It is time to "speak the truth to the people. " 16 It is tinle for the history of the darker peoples of the Catholic church to be set forth so that all can learn,not only of the dark days of colonization and enslavelnent, but also of the days of civilizatiol1s ancient and renowned throughout the world. Instead of
others' stories, we must learn of and share our stories so that we see ourselves
as a new people empowered by our knowledge to take our rightful place in
the ranks of peoples of the world. Pope PauI VI noted when in Africa that
we, as Africans and people of African descent, "are now missionaries to"
ourselves, stating further that "You must now give your gifts of Blackness to
the whole Church," 17 a sentiment reaffi.rmed by John Paul II in his meeting
with black Catholics in 1987.
We must learn of ourselves and then share that knowledge with others.
"We have come this far by faith," in the words of our gospel heritage, and we
wiU and lnust continue to explore and uncover the truth of our past so that
we may move forward into the future.
African American Catholìcs have retained, despite the strai11s of slavery,
segregation, discrüni11ation, womens sandals and second-class citizenship, a steadfast faith in
God. Remaining unseduced by the distortions of Christianity force-fed them
during slaver they have always believed in a God who saved, one who was 011
the side of the poor and oppressed, like them.
As the church fìnally opens itself to the contributions of peoples of every
race and ethnicity, it must also expand its understanding and expression of
God and esus Christ . This correlates with our understanding of the incarnation
of esus Christ . If God became incarnate in a hUlnan being a male,
a jew taking on all the charact eristics and appearances of that humanity,
so lnust the church, expressive of Christ's body, incarnate itself today in the
peoples and cultures with whon1 it has COlne in contact. This is not optional;
it is mandated .
There is "plenty good room" in God 's kingdOln. We must only choose
our seats and sit down. As African An1erican Catholics, however, we must
ensure not only that we are doing the choosing, but that the seats actually fit
us because we have parti cipat ed fully in their construction and placement at
the center, not the periphery, of our church.
As black Catholics, we are full members of the Catholic cOlnmuniol1.
We have struggled for a long time, but the journey is nearing its end. As we
continue toward that end, we take as our mandate the words of the prophet
Isaiah: "They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shaIl
mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be wear只th ey shall
walk and not faint" (Isa 40:31). Our faith has not faltered and our spirit has
been renewed.
others' stories, we must learn of and share our stories so that we see ourselves
as a new people empowered by our knowledge to take our rightful place in
the ranks of peoples of the world. Pope PauI VI noted when in Africa that
we, as Africans and people of African descent, "are now missionaries to"
ourselves, stating further that "You must now give your gifts of Blackness to
the whole Church," 17 a sentiment reaffi.rmed by John Paul II in his meeting
with black Catholics in 1987.
We must learn of ourselves and then share that knowledge with others.
"We have come this far by faith," in the words of our gospel heritage, and we
wiU and lnust continue to explore and uncover the truth of our past so that
we may move forward into the future.
African American Catholìcs have retained, despite the strai11s of slavery,
segregation, discrüni11ation, womens sandals and second-class citizenship, a steadfast faith in
God. Remaining unseduced by the distortions of Christianity force-fed them
during slaver they have always believed in a God who saved, one who was 011
the side of the poor and oppressed, like them.
As the church fìnally opens itself to the contributions of peoples of every
race and ethnicity, it must also expand its understanding and expression of
God and esus Christ . This correlates with our understanding of the incarnation
of esus Christ . If God became incarnate in a hUlnan being a male,
a jew taking on all the charact eristics and appearances of that humanity,
so lnust the church, expressive of Christ's body, incarnate itself today in the
peoples and cultures with whon1 it has COlne in contact. This is not optional;
it is mandated .
There is "plenty good room" in God 's kingdOln. We must only choose
our seats and sit down. As African An1erican Catholics, however, we must
ensure not only that we are doing the choosing, but that the seats actually fit
us because we have parti cipat ed fully in their construction and placement at
the center, not the periphery, of our church.
As black Catholics, we are full members of the Catholic cOlnmuniol1.
We have struggled for a long time, but the journey is nearing its end. As we
continue toward that end, we take as our mandate the words of the prophet
Isaiah: "They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shaIl
mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be wear只th ey shall
walk and not faint" (Isa 40:31). Our faith has not faltered and our spirit has
been renewed.
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