Bishops encourage parishes to celebrate their diversity for Racial Justice Sunday

‘In an increasingly tense climate, it is imperative that we listen to, and learn from, the experiences, challenges and opportunities encountered in the mission of promoting racial justice in Catholic parishes today.’

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has released resources to help parishes create a “culture of welcome and hospitality” for parishioners from all backgrounds, to mark Racial Justice Sunday on 1 February.

These resources encourage inclusive approaches to parish ministry, learning from other cultures and traditions, and celebrating witnesses to the Catholic faith from all over the world.

Racial Justice Sunday is dedicated to the promotion of racial justice in Catholic parishes across England and Wales and in wider society and to raising consciousness of the need for justice in all its forms.

Bishop Paul McAleenan, lead bishop for racial justice, recalled the words of St John in his statement for Racial Justice Sunday: “We cannot love God who we cannot see, if we do not love our brother and sister who we can see.”

Bishop McAleenan appealed to parishes, schools and communities to think of “new, practical ways to express our love” towards one another and to “create the space for everyone to grow so that all can express their dignity, display their ability, be involved, and enabled to contribute”.

The resources include encouragement to venerate saints from a range of different countries and ethnic groups, which can help parishioners from diverse backgrounds to feel included and maintain their sense of connection with the unique expressions of the Catholic faith in their home countries while learning about other cultures.

Catholic parishes in the UK have been given new vitality by parishioners from India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Ukraine and many other countries, including refugees and healthcare professionals recruited by the NHS, many of whom experience unjust stigma due to growing anti-immigration sentiment in the UK.

Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to the contribution of Catholic migrants and refugees in October, describing them as “missionaries of hope in the countries that welcome them”: “With their spiritual enthusiasm and vitality, they can help revitalise ecclesial communities that have become rigid and weighed down, where spiritual desertification is advancing at an alarming rate.”

Bishop McAleenan also referred to Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te and said, “Pope Leo XIV speaks of ‘the poverty of those who do not have the means to give voice to their dignity and abilities’. People are poor not only when they have little material possessions. They are poor and made to feel poor when they are excluded and left out.”

The resources also included recommendations such as having prayers for communities all over the world during Mass, especially those affected by emergencies, using ethnically diverse iconography for prayer cards and other devotional items, encouraging parishioners to contribute music from their cultures in services, and ensuring that the parish safeguarding procedures include protection from discrimination.

The need to help migrants adjust to life in the UK is more acute than ever

Advent reminds us to welcome refugees, says Archbishop Wilson as JRS condemns asylum crackdown

Stay updated — add us as a preferred news source on Google: