Pathway toHealingA R E S O U R C E G U I D E T O M O V E

F O R W A R D T O W A R D R A C I A L H E A L I N G

CREATED BY THE DIOCESE OF SUPERIOR

Universa l Prayer on Day of Pardon

Lord God , our Father , you created thehuman be ing , man and woman , in yourimage and l ikeness , and you wi l led thed ivers i ty of peoples w i th in the un i ty of thehuman fami ly . At t imes , however , theequal i ty of your sons and daughters hasnot been acknowledged , and Chr i s t ianshave been gu i l ty of at t i tudes of re ject ionand exc lus ion , consent ing to acts ofd i scr iminat ion on the bas i s of rac ia l andethn ic d i f ference . Forg ive us and grant usthe grace to hea l the wounds s t i l l presentin your communi ty on account of s in , sothat we wi l l a l l fee l ourse lves to be yoursons and daughters . ”

D ign i ty of the HumanPersonA Fundamenta l Pro -L i feI ssueLocal ConcernsSaints

Contents

The foundat ion of a l l Catho l i c soc ia l teach ing i s the be l ie f that a l l peopleare created in the image and l ikeness of God , the i r Creator .

"The d iv ine image i s present in every man . I t sh ines for th in thecommunion of persons , in the l i keness of the un i ty of the d iv ine personsamong themse lves . "

Read more at  CCC 1700- 1709

I t i s thanks to our Chr i s t ian i ty that western cu l ture has va lued a l l humanl i fe as equal in d ign i ty . Scr ipture at tes ts to th i s rea l i ty repeated ly :

Genes i s 1 :26   - God created man and woman in h i s image .

Deuteronomy 10 : 17 - 19 - God loves the orphan , the w idow, and thest ranger .

Psa lms 139 : 13 - 16   - God formed each of us and knows us in t imate ly .

Luke 10 :25 -37   - The  good Samar i tan recognized the d ign i ty in theother and cared for h i s l i fe .

Romans 12 :9 - 18   - Love one another , contr ibute to the needs of others ,l i ve peaceably w i th a l l .

1 Cor inth ians 3 : 16   - You are ho ly , for you are God ’ s temple and Goddwel l s in you .

Galat ians 3 :27 -28  - A l l Chr i s t ians are one in Chr i s t Jesus .

1 John 4 :7 - 12   - Let us love one another because love i s f rom God .

D I G N I T Y O F T H E H U M A N P E R S O N

In  h i s encyc l i ca l Evangel ium Vi tae ,   ' The Gospe l of L i fe ' ,  Pope St . John PaulI I lays the foundat ion for the Church ' s cons i s tent and comprehens ive pro -l i fe teach ing .

"Every ind iv idual , prec i se ly by reason of the mystery of the Word of Godwho was made f lesh (cf . Jn 1 : 14 ) , i s entrusted to the maternal care of theChurch . Therefore every threat to human d ign i ty and l i fe mustnecessar i l y be fe l t in the Church ' s very heart ; i t cannot but affect her atthe core of her fa i th in the Redempt ive Incarnat ion of the Son of God ,and engage her in her miss ion of proc la iming the Gospe l of l i fe in a l lthe wor ld and to every creature (cf . Mk 16 : 15) . "

Evangel ium Vi tae 3

Confront ing rac i sm, wh ich most s imply i s a re ject ion of the un iversa ld ign i ty of human persons , i s therefore an essent ia l pro - l i fe task of theChurch .

In the i r 2018 le t ter Open Wide Our Hearts , the Uni ted States Counc i l ofCatho l i c B i shops (USCCB) says ,

The in jus t i ce and harm rac i sm causes are an at tack on human l i fe . TheChurch in the Uni ted States has spoken out cons i s tent ly and forcefu l lyagainst abort ion , ass i s ted su ic ide , euthanas ia , the death penal ty , andother forms of v io lence that threaten human l i fe . I t i s not a secret thatthese at tacks on human l i fe have severe ly affected people of co lor , whoare d i sproport ional ly affected by poverty , targeted for abort ion , haveless access to hea l thcare , have the greatest numbers on death row , andare most l i ke ly to fee l pressure to end the i r l i ves when fac ing ser iousi l lness . As b i shops , we unequivoca l ly s tate that rac i sm i s a l i fe i s sue .Accord ing ly , we w i l l not cease to speak forcefu l ly against and worktoward ending rac i sm . Rac i sm d i rect ly p laces brother and s i s ter againsteach other , v io lat ing the d ign i ty inherent in each person . The Apost leJames commands the Chr i s t ian : “ show no part ia l i ty as you adhere to thefa i th in our g lor ious Lord Jesus Chr i s t ” ( James 2 : 1 ) .

