Cry for racial justice resonates locally

Catholics and other Christians give peaceful, united witness in Lexington
 
By Margaret Gabriel and Don Clemmer
 
Many words have described the scenes of protests across U.S. cities in the wake of the death of George Floyd, the Black man killed by police in Minneapolis in late May.
Some focus on unrest, others on violence, still others on peaceful demonstration. At a prayer service for interracial healing held the evening of June 4 at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in Lexington, Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv. used another descriptor: apocalyptic.
“Something is being revealed. People are coming together to march and Black Lives Matter is not just a slogan,” Bishop Stowe said to the crowd of more than 200 people, all of them wearing masks and observing social distance. More than 2,500 others watched the event on Facebook Live. St. Peter Claver was founded in 1887 to support Black Catholics facing discrimination in Fayette County.
“It’s a scourge on Catholic history that African Americans were not always welcomed in our churches. But they have not responded in kind,” Bishop Stowe said.
 
Healing and action
The prayer service began with a moment of silence in memory of George Floyd and included remarks from St. Peter Claver business manager Christine Weathers. She said the Floyd killing has opened old wounds and shared her fear as an African-American mother.
“You pray that your child will return home safely and will not be stopped by a police officer using bad judgment,” she said. There is an overall lack of trust and “healing must take place before trust returns.”
Niya Gates, a graduating senior from Lafayette High School and a member of St. Peter Claver, said the events of the last week had left her “broken-hearted, outraged and sad, but not
discouraged.” Pointing to the church behind her, she said, “This building taught me the power of forgiveness. Young adults are ready to find a better way.
“Black lives matter,” she added. “Jesus died for us, too.”
University of Kentucky women’s basketball coach Matthew Mitchell, his voice choked with emotion, spoke of his discomfort in facing the reality of racism in the world of his players and assistant coaches. “We need to listen,” Mitchell said. “This is not political, this is moral.”
Earlier that day, Bishop Stowe issued what he termed his “non-statement” on racism, a letter to the people of the diocese.
“Rather than adding carefully worded statements to the words amassing around us, the voices on our streets are crying, ‘say his name ... say their names.’ That is, recognize their dignity as human beings, as sons and daughters of God and precious in God’s eyes. To say and act as if Black lives matter,” the bishop wrote. He also announced that, as of July 1, the diocese will once again have an Office of Justice and Peace, to be coordinated by Joshua Van Cleef, who will continue to work as a parish life director at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Jackson.
On June 3, Pope Francis addressed the people of the United States in his General Audience, saying, “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism or exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.”
 
Christian witnesses
The previous weekend, Lexington witnessed people coming together downtown to protest against racism. Unlike in other communities that saw violence and destruction of property, these demonstrations yielded images of police and protesters praying together, kneeling together and even shaking hands and having other friendly exchanges.
“It opens the doors that people here are ready to talk and figure out the solutions, the peaceful solutions,” Melissa Holland, ecumenical officer for the Catholic Diocese of Lexington, said of these events.
As ecumenical officer, Holland has witnessed the response of other Christians, especially through her work with the Kentucky Council of Churches (KCC), which is comprised of 13 Christian traditions.
“We cannot and we will not sit idle while brothers and sisters suffer. We urge you to trust God, love like Jesus, and be transformed in the renewing of our collective heart and mind,” wrote Rev. Kent Gilbert, president of the KCC, and Rev. Dr. Don Gillett II, executive director, in a May 30 letter addressed to white Christians.
This call has been answered and reinforced the unity of the Body of Christ, noted Kenneth Golphin, a presiding elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, who also sits on the administrative commission of the KCC and serves as pastor of St. Peter AME Church in Harrodsburg.
“The Body of Christ is extremely diverse. The Apostle Paul talked about the different parts of the body” said Golphin, who attended the prayer service preceding the May 31 demonstrations in downtown Lexington. For Golphin, the presence of white Christian pastors at these events solidi ed the unity that the Body of Christ needs to be effective. “The Christian body is able to function as a unit and grow as a unit, recognizing that all of us have different functions.”
Holland affirms this view. “People of all cultures need to feel like they’re being heard, their pain is being heard and they’re part of the community,” she Holland, noting that, as a white woman who grew up in Lexington, “I can never say I understand how you feel. Somehow, we’ve got to listen with a deeper caring.”