Chicago Sun-Times: The Catholic diocese of Gary, Ind., confronted a century-old history of ethnic divisions in order to create a more multicultural, welcoming church. The effort included some of the 187,000 Catholics in northwest Indiana in a series of listening sessions patterned after South Africa's post-apartheid conversations. Those ended Sunday, Oct. 3, in an "atonement service" at Gary's Holy Angels Cathedral.
The event allowed the diocese and church members to take account of racist acts, which have been as overt as an epithet hurled at a biracial camper and as subtle as a black child excluded from white classmates' birthday parties.
The church-wide repentance follows other churches who have confessed their racism, including the Southern Baptist Convention in 1995 and the United Methodist Church in 2000. Many Catholic dioceses issued public apologies during the 2000 jubilee year, a traditional time for atoning.
