Created in God’s Image
A Pastoral Letter on the Sin of Racism and a Call to Conversion
By Bishop Dale J. Melczek (2003)
I am keenly aware of the deep-rooted sentiments that exist in the hearts of people in Northwest Indiana with regard to the issue of racism. For People of Color, who desire equal status in American society, there are often memories of racist opposition. For some Whites, it calls to mind devalued home prices and a sense of feeling compelled to relocate as a result of integration. Everyone has some opinion with regard to this issue, and the feelings for many are acute and lay just below the surface of our everyday interaction with one another.
Although much has changed for the good within our culture and society, racism continues to express itself. When it does, it takes very little to trigger the memory of those experiences, to reopen past wounds and reignite the sorrows and hurts, the anger and resentment, the sense of indignation and outrage that were experienced.
On occasion I have witnessed a deep-seated anger on the part of some who live in Northwest Indiana over the fact that racism continues to have a hold on our American culture. At other times, I have listened to those who have voiced pessimism and hopelessness concerning the possibility of any meaningful future change. It is a sort of “spiritual nihilism.” (click here to read more)
The Many Faces of our Church:
A Letter to our Catholic Faithful Regarding Cultural Diversity
By Bishop Dale J. Melczek (2002)
There can be no doubt that God’s blessings are manifested in many ways. That is evident in Northwest Indiana in the cultural diversity which we experience. We do not always fully appreciate this. As a result, we sometime undermine opportunities to enhance the quality of our life. By failing to see cultural diversity as a rich resource from which we can draw, we prevent ourselves from realizing the potential that can be ours.
Every part of our body is a truly valuable, unique, highly sophisticated mechanism which can perform a function which no other part of our body can. Yet, when we think of ourselves, we never think of any one part but rather the sum of the parts that compose our body. It is what the parts are and can accomplish in unison that makes the human body such a beautifully designed organism. (click here to read more )