During his keynote address at a March 20 conference on how Catholics can confront racism and work for racial justice and harmony, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory noted how young people give him hope for the future.

And in a question-and-answer session following his talk at Nativity Parish in Burke, Virginia, the nation’s first African American cardinal shared a story about how, when he came home from Rome after Pope Francis elevated him to the College of Cardinals last fall, children at Catholic schools in Washington drew pictures of him wearing his new red hat.

He smiled and said that at the bottom of one little girl’s painting of him, she wrote, “Congratulations, Cardinal Gregory! You look like me, and I like that!”

Earlier, Washington’s archbishop had celebrated a Mass at the parish and then spoken at the “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love,” a conference named for the U.S. bishops’ 2018 pastoral letter against racism. 

After his keynote, Cardinal Gregory joined Arlington Bishop Michael F. Burbidge in a question-and-answer session, and the two prelates were asked how to enhance Catholic school curriculums to embrace diversity in society and the Church and to help create anti-racist Christians.

“How we treat our youngsters is of vital importance. We’re planting seeds of tomorrow in those young minds and hearts,” the cardinal said.

One way Catholic schools can do that, he said, is to take advantage of the calendar and provide educational opportunities for students during times like Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March. Bishop Burbidge said Catholic schools should highlight the histories and stories of people from different cultures and backgrounds.

Earlier, they were asked about people who think racism was a problem of the past and no longer exists.

Cardinal Gregory, noting that his formative years coincided with the height of the Civil Rights movement, said that while important progress has been made, it’s important to acknowledge “the work isn’t over.”

In response to that question, Bishop Burbidge said his diocese held listening sessions at parishes and Catholic schools after the bishops’ pastoral on racism was issued, and he added that one of the key things “we must continue to do is have a willingness to listen to people’s stories and experiences.”

While at times people spoke about things that were difficult and sad to hear, “it motivates us to stand up and be proactive in seeking justice,” Arlington’s bishop said.

Both Church leaders said it was important for clergy to speak out in their homilies about the sin of racism, because they are called to preach the Gospel.

After Cardinal Gregory's keynote presentation at the “Open Wide Our Hearts” conference, panelists included, from left to right, Jose Aguto, associate director of the Catholic Climate Covenant; Emelda August with the Black History and Heritage Outreach Ministry of Holy Family Parish in Dale City, Virginia; and Alexandra Luevano, the clinic director of the Mother of Mercy Free Medical Clinic for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington. They spoke about how Catholics can confront racism and work for racial justice. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

The conference also included a panel discussion by three members of the Diocese of Arlington who discussed what individual Catholics and parishes can do to oppose racism.

In her remarks, panelist Alexandra Luevano, the program director for the Mother of Mercy Free Medical Clinic operated by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, said it is important to emphasize “we are all one body of Christ, and we are here to stand up for our brothers and sisters who cannot stand up for themselves.”

Racism is a life issue, she said, adding that followers of Christ are called “to love one another” as brothers and sisters, no matter their color of skin or where they come from.

“We need to unite ourselves in prayer for racism to end. We need to stand up and talk about it,” said Luevano, who served on the Arlington diocese’s Ad Hoc Committee on Racism.

She noted that it was important for people to be witnesses of their faith, especially to those in need. “We show them our faith by our actions,” she said.

Panelist Emelda August, a parishioner of Holy Family Parish in Dale City, Virginia who participates in the Black History & Heritage Outreach Ministry there, said, “Racism is a spiritual sin… We are fighting a spiritual war.”

She too emphasized the importance of sharing Christ’s love with others as a way to combat racism, and she also stressed dialogue as a way that people can get to know others on the inside. “We’ve got to listen to one another,” she said.

Panelist, Jose Aguto, the associate director of the Catholic Climate Covenant in Washington who formerly worked with the National Congress of American Indians, noted that he is of Filipino ancestry.

“I myself have experienced forms of racism in my life and in the Catholic Church, and so has my daughter,” he said. “Racism is an original sin.”

Aguto pointed out how racism runs counter to the second part of Christ’s greatest commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. “That’s how fundamental it is,” he said.

The Catholic Church, founded on Christ’s Gospel of love and with its worldwide reach and diverse members “must be an agent for the transformation of our nation and our world” in promoting racial justice and understanding, Aguto said. He said it was important for parishes, and perhaps youth groups, to promote dialogues, so people can learn from others.

He noted how COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted people of color in deaths, sicknesses and job losses, and also how minority communities often live near polluting factories, making them victims of environmental racism.

“They have been bearing the burden of everyday discrimination,” he said.

Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory, wearing a black and white face mask, processes to the altar for a Mass at Nativity Church in Burke, Virginia, before the March 20 conference on a Catholic response to racism. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

Cardinal Gregory in a Mass at Nativity Church preceding the conference noted in his homily how today’s disciples of Jesus, like the first disciples, have the challenge of helping others to encounter Jesus, especially to people who might be different from them.

“Our ability to give of ourselves and by accepting the other is the only way that we can present Him to those who seek Him,” he said.

At the beginning of the Mass, Bishop Burbidge welcomed Cardinal Gregory, who was making his first official visit to the Diocese of Arlington, located across the Potomac River from the Archdiocese of Washington.

The cardinal then noted how the two men had worked together earlier, when then-Archbishop Gregory served as the archbishop of Atlanta from 2005 until being appointed to Washington in 2019, and Bishop Burbidge had served as the bishop of Raleigh, North Carolina from 2006 until being appointed to Arlington in 2016.

“He was the bishop of Raleigh, and I was the archbishop of Atlanta. We worked so well together, that the pope said, ‘Don’t break up the team!’” Cardinal Gregory joked.

Families pray during the March 20, 2021 Mass celebrated by Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory at Nativity Church in Burke, Virginia. (CS photos/Andrew Biraj)

At the end of the conference, Veronica Dabney of Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Arlington was presented with the Father Augustus Tolton and Mother Mary Lange Award, given to Black Catholics in that diocese for their outstanding service to the Church. Dabney heads a committee at her parish that has raised $300,000 in scholarships for students and is also active in Black history programs there. The award is named for Father Tolton, the first Black Catholic priest in the United States, and for Mother Lange, who founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the nation’s first religious order for women of color.

During the “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love” conference sponsored by the Diocese of Arlington’s Peace & Justice Commission, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory and Arlington Bishop Michael Burbidge presented the Father Augustus Tolton and Mother Mary Lange Award to Veronica Dabney, a member of Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Arlington. (Catholic Standard photo by Andrew Biraj)

In his closing prayer, Bishop Burbidge thanked God for “giving us the gift of your Son, who taught us to love all people, to treat all people with justice and equality, and to promote the unity that must be ours. We pray that with the grace only you can give, we will leave with a renewed commitment to do our part each and every day to help people see Jesus.”