Saint Mary of the Mount Church & Saint Adalbert Church
Some have wondered why a Catholic parish would focus on racial justice, wondering if we're veering "out of our lane" of the "spiritual" and inappropriately inserting ourselves into the realm of the political. It's a good question, and deserves a serious answer.
To put it simply, our parish (and our Catholic Church as a whole) must concern ourselves with racial justice because justice is something we are always called to by God, through our whole Judeo-Christian tradition, up to the present day. This extends from injunctions from the Biblical prophets ("And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God"), to Church leaders of every political persuasion (from Archbishop Chaput to Fr. Bryan Massingale, both of whom count racism as "America's original sin"), all the way through to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which calls racism an "intrinsic evil." The mandate to make racial justice a central focus came from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2018, when their ad hoc committee on racism manifested itself in a document for all the faithful, called Open Wide Our Hearts (see below, in "resources"). The murder of George Floyd this past May made the bishops' plea all the more tragically urgent.
Beyond the need to honor our Church's teaching on the dignity of all persons, we must focus on racial justice because real people within the Body of Christ are hurting, and we have no right to ignore their cry. In the Body of Christ, truly there is no "them" and "us." There is one "us" in the Body of Christ, and as Saint Paul proclaims to the Corinthians, "Whenever one member suffers, we all suffer with it; when one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it" (1 Cor 12:26). We bear witness to the suffering of our own members within the Body of Christ. We have no choice but to work to bind up Christ's broken body.
But how will we do that? Our parish strives to be a genuinely welcoming and diverse community, a place where people of all races and ethnicities can truly find welcome. We also acknowledge that this is not yet always the case.
Our racial justice work right now is threefold:
We invite you to use this page as a place to get involved with our parish's efforts toward racial justice, learn about upcoming events in the larger Pittsburgh community, and grow in your understanding of the Catholic Church's place and teaching within it all.
Beginning the week of Jan 17 (MLK Day), we will embark on a six-week series of prayer, education, listening and acting regarding racial justice. Small Discipleship Groups for Racial Justice are like other small discipleship groups insofar as they create space for closer encounter with Christ, community, and Scripture. Small Discipleship Groups for Racial Justice have the added dimension of challenging us beyond our perceptions, and often beyond our comfort level, in order to give us the tools to live more justly as the Body of Christ. All groups will meet on Zoom. This time around, in addition to our reflections on Scripture, we will also use Knowing Christ Crucified: The Witness of African-American Religious Experience by M. Shawn Copeland to guide our discussions.
There are three group options:
For more information, or to register for a group, please contact Holly Mohr at hmohr@maryqueenofpeacepgh.org.
For information on our Haiti mission, Partners in Progress - Click here
Toward a Catholic Understanding of "Black Lives Matter" - Fr. Matthew Hawkins - Click here
On African-American Spirituality-Fr. Matthew Hawkins: https://pittsburghcatholic.org/2021/02/12/fr-hawkins-african-american-spirituality-enriches-catholics/
United States Conference of Cathoic Bishops Statement of U.S. Bishop Chairmen in Wake of Death of George Floyd and National Protests- For the Join Committees' statement - Click here
Bishop Zubik Calls for Calm and Addressing Racism -For his Bishop Zubik's statement - Click Here
Bishop Zubik Calls for Racial Healing - Click Here
For USCCB Document Open Wide our Hearts Summary and Call to Action - The Call to Address Racism in Our Hearts and Communities- Click here
America Magazine - To fight racism, Catholics must hunger for Justice like we do for the Eucharist - Click Here
Pax Christi Anti-Racism Resources - Click Here
For more information please - Click here
In the wake of recent violence against people of color, many in our faith communities want to learn more: more about how we got to this place as a nation, more about our own biases, more about how to take positive action as members of the Body of Christ. Please join Dr. Jane Schuchert Walsh, parishioner and professor of sociology at Clarion University, as she leads us through safe and constructive discussion on these very topics.
To view the Flyer - Click Here
We all have it: assumptions that affect our choices without our being aware of it. Sometimes these biases keep us from making the choices we want to make for kindness, love and justice. As the People of God, we strive to have our thoughts and actions reflect the dignity of each person. Led by DBA Solutions, founded and facilitated by Cristyn Zett (a Pittsburgh police officer and member of our parish grouping) and partners.
For More information and to view the flyer - Click here
A Zoom book discussion on the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson. “Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and acclaimed author Isabel Wilkerson” explores racism “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, as a key illustration of the way that, beyond the specific categorizations of race or class, this process of creating artificial hierarchies can work to subjugate people in any culture.” (The Guardian)