Cardinal Blase Cupich forwarded suggestions Friday for Chicago Catholic priests and deacons for their homilies this weekend as the nation reflects on what happened in Charlottesville.
The three page resource is titled "Addressing the Sin of Racism" and is divided into three categories: "The Problem, The Answer and What Are We Called to Do?"
The priests and deacons are told "we witnessed this past week a vile replay of history at its worst." As well, the memo notes "Racism is real. It's effects are in each of us, in our Church and in our nation."
The answer, as the Catholic Church sees it is "Christ, who came to heal the divisions of sin and death.
Finally, priests are instrumented to tell parishioners to pray for a "conversion" and "to "self reflect on how we have been unwelcoming to the stranger, the person of a different race, or the immigrant."
One priest tells NBC 5 the Archdiocese only does this for bigger moments: terrorist attacks, elections. He notes "it is good because there's a consistent message and to amplify the voice of the Bishops' Conference."
