Deacon Dan graciously shared information from a newsletter he receives from the Office of the Permanent Diaconate in the Archdiocese of Washington. Highlighted in the newsletter is information about a virtual meeting for that was held in April. The topic for the meeting was "Promoting Racial Understanding and Equality" and included an address by Father Robert P. Boxie III, an African American priest who serves as Chaplain at Howard University and the Priest-in-Residence at Immaculate Conception Parish, Washington, DC. In the report about the meeting, there are several links to information as well as to the recording of the meeting and Father Boxie's address which is excellent. It is highly recommended that you view the recording and explore the other information. The portion of the newsletter that includes this information is as follows:
Nearly 60 deacons, wives, candidates and candidates wives joined in a virtual meeting to discuss Promoting Racial Understanding and Equality on April 24.
Our session was highlighted by a presentation by Father Robert P. Boxie, III, who serves as Chaplain at Howard University and the Priest-in-Residence at Immaculate Conception Parish, Washington, DC. Father Boxie teaches in our permanent diaconate formation program. He was recently interviewed by the Catholic Standard as part of the Black Catholic Voices series, which interview can be found by clicking here.
Father Boxie provided deeply meaningful and heartfelt insights into understanding the evil and sin of racism. Father Boxie defined racism as follows: "Not just an aggressive act of violence against another person or passive indifference, but the daily conscious or unconscious infliction of pain and suffering on a group of people or an individual because of their race, which is judged as inferior or unworthy of equal regard." Following Father Boxie's presentation, participants held small group discussions to discuss these vitally important issues.
A replay of our virtual meeting can be found by clicking here.The slides used by Father Boxie in his presentation can be downloaded by clicking here.
Thank you, Deacon Dan!
You should have received an email from Vince with information about the two African American Catholic Churches in Chicago, St. Columbanus and St. Sabina. In case you did not receive that email it is reprinted below. Thank you, Vince!
Here is information on two black Catholic parishes in South Chicago.
- You can get a sense of what the church looks like by visiting their web pages.
- Both churches have livestreamed Masses. I watched portions of Mass at both churches.
- St. Columbanus Mass is 1:20 hrs. long and is not too different from our Mass at St. Tom’s except some of the music is quite different.
- Mass at St. Sabina (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwJMNeNlK8A) is quite different and is quite a theatrical production. It lasts 2:25 hrs. It took an hour and 50 minutes to get to the consecration. This one is definitely the one to watch.
- Big issues for both parishes focus on food pantries and jobs for people.
ST. COLUMBANUS
331 East 71st Street
Chicago, IL 60619
773.224.1022
stcolumbanus@archchicago.org
ST. SABINA
1210 West 78th Place
Chicago, IL 60620
773.483.4300
stsabina@archchicago.org
Among the latest news is the reorganization of Catholic Churches in the Diocese of Chicago. Sadly, black churches are hurting in attendance and are being consolidated. You can read about it here:
Hope you find this helpful to you in understanding how people of color worship in the Mass.
Please note: The bold text is the link to the websites and recordings.
Thanks again to Deacon Dan and Vince for making this information available to us!
Zelda Flye and Lou Kendall