Bishops Dolan and Clark, who headed the CCC Task Force, counseled the task force that the first “Action” steps should be prayer, listening, self reflection and more listening. These are steps which not only guided our Task Force, but also will be applicable to parish and school settings, as well as Deanery and Presbyteral meetings. This first phase of action should lead to an identification and acceptance of the presence of racism in one’s own heart and in the policies and practices of our institutions. Having recognized the sin of racism in our lives and church structures, we will need to repent, ask forgiveness, and do what is necessary to seek reconciliation and the elimination of the sin of racism from our midst. These are the traditional steps in Catholic theology for confronting any sin. At the heart of this action is our belief in divine love for every human being.
Passing laws may curtail bad behavior.
Education in values can challenge one’s thinking.
Only love exemplified in real lives can channel the Grace necessary to change hearts, and, racism will finally be eliminated only through hearts changed by love.
We have learned from Scripture and from American history that God-like love can conquer this sin. We Catholics are meant to be the Good Samaritan who set aside all personal interests to stand in solidarity with a man he did not know, a man he had not harmed, a man to whom he legally owed nothing
Already, there are parishes and schools who have volunteered to become “Pilot Parishes” and “Pilot Schools in 2022-23. They, with their pastors and principals are listed on pg. 26 of this booklet. The plan is for there to be at least one Pilot Parish and one Pilot School in each Deanery by the year 2023-24. By 2024-25, the goal is to have at least two Pilot Parishes and two Pilot Schools per Deanery.
While all communities can learn from these Pilots, not every parish nor school needs to become a Pilot. Each Parish and School however, is expected to have a racial ministry team in place by June 30, 2023. This team will be responsible for creating a Plan to promote racial justice and harmony in their respective schools and parishes.
Our thinking is that, with mustard seeds already planted and growing in a small number of parishes and schools, their successes and failures can be shared and disseminated to other schools and parishes. The Task Force concludes that this is not a specialty ministry for some parishes/schools, but that it is an essential ministry meant to progress from community to community until “All are One.”
On September 26, 2022, the priests and bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, during their annual gathering at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, received the resource books linked below and began to unpack and understand the action plan developed by the Racism Task Force and presented to the presbyterate by Archbishop Gomez. While the instructions and resources were written for priests and bishops, they may prove useful to all in parish ministry in the work of addressing racism.