The pastor of a parish in New York City requests that his parishioners pray during a Mass “a dedication to social justice,” which affirms the “white privilege and the history of the white supremacy.”
In the following video, Rev. Kenneth Boller, SJ, Pastor of the St. Francis Xavier Church, instructs parishioners to recite the “gauge for social justice” following communion.
WATCH:
Reports by Breitbart.com: the Parish notices on their website were provided by St Francis Xavier’s First Unitarian Church in Dallas , Texas.
The pledge says that the parish “joins people from all over the world, contributes to social justice” and asks parishioners to answer “yes” to these questions:
Join YOU for justice , fairness and dignity in human relationships.
AFFIRM YOU that white privilege is unjust and detrimental to those who do not.
AFFIRM YOU that white privilege and white supremacy ideology must be abolished everywhere it is?
DO YOU Endorse any person’s social equality, peace and liberation.
DO YOU AFFIRM every person’s intrinsic worth and integrity.
From this day on, therefore.
Will you try to recognise the inequality and oppression of white privilege and white supremacy in greater depth?
WILL COMMIT YOU to help turn our church culture into one which actively strives for racial justice and equality for all.
Can YOU do more to treat all people with the same dignity as you think.
WILL YOU COMMED to cultivate the courage to live up to your social justice and equality convictions and principles.
WILL YOU work daily to eradicate racial harm from your thoughts and deeds, so that you can better support our Church ‘s efforts in racial justice.
WILL YOU renew and uphold this commitment daily, knowing that my efforts will strengthen our Church, our society, our country, and our world.
The parish organises a programme entitled “Dismantling racialism,” one aspect of which is meant to “enrich the perception of the white privilege of white people.”
Kara Dansky, a former Senior Counselor and Meditation Coach at the American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU), directs the programme.
In a statement to Breitbart News Boller wrote that “St Francis Xavier strived in a deliberate and purposive way to be inclusive and respectful of all people.”
He added the following:
Over the years the Xavier Mission has been developed to feed, clothe and protect homeless people, set up a strong programme for the spiritual guidance to encourage parishioners to deepen their prayer life, provide the members of the LBGTQ+ group with spiritual home and several other initiatives. All these efforts derive from our devotion to the practise of Catholic social teaching through charitable activities and acts of peace and justice.
For the past two years, Boller said that his parish has focused on the issue of racism.
“When George Floyd was killed, the Church of St. Francis Xavier wanted to be more pro-actively antiracist,” he continued, adding that the parish recently held the ‘victims of racism’ prayer service, and erected a display in order to bring more attention to the issue.
“In that context, we have adapted a version of a commitment to racial justice in Christian circles elsewhere,” said Boller. “With the Post-communion prayer and before the last blessing we are asking people to take this pledge — a moment when many churches have announcements. People are invited to answer every question yes; some do not.
A statement from the Parish Pastoral Council posted to Facebook noted the “engagement for racial justice” because, like many churches, the Masses of St Francis Xavier were open for lifetime viewing during coronavirus shutdowns.
Published by the Council:
In our self-examination the term “white privilege” has been sought to understand and how it works to reinforce racial injustice. ‘White privilege’ has been defined as the benefits of which white people take for granted and can not similarly be used by people of colour in the same context (government, community, place of work, schools etc.).
It is difficult and sometimes distressing for whites to realise that being white clearly confers a perceived privilege at the expense of colourful people. ‘Slavery ended in 1865.’ ‘My family had never benefited from black or brown labour.’ ‘I have worked hard for everything I have.’ They try to avoid personal involvement in upholding the processes and structures that perpetuate racial inequity. These reactions, however, confirmed the speakers’ acknowledgement that racial inequality exists – in housing, health, education, personal rights enjoyment and revenue, to name but a few contexts.
