InTeRnatIonaL
2 June 7, 2020 catholicregister.org
BY JULIE ASHER Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON
America's bishops, condemning the death "before our eyes" of Afri- can-American George Floyd, said they "are broken-hearted, sickened and outraged." "This is the latest wake-up call that needs to be answered by each of us in a spirit of determined conversion," said the U.S. bishops' conference in a statement about Floyd, who died May 25 while in police custody in Minneapolis. "Racism is not a thing of the past or simply a throwaway political issue to be bandied about when convenient," the bishops said. "It is a real and present danger that must be met head-on." Floyd, 46, was arrested by police on suspicion of forgery. Hand- cuffed, he was pinned down by a white officer, who put his knee on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes. A widely circulated video shows Floyd repeatedly saying, "I can't breathe." He was declared dead at hospital. Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He was fired along with three other officers who participated in the arrest. Outrage, grief and anger over another death at police hands of an unarmed black man spurred hundreds of thousands of Americans in more than 100 cities nationwide to demand gov- ernment action to address racism and police brutality. Many protests were peaceful, but some dem- onstrators burned cars, smashed windows and looted businesses in cities such as Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York and Washington - among 40 cities which put curfews into place. Gunfire in St. Louis and Las Vegas sent five police officers to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. By June 1, more than 20 states had called in the National Guard America's Catholic bishops joined the calls for justice, saying they "stand in passionate support of communities that are under- standably outraged." "As members of the Church, we must stand for the more difficult right and just actions instead of the easy wrongs of indifference," said the statement from the bishops. "We cannot turn a blind eye to these atrocities and yet still try to profess to respect every human life. "Indifference is not an option," they emphasized and stated "un- equivocally" that "racism is a life issue." People of good conscience must never turn a blind eye when citizens are being deprived of their human dignity and even their lives." Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago said he spent several nights watching the protests "in great personal pain as the pent-up anger of our people caught fire across our country." "What did we expect when we learned that in Minneapolis, a city often hailed as a model of inclu- sivity, the price of a black life is a counterfeit $20 bill?" Cupich said in a May 31 statement. In Washington, D.C., cars were burned, businesses vandalized and authorities used tear gas on pro- testers near the White House. "The looting, vandalism and violence we are witnessing in Minneapolis and throughout our nation dishonours the legacy of Mr. Floyd and further complicates a tragic situation," said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Va., across the Potomac from Washington. Floyd's brother Terrence called for peace. He said on national television that the violence was "overshadowing what is going on because he (his brother) was about peace. ... (This is) destructive unity. That's not what he was about." In some areas, such as Coral Gables, Fla., and Flint, Mich., authorities dialogued and even prayed with protesters. Police officers in Coral Gables kneeled with heads bowed and joined protesters on May 30, observing several minutes of silence. The same day, Sheriff Chris Swanson from Flint Township approached a mass of protesters, telling them he was putting down his weapons and is seen on video telling them: "The only reason we're here is to make sure that you got a voice - that's it." Then they asked him to walk with them and he did.
'Broken-hearted ... outraged'
Racism must be confronted, say U.S. bishops in wake of the death of George Floyd
BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY
Much like a pandemic, racism is a "spiritual" virus that spreads throughout the world and must be eradicated, said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life. "I would compare (racism) to COVID-19, but it is a virus of the spirit, a cultural virus that, if not isolated, spreads quickly," Paglia told Catholic News Service June 1. The Italian archbishop was commenting on the May 25 death at police hands of George Floyd and the subsequent protests throughout the United States. Paglia told CNS that just as people were called to self-isolate in order to care for one another, racism can only be defeated by people caring for each other. "Today we must start a revolution of brother- hood. We are all brothers and sisters. B r o t h e r - hood is a promise that is lacking in modern times," he said. "In my opinion, the true strength that supports us in our weakness is brotherhood and solidarity. And just as it defeats the coronavirus, it also defeats racism." The fight against racism, he added, is done "not with violence but in the style of Martin Luther King, Jr. - with words, with culture, with faith, with humanism. It is fought the same way we fight against the coronavirus." "It's not enough to remain silent," he said. "To prevent the virus of racism from multiply- ing, those (who oppose racism) must also multiply." He said the United States has had a vocation of helping others, not just themselves, but "I believe they have lost" that vocation.
Racism a 'virus of the spirit'
Above, demonstrators kneel in front of riot police during a protest in Washington June 1 following the death of George Floyd. The protests went well beyond American borders, including Canada, Europe and, below, Sydney, Australia, where crowds swarmed the streets on June 2.
(Above photo: CNS/Jonathan Ernst, Reuters; below: CNS photo/James Gourle, AAP Image via Reuters)
Archbishop Paglia
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