Investment departments.

Thomas said her children were one of the reasons she accepted the appointment to the Office of Black Catholics from Archbishop William E. Lori.

“I realized that I could and should do more,” she told the Catholic Review via email. “From the time I was a youth, I worked behind the scenes to create a community where people of color could feel they rightfully belonged.

“I worked with the Office of Black Catholics during my teen years and later volunteered as a young adult. Given my daughter’s response, I knew at such a critical time as this it was time for me to step up and use my gifts in service of the church,” she said.

Thomas grew up in St. Edward Parish, now worships at New All Saints in Liberty Heights and recently served as president of the Home School Association at St. Agnes School in Catonsville.

Thomas will work with a team of consultants to initiate an archdiocesan-wide series of dialogues on racism and assist in examining and improving efforts to increase diversity and inclusiveness at every level of the archdiocese.

Archbishop Lori has written two pastoral reflections on the topic: The“ Enduring Power of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Principles of Nonviolence,” released in 2018 to mark the 50th anniversary of the civil rights leader’s assassination; andThe “ Journey to Racial Justice: Repentance, Healing and Action,” which called for listening, consultation and action. Released in 2019, two months after the U.S. bishops released a pastoral letter against racism, “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love,” “A Journey to Racial Justice” included concrete actions the archdiocese needed to take.

“The aim in writing a pastoral letter is not to say the last word on any particular subject,” the archbishop told the Catholic Review. “I think that these efforts, these pastoral letters do help to raise consciousness. But I also think events like the tragic death of George Floyd bring the issue back home to us, front and center.”

Thomas said statements and pastorals from popes and bishops have acknowledged the sin of racism, including the U.S. bishops’ 1979 pastoral letter, “Brothers and Sisters to Us,” that said, “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.” The work of the Office of Black Catholics, the Racism Work Group and consultants must “ensure that we do more – that we do all we can to guarantee change and justice for all people,” Thomas said.

The work group will set up formal and informal settings for listening and input from a broad section of people in the archdiocese. The work is necessary but won’t be easy.

“We expect to hear stories about the hurt and harm people have endured over the years – stories about the impact of bias and racism, and even stories about shortcomings of our church,” Thomas said. “Above all, this process will require patience, prayer and careful discernment.”

The bishops who make up the governing board of the Maryland Catholic Conference – representing the archdioceses of Baltimore and Washington and the Diocese of Wilmington, Del., on public policy matters – released a statement June 15 that recalls “our own church’s past sins and failings and admit to them freely.”

“With regret and humility, we must recognize that as Catholic leaders and as an institution we have, at times, not followed the Gospel to which we profess and have been too slow in correcting our shortcomings,” the statement said. “For this reason, it is incumbent upon us to place ourselves at the forefront of efforts to remove the inequalities and discrimination that are still present in Maryland and our nation today.”

All the bishops of Baltimore signed the MCC statement, which noted, “prayer and dialogue, alone, are not enough. We must act to bring about true change.”

Thomas noted that after Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis policemen, people around the world are asking what they can do to effect real change. “The first thing we can all do is to actively encourage this inquiry and help create moments to explore and dialogue about our differences and commonalities,” she said.

Both Thomas and Archbishop Lori said the protests after the deaths of Floyd and others have created a moment that seems poised for change. The archbishop said that such events bring racism to the front burner and help people focus on it in the immediate crisis.

“When that fades, instead of going to more serene and mature reflection aimed at making changes that bring us together in a new way in our diversity, we often instead put the issue on the backburner and let it simmer,” he said. “That’s not what we should let happen this time. This time should be different. I hope and pray to God it will be.”

Thomas noted that voices around the globe – including people and institutions that have formerly been silent – are calling for the eradication of racism.

“I have been deeply touched by the outpouring of so many people who want to work for change – Catholics, non-Catholics, interfaith communities, people who have left the church – all wanting to do more and push for equality and justice,” she said. “This is a special moment of solidarity that many have longed for, and I am so pleased to assist the archdiocese take a lead on this.”

Email Christopher Gunty at [email protected]

Kirk Gaddy, black Catholic educator and father figure to many, dies suddenly at 55

One of the final works of mercy of Dr. Kirk P. Gaddy’s life as a Catholic educator occurred June 13, when he helped transform St. Frances Academy into an impromptu cooling station for a Black Lives Matter protest.

Gaddy, 55, suffered a heart attack the next day, and died unexpectedly June 20. A lifelong parishioner of Historic St. Francis Xavier in Baltimore and major influence in the education of black youths from pre-K to college, Gaddy was in his second stint on the staff at St. Frances Academy, where he had been in the class of 1983.

“We were graduating kids individually (June 13), and couldn’t leave campus because the roads were blocked by protest traffic around the prison,” said Deacon Curtis Turner, principal/head of school. “It was a hot day, and Kirk made the most of the situation. He helped people cool off. That’s my last memory of him.”

That protest wound around the Baltimore City Detention Center on to Eager Street, where Gaddy’s life as a catechist, teacher, scholar, administrator and advocate for the Oblate Sisters of Providence had its roots.

His four older brothers include Redemptorist Father Kenneth Gaddy, associate pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus/Sagrado Corazón de Jesús in Highlandtown. Their parents, John and Beatrice, headed a home that included two of her sisters and their children, 15 people all told in a rowhome on Eager Street.

“There was a lot of noise, as you can expect,” Father Gaddy said. “There was also a lot of support and encouragement.”

All the Gaddy children attended Catholic K-8 schools, Ss. James and John for Kirk. In 2008, he recounted to the Catholic Review how he and his siblings spent Saturdays cleaning the schools they attended, and how he helped mow the grass at Redemptorist cemeteries.

“It’s something they instilled in us very early on,” Gaddy told the Review, of his parents’ sense of service.

