Below is an excerpt from a letter written by Bishop Earl Fernandes to the parishioners at Columbus St. Dominic Church for their annual Juneteenth celebrations.
As you know, it was on June 19, 1865 that Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the Civil War, drawing to a close a sordid period of history which pitted brother against brother in the United States. Of course, it was preceded by a longer period of time when men and women were treated as objects to be used rather than as persons to be loved. Great cruelty and violence prevailed over common sense. People simply refused to acknowledge the reality before them – that each person is made in the image and likeness of God; that each person possesses dignity; and that a person’s worth is not based on what he or she has or does but is rooted in simply being. This self-evident truth was denied because of profit or bigotry or both. The denial of human dignity, because of the color of a person’s skin or race, was and is a blight on the history of humanity. As I have said before, racism is a sin, and every form of racism must be eradicated from the Church and society.
A recent Vatican document, Dignitas Infinita (n. 6), put it this way:
Indeed, only by “acknowledging the dignity of each human person” can we “contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity.” Pope Francis affirms that “the wellspring of human dignity and fraternity is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” but even human reason can arrive at this conviction through reflection and dialogue since “the dignity of others is to be respected in all circumstances, not because that dignity is something we have invented or imagined, but because human beings possess an intrinsic worth superior to that of material objects and contingent situations. This requires that they be treated differently. That every human being possesses an inalienable dignity is a truth that corresponds to human nature apart from all cultural change.”
Although June 19, 1865, is worth celebrating, we must acknowledge that even after that date a long period of inequality, prejudice and racism continued. Many have worked hard to establish a more just and equitable society; nevertheless, we must not allow new attacks on human dignity and new forms of racism and slavery to gain traction. As you celebrate Juneteenth, I invite you to thank Almighty God for the gift of life He has given you and to remember your own dignity as a child of God. Give thanks to God for the freedom you enjoy, but ask Him for the grace to use your freedom for excellence; for a more just society; for building the civilization of love; for advancing the Kingdom of Christ – a Kingdom of truth, goodness, and love.