Open Wide Our Hearts , 30

A F U N D A M E N T A L P R O - L I F E I S S U E

Rac ism i s a g lobal i s sue but i t i s mani fes ted in d i f ferent ways in loca lcommuni t ies . Here in the Diocese of Super ior , where we have a s t rongerpresence of Nat ive Amer ican peoples , one of the most press ing works of i srac ia l reconc i l ia t ion and harmony wi th the Nat ive populat ion .

Here are some ideas to learn more about the cha l lenges we face here aswe l l as some ways that we can get invo lved in l i v ing out the Lord ' s ca l l toun i ty and harmony ( John 17)

READ:

Evangel ium Vi tae , the foundat ion for the Church ' s cons i s tent pro - l i feeth ic

Open Wide Our Hearts , the USCCB's le t ter on rac i sm in the Uni tedStates

Rac ism and the Nat ive Amer ican Exper ience , USCCB

LEARN:

Learn about the d i f ferent Nat ive Amer ican Nat ions and Tr ibes inWiscons in . You can f ind l inks to the i r webs i tes here .

VOLUNTEER/DONATE:

Did you know that w i th in the Diocese of Super ior there i s a Catho l i cMiss ion located on Lac Courte Ore i l les Ind ian reservat ion?

The Schoo l S i s ters of St . Franc i s have had a presence there for over100 years and run a tu i t ion f ree schoo l among other outreaches . Theyre ly pr imar i ly on donat ions and vo lunteers . Check out the i r webs i te orcontact them d i rect ly to see i f there i s an area that you can vo lunteerfor or donate to .

Phone : 7 15 .865 .3669Webs i te : www .s t f ranc i smiss ion .orgEmai l :   in fo@stfranc i smiss ion .org

L O C A L C O N C E R N S

Saint Kater i  Tekakwi tha

St . Kater i was ab le to model the joy and love ofChr i s t throughout her l i fe desp i te a l l of theoverwhe lming cha l lenges she faced . READ HERSTORY

Father Augustus To l ton

Fr . To l ton was the f i r s t Afr i can Amer ican to becomea pr ies t in the Uni ted States . He was born intos lavery and even after he obta ined h i s f reedom, hefaced much d i scr iminat ion as he fo l lowed h i svocat ion . READ HIS STORY

St . Kather ine Drexe l

St . Kather ine was mot ivated by the suffer ings andin jus t i ces that she saw d i rected towards the Afr i canAmer ican and Nat ive Amer ican communi t ies to s tar ta re l ig ious order to min i s ter to them. She workedt i re less ly bu i ld ing schoo ls and miss ions across theUni ted States even founding a un ivers i ty . READHER STORY

St . Peter C laver

St . Peter was Spanish miss ionary to Cartagena thenthe ch ief center of the s lave t rade . He min i s teredto hundreds of thousands of newly arr ived s lavesover the course of h i s l i fe , car ing for both the i rphys ica l and sp i r i tua l needs . READ HIS STORY

S A I N T L Y W I T N E S S E S

Servant of God Nicho las Wi l l iam Black E lk , Sr .

Nicho las B lack E lk cou ld become the f i r s t maleNat ive Amer ican canonized sa int f rom the U .S . Hewas a convert and catech i s t who lead an exemplaryl i fe among the Lakota people . READ HIS STORY

St . Joseph ine Bakh i ta

St . Joseph ine was born in Afr i ca and was ens lavedat a very young age . Her youth was f i l l ed w i thhorr i f i c exper ience before she was f ina l ly f reed . Shebecame a re l ig ious s i s ter and her l i fe of char i tyinsp i red many . READ HER STORY

St .   Jun ipero Serra

Known as the miss ionary to Cal i forn ia , St . Jun iperofounded 7 miss ions where he min i s tered to thenat ive peoples of the area . He was a t i re lesschampion for them against the un jus t secu larleaders of the t ime . READ HIS STORY

St . Damien of Moloka i

St . Damien vo lunteered to be a pr ies t on the i s landof Moloka i . He became an advocate for thosesuffer ing f rom Hansen ' s Disease as we l l aspersonal ly prov id ing medica l and sp i r i tua lass i s tance to those he l i ved among . He eventua l lycontracted the d i sease and shared in the suffer ingof those he had loved so much . READ HIS STORY

S A I N T L Y W I T N E S S E S