He went on to St. Frances Academy, the oldest Catholic school in the U.S. founded for black children, by Mother Mary Lange and the Oblate Sisters of Providence in 1828.

“The Oblate Sisters had a tremendous influence on his life,” Father Gaddy said. “The Oblate Sisters run through his veins.”

Sister Rita Michelle Proctor, the general superior of the order, taught Religion and Physical Education to Gaddy when he was in the ninth grade.

“His spirit of generosity, and caring for others, was already there, not only at St. Frances Academy, but at our convent,” she said. “He would go there after school to help Sister Brenda Motte, who coordinated the convent. Even when he was 13, you could depend on him.

“When he became principal at St. Katharine, he posted a message. ‘You enter to learn, and you leave to serve.’ It’s a powerful statement, one I’ve borrowed. … For all of his degrees and awards, he lived a life of Providence. I believe he was motivated by the spirit of Mother Mary Lange.”

Gaddy served as president of the Mother Lange Guild. In February, he served one last time as MC at the 23rd annual Mother Lange Awards, held by the archdiocesan Office of Black Catholic Ministries.

Gaddy earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, with a minor in history, from what is now Loyola University Maryland in 1987. Two years later, he earned a master’s degree in educational curriculum and instruction from Loyola. In 2004, he earned a doctorate in education leadership from NOVA Southeastern University in North Miami.

“His goodness, kindness, compassion, concern for the have-nots and the poor … he would do anything for the poor,” Father Gaddy said. “At the center of the conversation was the Gospel of liberation, and Kirk knew that the way to liberation is through education. He felt he would have the greatest impact there.”

Gaddy’s first job out of Loyola College was back at St. Frances Academy, as a teacher and dean of students. He served as assistant principal of St. Katharine School, 1990-94; as principal of St. Alphonsus-Basilica School, 1994-98; and principal of St. Katharine School, 1998-2008.

In 2008, he became a founder, CEO and headmaster of the Bluford Drew Jemison- STEM Academy. In 2012, he took an administrator’s role at St. Francis International School in Silver Spring. He began teaching at Xavier University in Louisiana’s Institute for Black Catholic Studies in 2008, and became its associate director in 2014.

A year ago, Gaddy returned to St. Frances Academy as assistant principal. He was to become principal for the 2020-21 school year, with Deacon Turner becoming the school’s president on a full-time basis.

“He was the definition of tough love,” Deacon Turner said. “Many of our students come to us unchurched. One day a student did something disrespectful in our daily chapel, which he ran. Kirk was able to impart why it was disrespectful, and instill a sense of wonder and awe in the kid within an hour.”

The young St. Frances Academy educators under Gaddy’s tutelage included his son, Kirk E. Gaddy, class of 2012, who always saw his father’s stabilizing presence.

“When I was in the first grade (at Ss. James and John), one of my friends didn’t have a Dad in his life,” the younger Gaddy said. “Mine stepped right into that role. He was a father figure to so many of his kids at St. Katharine.

“When I was a freshman at St. Frances Academy, the baseball team won the (C Conference) championship game. It was played at Calvert Hall. He took the whole team to Red Robin afterward, and paid for everyone. He wasn’t just my father. He was everyone’s father.”

An RCIA instructor, Gaddy’s professional development included reaching level three of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Equip for Ministry training, in 1990. He contributed to “Keep on Teaching,” which served as a manual for the African- American Community; “What We Have Seen and Heard-Essays and Stories from Black Catholics of Baltimore”; the African American Catholic Youth Bible; and the Africentric column that ran in the Catholic Review when it was a weekly publication.

His substantial volunteer efforts, his brother noted, included teaching at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

At Historic St. Francis Xavier, Gaddy served as parish council president and for 16 years was chairman of the board of its Head Start program. He also served on the boards of the Institute of Notre Dame and the Cardinal Shehan School. In addition to their son, Gaddy and his wife, Crystalyn, raised two daughters, Courtney and Kirby. “Our time is not always lined up with God’s,” said Gaddy’s son, of the suddenness of his passing. “We have to remember his legacy and what he stood for.”

In order to accommodate larger gatherings with social distancing in place, a funeral Mass will be offered July 3, at 11 a.m., in the St. Frances Academy gym. Visitation will also be there July 2, 2-8 p.m.

Email Paul McMullen at [email protected]

A prayer to celebrate Juneteenth — a light of hope for freedom and justice

Juneteenth marks a time in history that has remained largely unknown within the white community.

It has long been celebrated among the African American community. The brutal history of slavery and segregation continues to inflict pain on our society, and Juneteenth offers a light of hope on the fight for freedom and justice.

As noted by the National Museum of African American History & Culture, Juneteenth is a time to celebrate, to gather as a family, to reflect on the past and look to the future. Within the African American community, Juneteenth is known as our second “Independence Day”. It is a holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas, and more generally the emancipation of African American slaves throughout the Confederate South.

Emancipation did not finally come until General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas and issued General Order No. 3, on June 19, almost two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.

Celebrated on June 19, the word is a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth.” The Office of Black Catholics invites all of us in the Archdiocese of Baltimore to celebrate this day as a reminder of the transformative power of human liberation. We encourage all to spend time with our families, reflecting on the meaning of the day by using this as a day of education about our collective history and taking the time to pray for real change.

We pray, O Lord, for change.

Jesus you revealed God through your wise words and loving deeds, and we encounter you still today in the faces of those whom society has pushedto the margins.

Guide us, through the love you revealed, to establish the justice you proclaimed, that all peoples might dwell in harmony and peace, united by that one love that binds us to each other, and to you.

And most of all, Lord, change our routine worship and work into genuine encounter with you and our better selves so that our lives will be changed for the good of all.

