Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory said marking the 10th anniversary of the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington Oct. 21 was an opportunity “to pause and reflect together at this place of tribute to the legacy of a great American.” “In studying and reflecting on this special place on its 10th anniversary, we are inspired by the life work of Dr. King and confidently recognize ourselves and the work we must still do in gratitude for each of the lessons he shared with us,” he said in remarks at an anniversary ceremony. Cardinal Gregory, who offered a reflection and prayer, said Rev. King’s examples of hope and resiliency should inspire people today to “never grow discouraged in our pursuit of social justice and racial justice. Read More

Colin Powell once visited a Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Washington to encourage students there to appreciate the Catholic education they are receiving, to dream big and to work hard to achieve those dreams. “Many of you may be the first person in your family to attend college,” Powell told students during a Feb. 10, 2014, visit to Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School in Takoma Park, Maryland. “You are in a position to achieve and to change the history of your family. Never give up, never quit and never think there is ever a better alternative to a good education.” Read More

Gary Crosby says he will demand excellence in all areas of Saint Elizabeth University — the same standard he’s been held to — as he takes the helm of the private institution as its eighth president. “I stand before you today as president because God put people in my life who not only delivered excellence, but they also demanded it from me,” said Crosby, a first-generation college student, during his inauguration ceremony on Thursday. Read More

M. Shawn Copeland, a retired American womanist and theologian, professor emerita at Boston College and the author of Knowing Christ Crucified: The Witness of African American Religious Experience, delivered the symposium's annual public lecture on Oct. 7. She analyzed the Black Lives Matter movement as "a performative public theology" that uses "critique, organizing, advocacy, protest and love" to fight for "the lives and survival, flourishing and beauty of Black human beings." "When Pope Francis exhorts us academic theologians to leave our desks, to do theology from within the field hospital posted at the frontier, he reminds us that institutional Christianity — that the Catholic Church — has no exclusive claim on doing theology," said Copeland. "Artists, poets, novelists, film directors do theology, do public theology, and the architects, organizers, demonstrators and members of Black Lives Matter do and perform theology publicly in the public square." Read More

Williams, who died in 1981, believed jazz was “healing to the soul” and found a welcome home among churchmen and religious sisters who were opening up to the gifts of contemporary culture as part of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The slim volume was written by Deanna Witkowski, herself a jazz composer, pianist and interpreter of Williams’ work. Like Williams, Witkowski was also a Catholic convert and has written liturgical music, including jazz Masses. Read More

A group of Black Catholic administrators is calling on “Catholic leaders to do something, to say something” about undertones of racism they say is playing out in the treatment of Haitians at the U.S.-Mexico border. The National Association of Black Catholic Administrators, in a Sept. 28 news release, said the organization did not “begrudge the compassion and respect offered to our brothers and sisters from Afghanistan, Burma, Korea, Latin America, Poland, Ukraine, Vietnam,” but it was asking that Haitian migrants seeking refuge in the U.S. “be given the same level of care and respect, and an equal fight for justice.” Read More

Some 175 faithful gathered last Saturday to honor a pioneering African-American priest now on the path to sainthood, whose heroic virtues are a model for modern times. Archbishop Nelson Pérez was the principal celebrant and homilist at a June 26 Mass in honor of Venerable Augustus Tolton, the first widely recognized Black Roman Catholic priest in the United States. The liturgy, which took place at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, was sponsored by the archdiocesan Office for Black Catholics and the Philadelphia Tolton Ambassadors, part of a national network dedicated to advancing the priest’s canonization cause. Read More

Sometimes we do not see or even acknowledge social problems. When we do recognize them, we do not always agree on what must be done to rectify the situation. Often these disagreements can result in inadequate responses. Read More