The Catholic Church and The Civil Rights Movement

[Mike5575]

Hello People,

I often hear this rumor that Bleeding Heart Liberals where mainly responsible for the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s and you barely heard a peak from Conservatives. I feel I am awfully ignorant of this subject, although I do know that JFK was obviously a Catholic, and Martin Luther King Jr. was a Christian Preacher. Just curious what role religious conservatives, and the Catholic Church had in this era and what about Priests that denied communion to blacks? Does anyone have any books they could refer me to?

Thank you, and god bless.

 

[autdrew]

More democrats voted against the civil right bill in both the house & senate. By quite a bit. MLK was a republican until his death. The title might be off putting though.
I saw this yesterday on this topic facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dz5YfMzQtb1Y&h=4085eU1BBTIN9KLo_2-_PbVpKpw
I have seen many pictures of the marches & protests over the years. There were always priests & sisters in them. Much like abolition movements started in Christian churches, so too the Civil Rights movement. Not all of them of course, some tried using the Bible to promote inequality.
Im afraid I havent heard of priests denying communion to black people. There are some very old Catholic communities in the south that have been historically black. The Sisters of the Holy Family come to mind. I just read about them last night. I wish I had a book to offer on this. I read it in the USCCB Catechism for Adults

 

[Dale_M]

I can’t recommend any books, but the Catholic University of America has an online. history of the American Catholic experience.
libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/packets.html

Here is the relevant paragraph from the page on the Civil Rights Movement.

Catholic support for the civil rights movement was weak in the late 1950s, and only increased slowly in the early 1960s. The American Catholic Church tended to be ambivalent in its support for integration: the bishops generally supported the ideals of equality and racial justice, but were hesitant to take any steps to implement integration in their dioceses. The laity, on the other handed, especially in the South, tended to favor continued segregation. In the years following the Montgomery bus boycott, however, white Catholics began taking a genuine interest in issues of racial and economic justice. With the major changes in Catholic cultural and institutional norms that were mandated by the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, white Catholics in general and professed religious in particular became much more deeply involved in political activism and racial apostolates. While the Catholic Church as an institution never played a leading role in the civil rights movement, those black and white Catholics who participated in demonstrations and spoke out concerning Catholic social teachings helped promote the cause of equality.

libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/PFP/PFP_civil.html

BTW, President Kennedy was uneasy about the civil rights movement, and tried hard not to take a stand. He, and his brother Robert, kept Martin Luther King at arm’s length from them. You can learn more about this in Taylor Branch’s superb book “Parting the Waters : America in the King Years 1954-63.” This book won both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award.

Here is a the Amazon page for it:
amazon.com/Parting-Waters-America-Years-1954-63/dp/0671687425/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276918356&sr=8-3

 

[VetA]

Hello People,

I often hear this rumor that Bleeding Heart Liberals where mainly responsible for the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s and you barely heard a peak from Conservatives. I feel I am awfully ignorant of this subject, although I do know that JFK was obviously a Catholic, and Martin Luther King Jr. was a Christian Preacher. Just curious what role religious conservatives, and the Catholic Church had in this era and what about Priests that denied communion to blacks? Does anyone have any books they could refer me to?

Thank you, and god bless.

During the civil moovement the Archbishop of New Orleans (Abp. Hannan at that time) was the first to desegregate schools in the Greater New Orleans Area (GNOA). He also said that the superintendents of the Parish (County, but we call them Parishes) School Systems had to also desegregate their schools too, the Superintendent of St. Bernard Parish (and a few of his staff too) said that he wold never do it, App. Hannan excommunicated the Super. and his staff for not doing what he was told…

 

[Jermosh]

I am willing to bet that its a urban myth that priests refused communion to blacks. There have been black bishops and parishioners since the beginning of the Church, the Ethiopian Church is mostly black as well. Catholicism became the #1 European Faith in the Americas for a few reasons, religious orders treated them as equals, allowed them to keep some of their traditions, and St Mary was very attractive to most tribes which were less patriarchal then puritan faiths were.

 

[jvalenti56]

The Catholic Church and the Civil Rights Movement
encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1086

Coservatives were a big part of the problem during the Civil Rights Movement. They only reluctantly moved forward on the issue after many commited, loyal and Christian Catholics took the lead. I am proud of everyone who courageously spoke up and took a stand during this most difficult time.

Hello People,

I often hear this rumor that Bleeding Heart Liberals where mainly responsible for the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s and you barely heard a peak from Conservatives. I feel I am awfully ignorant of this subject, although I do know that JFK was obviously a Catholic, and Martin Luther King Jr. was a Christian Preacher. Just curious what role religious conservatives, and the Catholic Church had in this era and what about Priests that denied communion to blacks? Does anyone have any books they could refer me to?

Thank you, and god bless.

 

[jvalenti56]

Always “capatalize” the name God please.

Hello People,

I often hear this rumor that Bleeding Heart Liberals where mainly responsible for the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s and you barely heard a peak from Conservatives. I feel I am awfully ignorant of this subject, although I do know that JFK was obviously a Catholic, and Martin Luther King Jr. was a Christian Preacher. Just curious what role religious conservatives, and the Catholic Church had in this era and what about Priests that denied communion to blacks? Does anyone have any books they could refer me to?

Thank you, and god bless.