J
jmm08
Guest
I went through RCIA that finished Easter 2005.
I struggled with various issues when I tried to determine if the Roman Catholic Church was God’s Church.
And one of my issues was this – where was the Catholic Church during the dark years of slavery? Where was the Catholic Church in the Civil Rights movement? If these are your questions too, read on.
Today, I found out that there are more interesting stories. Today I learned more about the march across the bridge in Selma – 1965’s First Sunday of March to be called thereafter “Bloody Sunday”. There was significant Catholic involvement beginning years before that day. There was significant Catholic involvement on that day. And there was significant continuing Catholic involvement.
See www2.smcvt.edu/library/services/archives/sseandsisters.htm
and www2.smcvt.edu/library/services/archives/SSEandsisters4.htm#after and
home.earthlink.net/~sistersofselma/index.html
As early as 1950, a KKK sign was nailed to the door of Saint Elizabeth’s Church.
In 1965, Fr. Ouellet and others helped instruct the marchers in nonviolence and civil disobedience.
There were Catholic Priests and nuns directly involved in the 1965 March and there was practical Catholic support of demonstrators.
Sister Roberta Schmidt is featured in a civil rights documentary airing on PBS in honor of black history. The hour-long show, “Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for Change,” focuses on the first nuns who risked their lives and the disapproval of the church to march for voting rights for blacks. The film was partially funded by the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Communication Campaign.
Sister Schmidt, then 36 and going by her religious name, Sister Ernest Marie, was one of six nuns to join hundreds of activists determined to march again to the Selma courthouse and demand voting rights.
I hope replies to my post will help to educate me and others about the Catholic involvement in the American Civil Rights Movement.
I struggled with various issues when I tried to determine if the Roman Catholic Church was God’s Church.
And one of my issues was this – where was the Catholic Church during the dark years of slavery? Where was the Catholic Church in the Civil Rights movement? If these are your questions too, read on.
Today, I found out that there are more interesting stories. Today I learned more about the march across the bridge in Selma – 1965’s First Sunday of March to be called thereafter “Bloody Sunday”. There was significant Catholic involvement beginning years before that day. There was significant Catholic involvement on that day. And there was significant continuing Catholic involvement.
See www2.smcvt.edu/library/services/archives/sseandsisters.htm
and www2.smcvt.edu/library/services/archives/SSEandsisters4.htm#after and
home.earthlink.net/~sistersofselma/index.html
As early as 1950, a KKK sign was nailed to the door of Saint Elizabeth’s Church.
In 1965, Fr. Ouellet and others helped instruct the marchers in nonviolence and civil disobedience.
There were Catholic Priests and nuns directly involved in the 1965 March and there was practical Catholic support of demonstrators.
Sister Roberta Schmidt is featured in a civil rights documentary airing on PBS in honor of black history. The hour-long show, “Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for Change,” focuses on the first nuns who risked their lives and the disapproval of the church to march for voting rights for blacks. The film was partially funded by the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Communication Campaign.
Sister Schmidt, then 36 and going by her religious name, Sister Ernest Marie, was one of six nuns to join hundreds of activists determined to march again to the Selma courthouse and demand voting rights.
I hope replies to my post will help to educate me and others about the Catholic involvement in the American Civil Rights Movement.