Given the news this morning, this needs to be said again.
From Pope John Paul II in 2001:
Every upright conscience cannot but decisively condemn any racism, no matter in what heart or place it is found.
Unfortunately it emerges in ever new and unexpected ways, offending and degrading the human family. Racism is a sin that constitutes a serious offense against God. The Second Vatican Council reminds us that “We cannot truly pray to God the Father of all if we treat any people in other than brotherly fashion, for all men are created in the image of God…. Therefore, the Church reproves, as foreign to the will of Christ, any discrimination against people or any persecution of them on the basis of their race, color, social condition or religion” (Nostra aetate, n. 5).
To oppose racism we must practice the culture of reciprocal acceptance, recognizing in every man and woman a brother or sister with whom we walk in solidarity and peace. There is need for a vast work of education to the values that exalt the dignity of the human person and safeguard his fundamental rights. The Church intends to continue her efforts in this area, and asks all believers to make their own responsible contribution of conversion of heart, sensitization and formation. First of all, prayer is necessary to achieve this.
Particularly, let us invoke Our Lady, so that everywhere the culture of dialogue, of acceptance, and of respect for every human being may be advanced.
I preached about this several years ago, and noted:
In 1979, the U.S. bishops released a prophetic letter, ‘Brothers and Sisters to Us.’
‘Racism,’ they wrote ‘is not merely one sin among many; it is a radical evil that divides the human family and denies the new creation of a redeemed world. To struggle against it demands an equally radical transformation, in our own minds and hearts as well as in the structure of our society.’
They added: ‘In order to find the strength to overcome the evil of racism, we must look to Christ. In Christ Jesus ‘there does not exist among you Jew or Greek, slave or freedom, male or female. All are one in Christ Jesus.’ As Pope John Paul II has said so clearly, ‘Our spirit is set in one direction, the only direction for our intellect, will and heart is — toward Christ our Redeemer.’’