Amen

Prayer adapted from Racial Healing and Liturgical Resources. Maryland bishops call for action against racism

The bishops who make up the governing board of the Maryland Catholic Conference – representing the archdioceses of Baltimore and Washington and the Diocese of Wilmington, Del., on public policy matters – released a statement June 15 that recalls “our own Church’s past sins and failings and admit to them freely.”

The bishops of Baltimore — Archbishop William E. Lori, Auxiliary Bishops Adam J. Parker and Denis J. Madden, and Bishop-designate Bruce Lewandowski, C.Ss.R. – were among the signers of the MCC statement, which noted, “prayer and dialogue, alone, are not enough. We must act to bring about true change.”

The statement noted despite the painful history, the church in Maryland is connected to the longtime ministry of black Catholics.

“We think of Mother Mary Lange, who founded the first Catholic school for Black children in the United States, in Baltimore in 1828.” A year later she founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first religious order for women of African descent and is currently in the process to be canonized a saint.

The statement notes that archbishops in the state have been at the forefront on race relations, including Cardinals Patrick O’Boyle of Washington and Lawrence Shehan of Baltimore. This history provides the context for the church’s action today. The unjust killing of George Floyd and other black Americans, and the subsequent protests, rallies and vigils that continue to take place make it clear that the conscience of our nation is on trial as questions of race and equality confront each and every one of us.

“United, we seek healing, harmony and solutions that recognize that every person has been created in the image of God and that every person possesses human dignity,” the statement said. “Over the years, the Catholic Bishops of Maryland have stood firmly in our support of laws that sought to bring about justice and an end to unequal treatment based on race.”

The full text of the letter is below.

June 15, 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

For centuries, our country and our State have been plagued with problems of racial inequality and injustice. Although many people have acted in good faith in service and prayer to bring about just change, to acknowledge the dignity of each life, and to love one another, our current crisis causes us to reflect on how much we still must do together to make impactful progress. We vividly recall our own Church’s past sins and failings and admit to them freely.

With regret and humility, we must recognize that as Catholic leaders and as an institution we have, at times, not followed the Gospel to which we profess and have been too slow in correcting our shortcomings. For this reason, it is incumbent upon us to place ourselves at the forefront of efforts to remove the inequalities and discrimination that are still present in Maryland and our nation today.

Despite our painful history, the Church in Maryland has been deeply enriched by the gifts of Black Catholics. We think of Mother Mary Lange, who founded the first Catholic school for Black children in the United States, in Baltimore in 1828. One year later, she founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first religious order for women of African descent. Today, she is a Servant of God, in the process to be canonized a Catholic saint, a cause for which all Catholics should pray.

Maryland is also home to the National Black Catholic Congress, which acts sa a witness and guide to the realities of the Black Catholic experience across the United States. It is also home to the Josephite priests and brothers, whose mission is to serve the African American community.

At a time when school segregation, sadly, was the norm in Maryland, two of our predecessors – Cardinal Patrick O’Boyle and Cardinal Lawrence Shehan – began the process of desegregating Catholic schools and parishes.

On March 12, 1950, in a homily on race relations, then-Archbishop O’Boyle said, “Unless the full resources of the Church are placed at the disposal of every single member of the church and made available to every man, there is no Catholicism worthy of the name. Our Sacraments, and our societies, our Mass and mysteries of the Faith are a common possession. Just as God is Our Father – What is Catholic is ours; it is all of us united as one.”

This history provides the context for us today and should act to animate our prayers, thoughts and actions for an end, finally, to the sin of racism that remains with us and in us. The unjust killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans, and the subsequent protests, rallies and vigils that continue to take place make it clear that the conscience of our nation is on trial as questions of race and equality confront each and every one of us.

We must recognize that all of us share the same human nature and dignity because we are all created in the image and likeness of God; this is why human life is sacred. We call all people of good will to prayer, to root out any hatred and animosity that has taken hold in one’s own heart. Inspired by Jesus’ command to “love one another as I love you” (John 15:12), we must seek to know and understand one another and to work to break down barriers through listening, prayer and a commitment to change hearts and minds.

However, prayer and dialogue, alone, are not enough. We must act to bring about true change. United, we seek healing, harmony and solutions that recognize that every person has been created in the image of God and that every person possesses human dignity. Over the years, the Catholic Bishops of Maryland have stood firmly in our support of laws that sought to bring about justice and an end to unequal treatment based on race.

This includes access to health and maternal care,meaningful educational opportunities, prison reforms, restorative justice initiatives,housing anti- discrimination efforts, juvenile justice reforms, and ending the grossly disparate practice of capital punishment. We commend the efforts of our state lawmakers to convene working groups to discuss legislative initiatives that are needed for reform, transparency, and racial equality. We look forward to playing an active part in these conversations on both a state and national level, and to lending our voices to those whose own have been stifled or altogether silenced by those who seek to quiet them.

We continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the minds and hearts of our elected representatives so that truth and justice will prevail over the falsehoods of discrimination and injustice.

We pray that God will guide us during these difficult times and give us the courage to act with conviction in our duty to seek racial equality, heal divisions, and build bridges of understanding and hope.

In Christ,

Most Reverend William E. Lori Archbishop of Baltimore Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory Archbishop of Washington

Most Reverend W. Francis Malooly Bishop of Wilmington

Most Reverend Roy E. Campbell Jr. Auxiliary Bishop of Washington

Most Reverend Mario E. Dorsonville-Rodriguez Auxiliary Bishop of Washington

Most Reverend Michael W. Fisher Auxiliary Bishop of Washington

Most Reverend Adam J. Parker Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore

Most Reverend Denis J. Madden Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Baltimore

Bishop-designate Bruce Lewandowski, CSsR Auxiliary Bishop-designate of Baltimore

Download the letter in English here Download the letter in Spanish here Download the letter in French here Download the letter in Korean here Download the letter in Vietnamese here Josephites among religious and laity joining ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The streets in front of the White House of late have been filled with thousands of youthful faces carrying signs or wearing T-shirts calling for racial justice, with fists raised in the air, or posing for selfies with a large “Black Lives Matters” sign.

