Cardinal’s letter on racism due April 4

Cardinal George’s long-anticipated pastoral letter on racism, “Dwell in My Love,” is scheduled to be released April 4, the 33rd anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The pastoral letter on racism recounts Cardinal George’s own growing recognition of racism as a sin through personal experiences growing up in Chicago, visits as a youth to “Jim Crow” Tennessee and his years of service as a missionary around the world.

“I am committed to working to diminish and do away with racism wherever it exists,” said the cardinal.

“Dwell in My Love” will be released at a 10 a.m. press conference April 4 at Old St. Patrick’s Church, 718 W, Adams St. Copies of the 7,800-word pastoral will made available to parish leadership and excerpts will be printed in the April 8-14 edition of The Catholic New World. The text also will be available on the Archdiocese of Chicago Web site, www.archdiocese-chgo.org and through www.CatholicNewWorld.com. Additional copies will be available for purchase through the archdiocesan Office for Racial Justice, (312) 751-8336.

In announcing his pastoral letter, Cardinal George said, I invite the faithful of the Archdiocese of Chicago to join with me in this continuing effort to combat the evils of racism as we work to build inclusive, welcoming communities where all people can dwell together in peace and harmony.” He said, “we are called not only to a radical conversion of heart but to a transformation of socially sinful structures as well.”

Also on April 4, Cardinal George will officiate at the first Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Racial Healing and Reconciliation Prayer Service, at Holy Family Church, 1019 S. May St., Chicago. The 7 p.m. public gathering, said the cardinal, “affords us the opportunity as the Church of Chicago to acknowledge publicly the sin of racism and to ask for the forgiveness of God as we seek to be reconciled with our brothers and sisters.”

This is Cardinal George’s second pastoral letter since his installation as archbishop of Chicago in 1997. The first addressed the need for evangelization in the church.

(The Cardinal's Column will resume April 8)