Highlights from “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love — A Pastoral Letter Against Racism,” published by the U.S. Catholic Bishops in 2018:
• We know that the one God who created the human race is triune, a communion of truth and love, and so by faith we recognize all the more clearly that human beings are, by their very nature, made for communion.
• Despite many promising strides made in our country, racism still infects our nation.
• Every racist act — every such comment, every joke, every disparaging look as a reaction to the color of skin, ethnicity, or place of origin — is a failure to acknowledge another person as a brother or sister, created in the image of God.
• Too often racism comes in the form of the sin of omission, when individuals, communities, and even churches remain silent and fail to act against racial injustice when it is encountered.
• For many of our fellow citizens, who have done nothing wrong, interactions with the police are often fraught with fear and even danger. At the same time, we reject harsh rhetoric that belittles and dehumanizes law enforcement personnel who labor to keep our communities safe.
• Consistently, African Americans have been branded, by individuals, society and even, at times, by members of the church, with the message that they are inferior.
• Acts of racism have been committed by leaders and members of the Catholic Church — by bishops, clergy, religious and laity — and her institutions. We express deep sorrow and regret for them.
• Taking concrete action should include advocating for equality in how laws are implemented and advocating for moral budgets that reduce barriers to economic well-being, appropriate health care, education, and training.
• We call on our religious education programs, Catholic schools and Catholic publishing companies to develop curricula relating to racism and reconciliation.
• We must never limit our understanding of God’s power to bring about the conversion of even those whose hearts appear completely frozen by the sin of racism.
• Christ heals all divisions, including those that are at the core of racism. It is through his cross that we learn the greatest lesson about love.
In a Sept. 4 talk livestreamed from his home chapel, Archbishop Alexander Sample reiterated his views on racial justice, Portland protests and police. Some readers misunderstood his past comments, and media presented his views without enough context, he said.

The archbishop first told viewers that racial injustice is real and should be decried. Black citizens, also Hispanics and other cultural groups, suffer from it, he explained, adding that he has witnessed racism firsthand.

“Some people just haven’t quite been converted of heart to recognize the equality and dignity of every human person,” the archbishop said. “We should call it out.”

He reminded viewers that the Catholic Church condemns racism and suggested that parishes study “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love — A Pastoral Letter Against Racism” published by the U.S. Catholic Bishops in 2018.

Second, the archbishop encouraged citizens to demonstrate and protest peacefully to make their voices heard on social evils like racism and abortion. But he condemned those who have inserted other agendas into the Portland protests. Some have acted violently with looting, attacks on property and recently even a murder.

“This is not a solution to the problems facing our country,” he said. “It only foments greater division, greater hatred, pitting us against each other. This is not the way of the Christian. It is not the way of Christ.”

Third, the archbishop offered backing for police. “I am a very strong supporter of those in law enforcement who dedicate their lives to protecting us,” he said. While some officers have done bad things, it is unfair to claim that all are bad or that the policing system is corrupt, the archbishop said.

There are people in all professions and walks of life who have done bad things yet we don’t criticize or demonize the whole group, said the archbishop, calling for a sense of fairness toward police.

“They walk out the door of their houses every day and kiss their families goodbye, and for many of them there is no guarantee they are coming home that night,” the archbishop said. “They do that for us.”

Reporting that the faithful from all points of the political spectrum have pressured him to take sides, the archbishop rejected the notion.

“My role as a shepherd is to unite and to hold us together and to call our attention to the things that really matter,” he said. “I will not align myself with anyone’s agenda. The church has her own agenda.”

He urged viewers to study and live out church social teaching.

“If we all lived by the principles of Catholic social teaching we wouldn’t be having these problems,” he said.



Chapel Chats with Archbishop Alexander Sample from Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon on Vimeo.