That sign now hangs on a tall piece of fencing meant to keep the protesters out of Lafayette Park, the place tourists would usually flock to and have their pictures taken with the iconic building in the background.

But on June 8, the space was filled with women and men religious donning their habits and priests with Roman collars; some carried rosaries and signs with Our Lady of Guadalupe and the image of St. Oscar Romero. And hundreds of laity and at least two bishops from the Archdiocese of Washington joined in the Catholic- centered protest.

“The Catholic voice as a group, as a family needs to be heard,” said Father Cornelius Ejiogu, a member of the Baltimore-based Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, best known as the Josephites. He, along with others, helped organize the event. “I know a lot of priests and sisters have come out here individually to pray for peace and justice, but we feel that our church, as one, can come together.”

Washington Auxiliary Bishops Roy E. Campbell and Mario E. Dorsonville attended the event that featured prayer, songs and Bible readings and a reading of names of black Americans who died in violent acts of racial injustice, most recently George Floyd,

His May 25 death, while pinned to the ground by a white Minneapolis police officer seen in a video pressuring his neck with his knee for almost nine minutes, sparked protests, not just in the U.S., but in other parts of the world. Retired Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahasse, Florida, superior of Josephites and a former auxiliary bishop of Baltimore who resides at the Josephites’ headquarters in Baltimore, also attended the event.

The crowd prayed for those whose names were called out but also for “those who have died and whose names we don’t know,” said Father Ejiogu. The event was to pray for justice and peace “and ask God for reconciliation,” he said.

“What we’re seeing these past couple of weeks … it’s not the nation that we want, the America we believe in,” he said in an interview with Catholic News Service. “America is torn up by pride and racism and injustice. So, we want to use this opportunity to ask God to reconcile us.”

Catholics have joined the throngs of protesters who have taken to the streets of Washington since the killing of Floyd, but the event was a hope to unify Catholics to recognize the injustice behind the killings, he said.

“I believe all lives matter, Jesus specifically would say all lives matter, but is everybody in this country having the same justice? Do we all have the same privileges? No. There are some folks who don’t have the same privileges,” Father Ejiogu said.

“So, we are saying that those folks who are disenfranchised, those folks who are experiencing racism more, their lives matter along with all lives,” he added. “So, it’s not a question of separation, no. We’re asking God to heal us so we can recognize that we’re all brothers and sisters.”

He said he recognized that not all Catholics agreed with what the group was setting out to do.

One of them was Maryanne Pennell, from Front Royal, Virginia, who was carrying a “Trump Pro-Life” sign near the group. “I’m here so say pro-life is what matters,” she said. “All people, not based on your skin or your nationality or your history, based on being an American or being in America.”

What is needed is more dialogue, she told CNS, and she was doing her share of it, peacefully speaking with others who, curious about her sign and defense of President Donald Trump, stopped to talk to her.

“That’s part of what today should be,” she said. “Others say, ‘What do you think?” and I say, ‘What do you think?’ That’s how America works, not in judgment. It works in dialogue and we can disagree respectfully.”

Of course black lives matter, “but all lives matter, beginning with the unborn,” she said, adding that she believed no other president had done as much as Trump for the pro-life cause.

“I’m here to say Mr. Trump has given us a voice for life,” she said. “He has stood for life and for the Constitution of the United States.”

But to those like her, Father Ejiogu said, he just wanted to say that “we’re simply here to pray and to call on our Blessed Mother of the church, the saints, to help us to heal so that we can recognize that black lives matter, white lives matter, Spanish lives matters, Asian lives matter, all lives, yes, but there are a few of those lives that seem to feel that they do not matter. That’s all we’re calling for.”

Darwin Kemp, a member of the Knights of Columbus in Washington, said he attended because, like, others, “people are sick and tired of the injustice.”

“We all have gone through some injustice for quite some time, including myself. I’ve been fighting for a long time, but I’ve been fighting individually,” he said.

Now it’s time to do so as group, he said, because racism needs to end.

“I hope that we all come together as one and be able to sit down, have a conversation, even if we agree to disagree, at least we’re having a conversation and actually getting some things done,” he said. “Get rid of racism. It’s been around too long.”

Sister Nancy Conboy, of the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement, said she attended in solidarity with others, but also to affirm church teachings that say that “as Catholics, we really believe in equality for all people and we thought it was important to come down and take part in this service.” “We really believe in the dignity of every person,” she said. “We just thought it was important to come down and show support and solidarity with our brothers and sisters. It’s true that all lives matter but I think in our country, we have a history of racism so that’s important that we recognize that.”

Though not everyone would agree with the event, said Father Ejiogu, he would continue to pray for unity on the issue within the church as well as outside of the church.

“I can’t tell God what to do but I can ask,” he said. “What I’m asking God with my friends, families and parishioners who are helping organize this, I’m praying to God to heal us. That’s all we can do is pray for healing and hopefully God will heed our petitions and answer, and our country may be much better than it is because simply sitting at home doing nothing just doesn’t cut it for me.”

Along with the hundreds of who joined the peaceful protest, which took a route from the White House fencing and ended at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, he chanted and prayed into the distance.

He said the images that most have given him hope, even in the midst of the tense protests, were of the young white, black, Asians, Latinos, “people of all colors coming out and peacefully protesting.”

“That’s the image that stood out for me,” he said.

And despite what others may say of the protesters, he wanted to portray the Catholic angle of it, “speaking truth to power and doing it in a more prayerful way,” he said.

