Is the Catholic Church in America racist?

[dconstruct]

The Church is the people. Some of the people are racist.

Is the whole responsible for the error of the individual?

The answer is no.

 

[Dale_M]

What does this have to do with the “one” Church? We don’t go to Church to celebrate cultures and traditions, we go to celebrate the mass. I understand the incentives behind these programs, I just find them counterproductive.

Ender, tonight I just happened to be flipping through a copy of Pope Benedict’s encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love). One passage which stuck in my mind is:

“Worship” itself, Eucharistic communion, includes the reality both of being loved and of loving others in turn. A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented.

Perhaps the programs which you mention offer an opportunity for both greater understanding and for reaching out in love. By appreciating what some people see as setting them apart, we are treating them with the respect and charity which we all desire and deserve.

I think it is possible to appreciate the differences among us without losing our sense of community. Highlighting cultural differences simply makes us more aware of what pulls us together.

I guess I see it sort of like a family. We should try to understand our brothers and sisters and appreciate that they have differences from ourselves. And in doing so, in learning about them and cherishing what they value, we grow stronger as a family.