WORLD & NATION Restored Black Catholic churches show power of Black Catholic tradition to evangelize

NEW ORLEANS — At Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in New Orleans, there hangs behind the sanctuary’s altar of worship a mural known as the “Dance of Holy Innocence.” This recently restored mural, and the church it resides in, are symbols of the enduring faith of Black Catholics. Anthony Carter, a parishioner for 16 years, told OSV News the congregation generously donated to restore the mural, which depicts a diverse group of angels surrounding the Virgin Mary, and the result “has lit a fire under this congregation.” Our Lady Star of the Sea is one of a number of Black Catholic churches that have undergone restoration efforts and testify to the enduring importance of parishes formed by Black Catholic traditions to the church’s evangelizing mission. Two Black Catholic parishes -- St. Rita Catholic Church in Indianapolis and the Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk, Virginia -- were among 35 Black Christian churches that received grant money totaling $4 million from the National Trust For Historic Preservation’s African-American Cultural Heritage Action fund. Father Jim Curran, pastor of St. Mary the Immaculate Conception, the nation’s only Black Catholic basilica, told OSV News that African Americans, and members of other ethnic

Compiled from Our Sunday Visitor

LOS ANGELES — The suspect in the shooting death of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell was formal ly charged with murder Feb. 22 after ad mitting to killing him. Bishop O’Connell was found dead of a gunshot wound to his upper torso in his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Hacienda Heights on the afternoon of Feb. 18. Carlos Medina, 61, faces one felony count of murder and a special allegation that he used a firearm, according to the LA County Dis trict Attorney’s Office. Medina pleaded not guilty at his formal arraignment March 22 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Medina is the husband of Bishop O’Connell’s housekeeper and had done handyman work at the home, authorities said. He was arrested at his Torrance home Feb. 20, after a six-hour standoff with SWAT and LA County Sheriff’s deputies. District Attorney George Gascón said at a press conference Feb. 22 that Medina admitted to the killing. If convicted, Medina faces up to 35 years to life in prison.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna comforts Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez while he speaks during a Feb. 20 news conference after the arrest of 61-year-old Carlos Medina, the suspect in the murder of Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced Feb. 22 that Medina has been charged with murder.

OSV News photo/Victor Alemán, Angelus News groups, find a home in the Black Catholic expressions of worship, song, and church life. He said, “Everybody who comes here to worship with us always says, ‘it should be like this everywhere.’”

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Father

PHILADELPHIA — Catholics through out the U.S. are standing in solidarity with Ukraine, as that nation marks the oneyear anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Throughout the war-torn nation, “people have thanked Americans” for their millions of dollars in aid along with prayerful advocacy over the past year, said Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak of Philadelphia, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the U.S. Catholic organizations such as the Knights of Columbus, Aid to the Church in Need, Catholic Near East Welfare Association, the Humanitarian Aid Fund of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in America, and Catholic Relief Services have sent tens of millions of dollars in aid to support Ukrainians and

Ukrainian refugees. Other Catholic entities, such as the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, and The Catholic University of America, have hosted prayer services for Ukraine. Archbishop Gudziak said these efforts show a “steely determination to defend God-given human dignity,” adding, “Now is the time to ramp up support and clearly defeat this attack against democracy and freedom.”

Marc Fallon, executive director of The Labor Guild in the Archdiocese of Boston, does not recall trains being so long in the past. And he sometimes wonders about the freight being carried. “It’s not like there’s neon lights telling you exactly what’s inside, nothing telling you what’s hazardous and not hazardous,” he told OSV News. He points to the Feb. 3 fiery train derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, where toxic chemicals spewed into the air and spilled into water sources, as an example of how communities along major railways can have their lives uprooted in a flash. Catholics, as well as people of faith generally, he said, are bound by their belief in serving the common good to advocate for improved transportation safety in order to protect families, workers, communities and the environment. For Father Fallon and Father Clete Kiley, a Chicago archdiocesan priest who has been a longtime supporter of labor rights, lifting up the voices of workers in the rail industry and elsewhere is a moral imperative. “And communities of faith, I think, really need to engage that,” Father Kiley said.

A burnt container is seen in East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 15, at the site of a train derailment. An Ohio Catholic priest believes “it will be a long time” before he and his parishioners feel secure in their surroundings following the Feb. 3 derailment that dumped toxic chemicals into the

OSV News photo/Alan Freed, Reuters