Also see:

Archbishop Lori offers invocation at ‘Protest with a Purpose’

Baltimore faith leaders call for peace and unity

Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori offered the invocation before a “Protest with a Purpose” outside the U.S. District Court for Maryland in Baltimore June 8.

The event came two weeks to the day after the death of George Floyd on videotape while a Minneapolis policeman kneeled on his neck. It evoked the 2015 death, while in custody of Baltimore City police, of Freddie Gray Jr.

The archbishop prayed for the Holy Spirit to consume racism and the conditions that led to the deaths of Floyd, Gray, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and others around the nation.

The violent aftermath that followed Gray’s death contributed to a federal consent decree calling for extensive reform of the city’s police department.

The archbishop spoke at the invitation of Ray Kelly, the lead community liaison for that Consent Decree Monitoring Team, a parish leader at St. Peter Claver/St. Pius V in Sandtown, and, in January, the inaugural recipient of the archdiocese’s Faith in Baltimore Award.

“We chose this site, outside the federal courthouse, where officials are overseeing the consent decree,” Kelly said. “We have a conduit. The court is serious about getting this done. Change only comes when the policies and laws change.”

A number of speakers addressed police brutality and racism. They included Erricka Bridgeford, who organizes Baltimore’s “Ceasefire” weekends; Rabbi Daniel Burg of Beth Am Synagogue; and Zainab Chaudry, director of Maryland Outreach for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Organized by the Citizens Policing Project, the protest lasted several hours and highlighted 14 steps that would lead to Baltimore residents being “policed equitably and effectively.”

Those steps range from fully implementing the consent decree to increasing transparency ending state control over the city police department.

“We have a majority white state dictating terms to a majority black city,” Kelly said. “Do we need a better example of systemic oppression?”

The measures include reinstating “relationship-building,” such as the Police Athletic Centers for youths that were once part of Baltimore’s fabric. William J. McCarthy Jr., executive director of Catholic Charities of Baltimore, spoke to that latter point, emphasizing encounters among police and the populace that are non- confrontational.

The crowd included Josephite Father Ray Bomberger, Kelly’s pastor at St. Peter Claver/St. Pius V. Father Bomberger is also pastor of St. Gregory the Great in West Baltimore.

Also see:

Baltimore faith leaders call for peace and unity

Email Paul McMullen at [email protected]

A message from Archbishop Lori

June 5, 2020

Dear Friends in Christ, I write to share with you important news about immediate steps the Archdiocese of Baltimore will be taking as we grapple with the deep anguish and racial tension we are currently witnessing locally and throughout our country. While these steps were being planned prior to the COVID-19 epidemic, the current crisis our country faces in the wake of the killing of George Floyd urgently demands that we move forward with these initiatives as quickly as possible.

Effective immediately, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs. Sherita Thomas as the new interim director for the Office of Black Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Sherita currently works for T. Rowe Price and is the former chairwoman of the archdiocesan Black Catholic Ministries board. She is the Global Associate Engagement Manager at T. Rowe Price where her experience includes key roles with the T. Rowe Price Foundation, Diversity and Inclusion, and Global Client and Investment departments. She recently completed her term as president of St. Agnes Home School Association and grew up attending St. Edward’s parish. She is currently a member of New All Saints Catholic Church.

Also effective immediately, the Archdiocese has retained the assistance of a team of consultants from the Udarta Consulting firm, who will work with Mrs. Thomas to implement the recommendations outlined in my second pastoral reflection on racism, “The Journey to Racial Justice: Repentance, Healing and Action.” The consultants include:

Howard Ross, a nationally recognized expert on diversity and inclusion with significant experience in working in community-wide initiatives. John T. Butler, whose experience includes decades of ministry in the Catholic Church and national consultation on organizational and leadership development, diversity and inclusion. Dominic Perri, who has also worked extensively with national, diocesan and local Catholic institutions, and who brings a rich background in conducting interviews, focus groups and surveys that will be a key part of the listening necessary for this initiative.

We are grateful for the unique combination of experience and expertise these four people bring to this initiative. They will partner with the existing Archdiocesan Racism Workgroup comprised of members from throughout our local Church and community to help us read the signs of the times and listen deeply to our local and national needs. Informed by the diverse voices of our community, they will identify the Concrete Actions from the pastoral letter we can take to bring to life, such as:

Organizing training and resources for conducting forums throughout our institutions to discuss and address the issue of racism; Examining the diversity of our institutions, including archdiocesan leadership, formation programs, clergy, parishes, schools and social service programs, and enhance efforts to further diversify our institutions where needed; Identifying and training leaders who represent the diverse racial and ethnic background of our local church and community; and Strengthening existing efforts to attract new members of the church and candidates for priesthood and religious life from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.

In my homily for Pentecost Sunday, I asked the Holy Spirit to shake the foundation of our houses – “to shake us out of complacency over the pandemic of racism and to fill us with fiery determination to defeat this heresy and sin, and to do so with the truth and love of Christ, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”

May these efforts we begin today move us forward in new and sustained efforts to step forward on this sorely needed journey. Let us in a special way invoke the intercession of our beloved Mother Mary Lange that our journey together will bring us closer to the justice, unity, reconciliation and peace for which our hearts long.

Faithfully Yours in Christ,

Most Reverend William E. Lori

Archbishop of Baltimore

To watch a video of a prayer service for peace, justice and healing, held June 3 at St. Vincent de Paul in Baltimore and attended by many Baltimore faith leaders of a variety of religious traditions, click here.

Knights ask Catholics to pray novena for national unity, end to racism

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CNS) — The Knights of Columbus called on the nation’s Catholics to participate in a novena beginning June 7 to pray for national unity and an end to racism amid the unrest following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

“We ask all people to come together in solidarity to forge a path forward — free of discrimination and hate — for our nation,” said Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson. “The Knights join Pope Francis in urging all to express their anger and cries for justice in nonviolent ways to end the sin of racism.”

