EXCERPTS FROM CHURCH DOCUMENTS

Brothers and Sisters to Us (#31-32) All too often the Church in our country has been for many a “white Church,” a racist institution…Each of us as Catholics must acknowledge a share in the mistakes and sins of the past. [p. 141 in textbook]

From Tertio Millennio Adveniente, John Paul II … the Church should become more fully conscious of the sinfulness of her children, recalling all those times in history when they departed from the spirit of Christ and his Gospel and, instead of offering to the world the witness of a life inspired by the values of faith, indulged in ways of thinking and acting which were truly forms of counter-witness and scandal.

Prayer from the Jubilee Mass, March 12, 2000 "At times, however, the equality of your sons and daughters has not been acknowledged, and Christians have been guilty of attitudes of rejection and exclusion, consenting to acts of discrimination on the basis of racial and ethnic difference. Forgive us and grant us the grace to heal the wounds still present in your community on account of sin,"

John Paul II, Message for World Day of Peace 1997 "No process of peace can ever begin unless an attitude of sincere forgiveness takes root in human hearts. When such forgiveness is lacking, wounds continue to fester, fuelling in the younger generation endless resentment, producing a desire for revenge and causing fresh destruction"

THE CHURCH AND RACISM, #11 As an act of gratuitous love, forgiveness has its own demands: the evil which has been done must be acknowledged and, as far as possible, corrected. The primary demand is therefore respect for truth. Lying, untrustworthiness, corruption, and ideological or political manipulation make it impossible to restore peaceful social relations.