Hear the not so unusual story of a black man in the church. Auxiliary bishop of New Orleans, the most reverend Fernand Cheri, joins the podcast to share his lived experiences of racism in the seminary as well as the parish. He describes specific moments of crisis he has gone through in his ministry. Such as when he was refused ordination and the time he was ousted from a parish for bringing “strangers” to the church. He also talks about the difficulties of obedience and the power of trusting in God’s providence.
Snippet from the show
"I'm a priest today not because of the seminary. I think I'm a priest today because my story as a black man in the church is not an unusual story. Many of the Black priests that were ordained before me had the same story."
Quotes from Brothers and Sisters to Us used in the teaching segment:
- "Today the sense of urgency has yielded to an apparent acceptance of the status quo. The climate of crisis engendered by demonstrations, protest, and confrontation has given way to a mood of indifference; and other issues occupy our attention.”
- “At times, protestations claiming that all persons should be treated equally reflect the desire to maintain a status quo that favors one race and social group at the expense of the poor and the nonwhite.”
- “Members of both groups give unwitting approval by accepting things as they are. Perhaps no single individual is to blame. The sinfulness is often anonymous but nonetheless real. The sin is social in nature in that each of us, in varying degrees, is responsible. All of us in some measure are accomplices. As our recent pastoral letter on moral values states: "The absence of personal fault for an evil does not absolve one of all responsibility. We must seek to resist and undo injustices we have not ceased, least we become bystanders who tacitly endorse evil and so share in guilt in it.”
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