The Church doesn't oppose racism much.

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LaramieHirsch

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Yes, that’s right. You heard me.

The Catholic Church of Jesus Christ does not oppose racism…much.

But it does…some.

The problem is, I don’t know where.

I’m looking for official infallible pronouncements on the subject of racism, and race-mixing in particular.

Catechism, Bible–you name it. I’m looking for official opposition to racism and miscegenation laws. I’ve combed the internet a bit in the last few days, and was taken aback that there’s not too many official discussions about it. Sure, there may have been priests here and there who worked to fight racism. But what about official stances of the Church Herself?

I have found that most of the logic on racism has to be deducted with reason after doing a bit of broad reading. There’s not one single commandment or paragraph in the Catechism that speaks out against it. At least, I don’t think there is.

But if there is, where? I’m looking.
 
1935 The equality of men rests essentially on their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it:

Every form of social or cultural discrimination in fundamental personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language, or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God’s design.40
 
LaramieHirsch said:
Yes, that’s right. You heard me.

The Catholic Church of Jesus Christ does not oppose racism…much.

But it does…some.

The problem is, I don’t know where.

I’m looking for official infallible pronouncements on the subject of racism, and race-mixing in particular.

Catechism, Bible–you name it. I’m looking for official opposition to racism and miscegenation laws. I’ve combed the internet a bit in the last few days, and was taken aback that there’s not too many official discussions about it. Sure, there may have been priests here and there who worked to fight racism. But what about official stances of the Church Herself?

I have found that most of the logic on racism has to be deducted with reason after doing a bit of broad reading. There’s not one single commandment or paragraph in the Catechism that speaks out against it. At least, I don’t think there is.

But if there is, where? I’m looking.
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A bit of advice. Never start a topic/thread with an assumption.

Best,
Ed
 
Well, in Lk 10.25-37, we have the story of the Good Samaritan. By casting the Samaritan in a positive light, Jesus was directly contradicting racist stereotypes of the time.
and there was the time when people were rebuked for making fun of someone important’s wife (maybe Moses? actually I have no clue) because of her race.
also the “there is no Jew of Greek”
and all men are created in the image and likeness of God
errrrrrrrm this is off the top of my head, but I wanted to thrown in some scriptural references because most so far is tradition based. 🙂
 
LaramieHirsch said:
Yes, but is that it? That’s all the Church has to say?
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www3.villanova.edu/mission/CSTresource/racism.htm
ewtn.com/library/curia/pcjpchra.htm
ewtn.com/library/curia/pcjpraci.htm
archchicago.org/catholic_values/catholic_teaching/moving_beyond_racism.shtm
msjc.net/MoreInfo/PDF%20Files/JusticeJottings/BishopsOnRacism08.pdf
archspm.org/reference/pastoral-letters-detail.php?intResourceID=158
old.usccb.org/seia/sb-rc-racism.pdf

and Pope Pius XI’s encyclical “Humani generis unitas” was all about combating racism and its inherent evils.

There’s more, but it would take me almost as long to copy and paste as links proving that the Church is opposed to abortion.
By the way, suggesting that we don’t oppose something “much” because it only takes up a few lines in the Catechism is wild. The condemnation of murder is short in the Catechism too. It’s wrong. We condemn it. Here’s a tiny explanation why. That’s all the Catechism is intended to be. Otherwise it would be literally never ending.
 
Of course the Church opposes racism. I need to see some claims au contraire as it was You who made the stament, thus the burden of proof lies with you to prove to me that we do not oppose racism…
 
Is there any evidence that the Church opposed racism pre-1900?
 
LaramieHirsch said:
Yes, but is that it? That’s all the Church has to say?
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It’s a definitive statement. This is precisely what you asked for. But now it’s not enough? Shall we ask the Holy Father to beat himself with a whip while bemoaning racism on the steps of Saint Peter’s? What more would a Catholic need from the Catechism? How much must we say? DON’T DO THAT would seem sufficient for us. If you are Catholic, it is sufficient for you. It’s unequivocal. Like: do not commit adultery.

That’s it. No more need be said.
 
Do we actually need to be* told *that racism is wrong? I can understand on some issues we need clarity, but to treat someone with disrespect because of the color of their skin, or their country of origin?
Don’t we just know that as humans?

How about this, Love thy neighbor as thyself.
 
