Catholic Church in England & Wales celebrates Racial Justice Day

By Susan Hodges

The theme for this year’s Racial Justice Sunday is “Seeing one another in the life of the Church” and it underlines the importance of recognising that we are all children of God, regardless of our race and background.  The Church says this year’s theme seeks to promote reflection, discussion and action on this issue and to encourage us to carry this through in the weeks and months after Racial Justice Sunday.

At Masses throughout England and Wales this Sunday, parishes and individuals were encouraged to pray for an end to suffering caused by racism. The Church also produced a series of PDF posters that individuals or parishes could download featuring Our Lady and the Child Jesus from a diverse cross-selection of countries and cultures. The posters include a prayer taken from Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti. 

For this year’s celebration, the Church is focusing on the diversity of those who have led holy and exemplary lives.  It says our Catholic saints walked in this world as we do and were men and women of heroic virtue that can intercede for us to bring our prayers to God.

Bishop Paul McAleenan is the Lead Bishop for Racial Justice in England and Wales and he wrote a message to explain the theme for this year’s Racial Justice Sunday and offered Catholics suggestions to mark the day. In his message, the bishop recalled that in the history of the Church there were those who looked at the society in which they lived and responded to what they saw. Alert and sensitive as they were to the commandments of Christ, when they saw justice being denied to someone because of their racial origin or colour, they were prompted to act.

Bishop McAleenan said these men and women devoted their lives to the pursuit of racial justice and despite sometimes encountering hostility and objections to their actions, they persevered and some are acknowledged as saints of the Church. He said these great people will inspire us, teach us and make us sensitive to the importance of racial justice and why we work for it.