June 7 is Trinity Sunday, which the Knights chose as the start of the novena “because of its inherent theme of unity,” said a June 3 news release. A “Prayer to the Most Holy Trinity” for the novena can be found at www.kofc.org/en/resources/communications/national-unity-novena.pdf. The last day of the novena is June 15.

The novena prayer asks God “to bring together in your love all whom hatred and racism have separated.”

“We must show love for one another, praying that all people come to understand that injustice to any black person is injustice to all persons and that all of us, regardless of our differences, are children of God made in his image and likeness,” Anderson said.

For the Knights’ 2 million members worldwide and their families, “this understanding starts with prayer.”

“May we pray for the strength to learn from the courageous example of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and from the leadership of our Holy Father, and to continue to work to build a society that recognizes the dignity and brotherhood of all,” he added.

According to the Knights, since its founding in 1882 by Father Michael J. McGivney, the Catholic fraternal organization “has been open to all races and nationalities.” In World War I, it was the only organization to run integrated facilities.

In the 1920s, the Knights commissioned a black history by W.E.B. Dubois, an influential African American sociologist, historian, educator and rights activist during the early 20th century, while it also was “openly opposing the racial and religious intolerance of the Ku Klux Klan,” the news release said.

On May 27, the Vatican announced Pope Francis had approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Father McGivney, clearing the way for his beatification. It did not announce a date for the beatification ceremony.

The sainthood cause of Father McGivney (1852-1890), was formally opened in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1997, and he was given the title “servant of God.” In March 2008, the Catholic Church recognized the priest heroically lived the Christian virtues and gave him the title of “venerable.”

Baltimore faith leaders call for peace and unity

Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori joined faith leaders from across the city June 3 to pray for peace and healing after more than a week of nationwide protests and unrest in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers. Despite the coronavirus pandemic keeping most Marylanders inside their homes, about 250 masked people filled the park outside St. Vincent de Paul Church in the heart of downtown near Baltimore Police Headquarters and City Hall. The event was also livestreamed on Facebook, where it was viewed more than 7,900 times.

A group of Lutheran parishioners held banners reading “Racism is a Sin” and “Thoughts and Prayers and Action.” Catholic priests such as Father Joshua Laws, pastor of the Catholic Community of South Baltimore, held homemade protests signs. His read, “Black Lives Matter.”

“The spectacle of the killing of George Floyd that outraged the country once again has shaken us from the mount behind the walls where we so readily hide,” Archbishop Lori said as he opened the service. “But we are confronted with the ongoing suffering of people of color who suffer from the sin of racism.

“We felt compelled to come together in this moment, compelled to come together with our elected officials, our civic leaders and members of our congregation simply to pray.”

Faith leaders from Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities attended the service along with local leaders, including Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison, U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes and City Councilman Eric Costello.

“Certainly, we are in tough times, tumultuous times, and much, if not most, of what we are feeling is because of law enforcement,” Harrison said. “It is our duty and our responsibility to be proactive, to bring about change. And so we are certainly happy to be a part of an interfaith prayer service, because prayer is the thing that gives us hope that we can get better, that we can heal, and that we can change.”

The faith leaders and community members offered nine prayers to symbolize the nearly nine minutes Floyd suffered as Officer Derek Chauvin restrained him by putting his knee against Floyd’s neck, cutting off his breathing.

Darlene Cain, whose son was killed by a Baltimore City police officer, offered a prayer for Floyd, urging healing between the police and the community. “We’re here for the hurt that we feel for George Floyd. We are here hurting, God, our families, our children,” Cain prayed. “For all that’s gone on, all the video that’s gone viral. God help us. God help us to believe that we’re going to be alright again one day.”

Ray Kelly, a parishioner of St. Peter Claver in West Baltimore and director of the Citizens Policing Project, offered a prayer for the city and called for the just treatment of all.

“As I pray for our city and our residents, I hope this demonstration and service today is also a reminder that we have strength, we’ve walked this path before and we are enduring this type of situation with the utmost legitimacy,” he said.

The service ended with a solemn nine minutes of silence interrupted every minute by the sound of a single bell tolling. Many who attended bowed their heads and kneeled.

Floyd’s death was recorded by bystanders and the video has been viewed around the world by millions. Bystanders repeatedly pleaded with the officers that Floyd was struggling to breathe and Floyd himself can be heard on the video begging for help.

Police officers said Floyd appeared to be visibly drunk and had used a counterfeit $20 earlier in the day. An autopsy commissioned by his family found that Floyd died of asphyxiation. However, the medical examiner determined the cause of death as cardiopulmonary arrest or heart failure.

Chauvin has been fired and charged with second-degree murder. Three officers – Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, – were also fired and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

However, Chauvin was not charged for several days and he initially faced a lesser charge of third-degree murder. The other officers were charged June 3 – more than a week after Floyd’s death. Those delays – along with years of similar in-custody deaths of black people at the hands of police officers – helped fuel the nationwide protests that have grown to include almost every major U.S. city.

During the mass protests, a police station was set on fire in Minneapolis and stores have been looted in cities across the country, drawing condemnation from President Donald Trump and other conservative leaders. Protest organizers argue that the looters were opportunistic criminals and outside agitators. They represent a small minority compared to the millions of people demonstrating peacefully, organizers said.

Protesters have been calling for an end to the police brutality that disproportionately targets people of color. A recent Washington Post analysis found that black people are twice as likely as white people to die at the hands of police despite being only 13 percent of the population. Protesters have also urged Americans to address issues of systemic racism that can affect access to quality healthcare, housing, education and employment.