LaramieHirsch said:
Is there any evidence that the Church opposed racism pre-1900?
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Perhaps less readily available on the web. Let me see. I do know that the Church was actively opposed to slavery and participated in abolition. It may be that, because the Church is made up of fallible humans, and because there were many other issues that the Church faced, as well as that racism wasn’t written about by ANYONE for a long time, there are fewer condemnations of racism during certain periods. That’s true of human kind as a whole. However, I think it’s important to note that there is no infallible statement ever in support of racism, even though certain actions of the Church (during some periods of corruption) were racist (forced conversions ect). Now, we do have infallible doctrines AGAINST racism. Combined with scriptural denunciations of prejudice, it’s clear that Catholicism can be nothing but anti-racism. If otherwise good Catholics in the past did or said racist things, that is a shame and it is the shortcoming of each person and of the time period, not God’s teaching. In short, racist Catholics were demonstrating a failure to be fully Catholic. After all, there’s a reason we’re called “universal” and that Jesus commanded His good news to be brought to ALL nations.

EDIT: I do NOT mean that the Church did not condemn racism fro all time. From Acts it is clear that we did. However, I don’t know of or how to find any really old documents explicitly stating the Church’s opposition to slavery. Perhaps there is a historian among us?
 
waanju said:
Perhaps less readily available on the web. Let me see. I do know that the Church was actively opposed to slavery and participated in abolition. It may be that, because the Church is made up of fallible humans, and because there were many other issues that the Church faced, as well as that racism wasn’t written about by ANYONE for a long time, there are fewer condemnations of racism during certain periods. That’s true of human kind as a whole. However, I think it’s important to note that there is no infallible statement ever in support of racism, even though certain actions of the Church (during some periods of corruption) were racist (forced conversions ect). Now, we do have infallible doctrines AGAINST racism. Combined with scriptural denunciations of prejudice, it’s clear that Catholicism can be nothing but anti-racism. If otherwise good Catholics in the past did or said racist things, that is a shame and it is the shortcoming of each person and of the time period, not God’s teaching. In short, racist Catholics were demonstrating a failure to be fully Catholic. After all, there’s a reason we’re called “universal” and that Jesus commanded His good news to be brought to ALL nations.

EDIT: I do NOT mean that the Church did not condemn racism fro all time. From Acts it is clear that we did. However, I don’t know of or how to find any really old documents explicitly stating the Church’s opposition to slavery. Perhaps there is a historian among us?
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Edit number 2: Thanks!
 
edwest2 said:
papalencyclicals.net/Greg16/g16sup.htm

Peace,
Ed
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Gotta love edwest! Here’s an excerpt:
We have judged that it belonged to Our pastoral solicitude to exert Ourselves to turn away the Faithful from the inhuman slave trade in Negroes and all other men. Assuredly, since there was spread abroad, first of all amongst the Christians, the light of the Gospel, these miserable people, who in such great numbers, and chiefly through the effects of wars, fell into very cruel slavery, experienced an alleviation of their lot. Inspired in fact by the Divine Spirit, the Apostles, it is true, exhorted the slaves themselves to obey their masters, according to the flesh, as though obeying Christ, and sincerely to accomplish the Will of God; but they ordered the masters to act well towards slaves, to give them what was just and equitable, and to abstain from menaces, knowing that the common Master both of themselves and of the slaves is in Heaven, and that with Him there is no distinction of persons.
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There is no distinction among types of persons in God. That, in itself, was a radical thought in the mid-1800s when scientific treatises were written “proving” Africans and Asians were not human, but of an “inferior” species. An idea (and use the term “idea” in it’s broadest sense here) that unfortunately still exists today.
 
Christ said go out and teach all nations.

St Joseph of Aramithea is said to have gone to England, St James to Spain, St Thomas to India.

Catholic missionaries later went to all continents to teach all nations.

The reason that there is not a lot of condemnation against racism is that it was not much of an issue in the West until the slave trade.
 
I have seen many who have suggested that the Bible actually condones slavery. I don’t think I ever read that into it, but rather Christ knew people would find themselves in terrible situations in life, and that even so, His concern was for their spiritual well-being overall.
Like the story of the man who wanted Jesus to settle the inheritance between him and his brother…
Jesus knew of the hardships and trials mankind would face, and He exhorted them to behave according to the Gospel regardless.
 
We have Saints of every ethnic group and have had for centuries. Perhaps St. Augustine was what may be called “Black”- hard to say. . .

The Church is universal.
 
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