"Love one another as I have loved you." John 15:12
As the office of Campus Ministry at a Jesuit Catholic University, we are called to promote the inherent dignity of each member of the human family. The Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus call us to walk with those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation & justice. Catholicism teaches that all people are made in the image and likeness of God & possess an inherent dignity. It also teaches that racism is a sin, an intrinsic evil which, "...divides the human family, blots out the image of God among specific members of that family, and violates the fundamental human dignity of those called to be children of the same Father (God).” U.S.C.C.B. 2018
While it is true that all lives possess inherent dignity, we know that racism and white supremacy benefit white people and plague people of color with oppression, trauma and violence. Faith compels us to struggle against racism and "...demands an equally radical transformation, in our own minds and hearts as well as in the structure of our society”. (U.S.C.C.B.)
The first thing Pope Francis said to the world in St. Peter's square was, "I am a sinner." As a faith based office at a primarily white institution grounded in the city of Baltimore engaging in the work of racial justice, we must acknowledge the ways we participate, support or benefit from the sin of racism. We lament the ways we have fallen short, been complicit, silent or slow to respond to the sin of racism. We are sorry for the ways our actions or inactions have impacted or caused harm to our students, faculty, staff and administrators of color.
"Love ought to show itself in deeds more than words." St. Ignatius of Loyola
Our office has taken steps over the last six years to increase our commitment and resources towards racial justice. We have offered racial justice trainings for students leaders, our professional staff have attended workshops and trainings on racism, we work alongside our community to offer prayer and vigils in response to racialized violence and oppression, addressed racism through preaching and our prayer intentions in our Masses and liturgies, used our resources to partner for lectures and programming focused on racial justice and engaged our F.I.R.S.T. participants in conversations about the city of Baltimore and systemic racism through the experiential game Factuality. These have been important initial steps. Yet, faith, the Catholic Jesuit tradition, the community and our pursuit of the Magis calls us deeper into our commitment. We commit to engaging in antiracist work and allyship through a lens of faith. We offer the Loyola community space, programming, prayer, education, examination of thoughts and actions, care for those who carry the trauma and pain of racism, discernment and actions for the identifying and dismantling of racism within ourselves and institutions. We offer this not as experts free from the sin of racism but as people of faith co-laboring with a loving and merciful God and each other to bring about a more just and humane world.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Documents and Letters
- U.S.C.C.B.’s Open Wide Our Hearts: A Pastoral Letter Against Racism
- Building Bridges of Understanding and Hope: A Letter on Racial Justice from the Catholic Bishops of Maryland
- Statement of U.S. Bishop Chairman in Wake of Death of George Floyd and National Protests
- The Journey to Racial Justice: Repentance, Healing and Action, Archbishop William E. Lori
- The Racial Divide in the United States, Bishop Edward K. Braxton
- Night Be No More, Bishop Mark Seitz
- Racism: Confronting the Poison in Our Common Home, Department of Justice, Peace, & Human Development, 2016
- Brothers and Sisters to Us, Pastoral Letter on Racism, 1979
Prayer
Context: Books and Articles
Articles
Books
- How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson
- Racial Justice and the Catholic Church by Bryan Massingale
- Uncommon Faithfulness: The Black Catholic Experienceedited by M. Shawn Copeland
- Christ Divided: Antiblackness as Corporate Vice by Katie Walker Grimes
- Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
- The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone
- The History of Black Catholics in the United Statesby Cyprian Davis
- The Third Reconstruction: How a Moral Movement is Overcoming the Politics of Division and Fear by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II
- Dear White Christians: For Those Still Longing for Racial Reconciliation by Jennifer Harvey
- Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
- America's Original Sin by Jim Wallis
- Why Race Matters by Cornel West
- Stamped from the Beginning: A Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, MLK Convocation Speaker 2015
- The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine, MLK Convocation Speaker 2016
- Letters to My Black Sons: Raising Black Boys in a Post-Racial America by Karsonya Wise Whitehead
- Race Brace by Karsonya Wise Whitehead
- Me and White Supremacy Workbook by Layla F. Saad
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
- So You Want to Talk About Race- Ijeoma Oluo
- The Hate U Give- Angie Thomas
- The Fire Next Time- James Baldwin
- The Color of Law- Richard Rothstein
- The Warmth of Other Suns- Isabel Wilkerson
- An African-American and Latinx History of the United States- Paul Ortiz
Videos
- Eyes to See (AJCU Anti-Racism Examen)
- The Ignatian Witness to Truth in a Climate of Injustice, Rev. Bryan Massingale
- The Magis and Justice, Rev. Bryan Massingale
- Pastoral Letter to the Nation, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II
- We Need to Talk About an Injustice, Bryan Stevenson, Ted Talk
- How to Be an AntiRacist, Ibram X. Kendi
- White Fragility Lecture, Robin DiAngelo
- Deconstructing White Privilege, Robin DiAngelo
- How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Toward Them, Vernā Myers
- Race the Power of Illusion directed by Christine Herbes-Sommers, Tracy Heather Strain, Llewellyn Smith
- Pentecost and Racial Reconciliation Homily, Fr. Tim Brown, S.J.
- On the New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander at Union Theological Seminary
- Talks to Help You Understand Racism in America, Ted Talks
- The Urgency of Intersectionality, Kimberlé Crenshaw
- The Danger of a Single Story, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Michael Eric Dyson Mission Week Lecture
- Bryan Stevenson Mession Lecture
- Ta-Nehisi Coates MLK Convocation
- Claudia Rankine MLK Convocation
- Systemic Racism Explained
- Mind, Body Connection & Meditation, Kailee Scales & Dr. Deepak Chopra, MD
- My Arms are Empty: A Song of Lamentation for Ahmaud Arbery, a poem by Joseph A. Brown, SJ
- Voices on Equity Series: Lessons Learned & Ways to Recognize & Practice Antiracist Behavior with Dr. Karsonya Wise Whitehead, Helina Haile & Dr. Cheryl Moore-Thomas
Movies and Films
- Baltimore Rising free on HBO
- Notes from the Field, free on HBO
- Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland, free on HBO
- King in the Wilderness, free on HBO
- 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay
- When They See Us, directed by Ava DuVernay
- Selma, directed by Ava DuVernay
- The Hate U Give, directed by George Tillman Jr.
- I Am Not Your Negro, directed by Raoul Peck
- Just Mercy, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
- Best of Enemies directed by Robin Bissell
- 42 directed by Brian Helgeland
- The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code directed by Sheldon Peters Wolfchild
Podcasts and Radio
Training Curriculums & Other Resources
Reflection
Action
More Resources at Loyola
We welcome the community to offer additional resources for antiracist education, reflection, action, etc... to this webpage. Please email resource suggestions to CampusMinistry@loyola.edu