While Baltimore experienced widespread unrest and destruction of property after the in-custody death of Freddie Gray in 2015, the current demonstrations in the city have largely been peaceful.

Indeed, when a group of protestors marched past St. Vincent de Paul Church and Baltimore Police Headquarters chanting “No Justice. No Peace” people at the prayer service applauded and cheered.

“We are the protesters,” said the Rev. Brenda White, the pastor of Allen AME Church in West Baltimore, who attended the service. “This is where we decide that we are going to represent Christ and love to protest the status quo. Who would be indifferent? So the mere fact that we are here, it is a protest against evil.”

And she had some encouragement for protestors as the demonstrations continued.

“Do it with grit and grace. Be determined to be resilient and show the shape of God’s law and God’s compassion for this world,” Rev. White said.

Email Tim Swift at [email protected]

After ‘taking a knee,’ border bishop gets a call from the pope

WASHINGTON (CNS) — It’s called “taking a knee,” and many professional athletes around the country have made the gesture publicly to protest police brutality.

Lately, even police officers showing solidarity have kneeled around the country before those protesting the May 25 killing of George Floyd, who died after being filmed pinned to the ground with a knee to his neck, constrained by a police officer in Minneapolis.

Until June 1, no Catholic bishop had publicly participated in the gesture but that day, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, became the first. Surrounded by priests from his diocese who also kneeled with him and holding a “Black Lives Matter” sign, he put both knees on the grass at El Paso’s Memorial Park, where a protest had taken place a day earlier and closed his eyes.

Was he nervous?

“Oh, yeah,” he said in a June 3 interview with Catholic News Service. “It’s difficult to know what a bishop should do. But I’ve had some excellent advisers, people and priests. I tried to listen to them, listened to my heart. Sometimes, you just have to take the leap into the unknown.”

The photo of him kneeling went around the world via Twitter and ended up on an Italian website for the Diocese of Rome. Perhaps it was there that his boss, Pope Francis, saw it.

On June 3, shortly after the bishop finished with his daily Mass in El Paso, the pontiff gave him a ring.

“I answered and a voice said in English that he was the Holy Father’s secretary,” Bishop Seitz said. “The Holy Father would like to speak with me. Would I like to speak in Italian or Spanish?”

He chose Spanish.

“The Holy Father said that he wanted to congratulate me for the words I am saying. He also called Archbishop (Jose H.) Gomez (of Los Angeles),” Bishop Seitz said, recalling the phone call. “I told him I felt it was very important at this time to show our solidarity to those who are suffering. I told him I had just come from Mass at which I was praying for him and I always do. He thanked me and said that whenever we celebrate Mass, we are praying together, he where he is and me at the border. I told him that I am very honored to serve here.”

The phone calls to prelates in the U.S. shows “that the Holy Father is aware of what’s happening in this country and is anxious for the church to be responsive in a pastoral way to participate in the response, in solidarity with those who have experienced racial discrimination,” he said.

In a public statement released June 4 on the killing of Floyd, he reflected of an image he saw on video of “a young white woman at a protest near the White House who put her body in front of a young kneeling black teenager as police officers in riot gear approached.”

“As Jesus said, ‘No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,'” he wrote. “It’s a scene of solidarity and self-giving that has played out across the country so many times in the last week. Here in El Paso there were two young police officers who knelt down with protesters here during our protest and it helped diffuse some tension. There is something profoundly eucharistic about that and I’m so inspired by our young people. They are teaching us something.”

Last year, Bishop Seitz wrote a pastoral letter on racism, weeks after an Aug. 3 shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, a violent and bloody event that authorities believe targeted Latinos. Up until the pandemic, he regularly visited survivors of the shooting in the hospital and ministered to families who lost loved ones in the event he calls “la matanza,” which means “the slaughter” in Spanish.

Guillermo Garcia, 36, the last patient in the hospital because of the mass shooting, someone whom Bishop Seitz visited, died April 27, bringing the death toll of the deadly incident to 23.

“That ‘matanza,’ that event opened my eyes to the presence of people whose thought patterns are very influenced by racially prejudicial ways of thinking and that it’s not just a benign kind of problem in our country but a problem that can lead to death,” he told CNS. “So, it gave me a new sense of this, that this isn’t an abstract kind of issue. It’ s an issue that has a tremendous impact on people’s lives. And it’s not just physical harm that comes to them but also to the ability of their potential.”

He said that for people to reach their potential as God intended, they also need to be seen as God sees them, but when others look at them with distrust, without the goodness that God sees in them, it’s also hard for the person to see him or herself that way and “I think that’s one of the subtle but extremely important ways that this systematic prejudice influences people,” he said.

So, he felt it was important to show solidarity.

“The pope, from day one, has called the church to be a field hospital. If there were ever a time, with COVID and the killing of George Floyd, for the church to be there in solidarity and support of people, this is it,” he said. “We need to show our love and compassion and respond to the call to peaceful actions, giving them the support they need. Action can be strong for fundamental things … to be looked at and changed.”

When he kneeled, when he took part in “taking a knee,” it was taking part in what he said was something akin to the liturgy.

“I taught liturgy in seminary. In good liturgy, our faith is brought to life. I think what we’ve seen play out over the last couple days is maybe a little bit like liturgy,” he said in his statement. “I think that sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that Christianity is a dead letter religion. That it’s about things that happened a long time ago or about words on a page. “But every day at Mass, when I kneel before Jesus in the Eucharist, I’m reminded that he is alive and present. That Christianity is an event happening right now. The drama of salvation is something playing out every day. And we all have a role to play.”

Josephites mourn loss of priests to virus, express sorrow over Floyd death

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, who was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis as a white officer knelt on his neck for an extended time, drew sorrow and anger across the United States, spawning nationwide protests against police brutality and societal racism in its wake.

That sorrow was felt acutely by members of the Baltimore-based Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic religious society of priests and brothers that since 1871 has served the African-American community with pastoral and sacramental ministry, educational and charitable outreach, and by working for social justice.

After Floyd’s murder, Bishop John H. Ricard, the Josephites’ superior general and a former auxiliary bishop of Baltimore, issued a statement saying, “The Josephites look with horror and disbelief at the killing once more of a black man by the police in Minneapolis this week. This is but another tragic and sad reminder of the legacy of America’s original sin of slavery and its aftermath, the continued violence against people of color.”

In that statement, Bishop Ricard also said, “We must not slack in our vigilance to address the neglect of American society toward African Americans, which is glaringly evident during this pandemic in the differences in health care, employment, housing and education.”

“For over a century, the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart has dedicated itself toward the needs of African Americans,” he said, “especially to those of the spirit and the soul, deeply wounded by racism and racial prejudice and to shoulder with them in procuring justice and solidarity and will continue to do so until this land lives up its creed that all are created free.”

But for Bishop Ricard and the other Josephites, their shared sorrow over a national tragedy would be followed that week by personal sorrow over the death of two brother Josephite priests from COVID-19, Josephite Father Frank Martin Hull and Josephite Father Joseph John McKinley, who both had lived at the Josephite Senior Residence in Washington.

And one week earlier, another longtime Josephite priest who lived there, Josephite Father Jeremiah Dermot Brady, died at age 96.

“It’s been quite a week,” said Bishop Ricard in a phone interview with the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Washington Archdiocese.

Josephite Father Paul Oberg, rector of the order’s retirement residence in the nation’s capital, confirmed that Father Hull and Father McKinley, who had underlying health issues, died from the coronavirus. The two priests died within hours of each other — Father Hull May 26 at age 96, and Father McKinley May 27 at the age of 83. The rector said Father Brady died of old age May 20.

The rector said another retired Josephite priest who had been living at the residence was diagnosed with COVID-19 and was in the hospital and recovering.

See related commentary: George Matysek remembers Father Hull

“These were good priests, and they had very productive ministry. They were good examples to me and to so many others who followed after them,” said Bishop Ricard, who is the retired bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida. He led the diocese from 1997 until his retirement from that post in 2011. Father Hull, a native of Philadelphia, served in the Army Air Corps during World War II and was ordained as a Josephite priest in 1957 in Washington.

During his 63 years as a Josephite priest, Father Hull taught at the order’s St. Augustine High School in New Orleans, was editor of the Josephite Harvest magazine for 14 years beginning in 1963, and served as a spiritual director and vice rector at St. Joseph Seminary and on the Josephite General Council as an area director.

He served in parishes in Houston and New Orleans, before serving in parishes in Washington and in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia. After retiring briefly in 2012, Father Hull served in parish ministry at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Washington when he was in his late 80s. In his 90s, he served as director of the Josephite Archives in Baltimore and then when the archives moved to Washington.

Father McKinley was a native of Kelayres, Pennsylvania, who made his first profession in the Josephite society in 1960 and was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Ricard in 1985 in Washington. Over the years, he served as a vice principal at St. Joseph Industrial School in Clayton, Delaware, and taught at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. He was a pastor in Mobile, Alabama, New Orleans and Washington. In the early 1970s, he served three years as assistant treasurer at the Josephites’ headquarters in Baltimore.

After his service as a pastor, Father McKinley worked for more than 20 years as a traveling Josephite, providing pastoral ministry at many parishes, substituting for sick Josephites, filling in for priests on vacation, and during transitions of priest assignments at parishes. During that time, he served people in 12 parishes in Louisiana, 11 parishes in Alabama, six parishes in Mississippi, and one parish in Washington and Texas. He retired in 2014 and moved to the Josephites’ Senior Residence in 2018.

Father Brady, a native of Cork, Ireland, was ordained as a Josephite priest in 1951 in Washington. His nearly seven decades of priestly service included serving in parishes in Baltimore and Washington, including St. Pius V and St. Peter Claver in West Baltimore before he joined the faculty at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. He was also the former rector of St. Joseph Manor in Baltimore. Later parish assignments took him to Delaware, Louisiana, Virginia and Alabama.

Also see:

Remembering Father Hull

Ugandan ordained a Josephite priest at the West Baltimore parish he served as deacon

‘Resilient faith:’ Josephites celebrate 125 years of ministry

Pope prays for U.S., calls racism a pro-life issue

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Observing with great concern the social unrest unfolding in the United States, Pope Francis said no one can claim to defend the sanctity of every human life while turning a blind eye to racism and exclusion.

Addressing all “dear brothers and sisters in the United States” during his livestreamed general audience June 3, the pope said, “Today I join the church in St. Paul and Minneapolis, and in the entire United States, in praying for the repose of the soul of George Floyd and of all those others who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism.”

“Let us pray for the consolation of their grieving families and friends and let us implore the national reconciliation and peace for which we yearn,” he said in Italian.

The pope said he has “witnessed with great concern the disturbing social unrest in your nation in these past days, following the tragic death of Mr. George Floyd,” a 46- year-old man, whose last moments of life were recorded on a widely disseminated video showing a white police officer in Minneapolis pushing down on his neck with his knee May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead.

“My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life. At the same time, we have to recognize that ‘the violence of recent nights is self-destructive and self- defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost,'” he said, quoting Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The pope prayed for the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America, to assist “all those who work for peace and justice in your land and throughout the world. May God bless all of you and your families.”

Hundreds of thousands of people turned out nationwide to protest Floyd’s death. And many of the country’s Catholic bishops joined the calls for justice.

Four officers from the Minneapolis Police Department were fired May 26, including Derek Chauvin, with whom Floyd pleaded “Please, I can’t breathe” as he held him down. Chauvin is facing third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges.