CHARLOTTE — Conversations about how to combat racism are continuing among Catholics in Charlotte, and their latest effort to encourage racial unity and promote social justice featured the leaders of Pax Christi USA.
Pax Christi USA is a national Catholic peace movement founded in 1972, part of Pax Christi International. Sister Patricia Chappell, its executive director, and Sister Anne-Louise Nadeau, director of programs, were hosted by Our Lady of Consolation Parish in Charlotte Nov. 16-17, where they met with local Catholic leaders from parishes that have been working to bridge the divide between races in Charlotte following racial protests that erupted in 2016. The racial protests, sparked by a police shooting, led to the death of a young member of Our Lady of Consolation Parish.
Members from that parish joined with parishioners from St. Peter, St. Gabriel, St. Luke and St. Matthew churches – vowing to improve racial relations among Catholics, one person, one conversation, one encounter at a time.
Pictured: People gathered to hear Sister Patricia Chappell, executive director of Pax Christi USA and member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, speak at Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte Nov. 16-17. (Photo provided by Morris Whitaker)
Catholic teaching is clear, both sisters noted in their talks: racism is a sin and every Catholic has an obligation to speak out against it.
“We have to deal with economic and interracial injustice,” said Sister Patricia. “Being a Catholic organization, we must begin with our own beloved Church.”
Sister Patricia noted the U.S. bishops’ approval last week of a new pastoral letter against racism, “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love.”
“Despite many promising strides made in our country, racism still infects our nation,” the pastoral letter stated. “Racist acts are sinful because they violate justice. They reveal a failure to acknowledge the human dignity of the persons offended, to recognize them as the neighbors Christ calls us to love.”
The pastoral letter also stated: “As Christians, we are called to listen and know the stories of our brothers and sisters. We must create opportunities to hear, with open hearts, the tragic stories that are deeply imprinted on the lives of our brothers and sisters, if we are to be moved with empathy to promote justice. ...We must invite into dialogue those we ordinarily would not seek out. We must work to form relationships with those we might regularly try to avoid.”
Sister Patricia noted that the bishops called for concrete steps to combat racism – covering topics such as racial slurs and jokes to racial profiling, xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiments. Racism is a personal sin, but also a collective or social sin, she emphasized.
“We as parishes and dioceses are going to be mandated, not just if we feel like it, but mandated, to look at the issues of systemic racism,” Sister Patricia said. “We need to get behind our bishop, our clergy, our systems and our diocese, or it won’t happen.”
Nearly all of the U.S. bishops, including Bishop Peter Jugis, voted for the pastoral letter, she noted, “but we cannot be satisfied until it is spoken about on every pulpit, talked about in every school, in every diocese and in every office. It’s our mandate, as baptized Catholics, to be concerned about systemic racism. We have no other choice (but) to be our sisters’ and brothers’ keeper. You and I are the Church, but some of us don’t believe it. Therefore, some of us get scared to address the bishop or the Church. Catholic social teaching says to every one of us: we have the right to organize.”
Sister Patricia Chappell spoke as part of an ongoing campaign by several Charlotte parishes to encourage dialogue between white and black Catholics and promote racial unity in Charlotte. (Lisa Geraci | Catholic News Herald)In her remarks, Sister Anne-Louise acknowledged that confronting with honesty the impacts of “white privilege” on her own life has been difficult.
“I have lost friends during the way, but I like the woman I have become,” she said.
Talking about race, Sister Anne-Louise emphasized, “is not about putting more guilt on people, it is not about shaming. It is just about talking about the truth, and sometimes the truth has got to hurt a little bit before anything good comes out of it.”
As with past events, participants gathered in small groups to talk about racism, their own experiences and memories, and how their Catholic faith informs their view of the problem. Several people brought up instances where they were discriminated against, or heard family members use racially-tinged terms in referring to people of color. Some said they felt embarrassed to talk about race, or pressured not to talk about it.
“We must deal with systemic racism that exists in our Catholic Church, systemic racism that exists in our nation and in the world. We have to be able to do it openly, honestly, relevantly – but also frankly,” Sister Patricia said. “In order to be in right relationships, we need to be able to tell the truth. People of color, we can’t do it by ourselves, because if we could have, we would have done it a long time ago. White folk, you can’t do it by yourselves. We have to do it together. But in order to do it together we have to deal with the pain and the hurt, with the rage, and the reverence of who we are called to be, and that is children of God. We are all called to be children of God.”
The day ended with suggestions for practical action, including: finding ways (individually and collectively) to get out of one’s social, racial and cultural “comfort zone”; being more empathetic; reaching out to others and finding ways to work together; addressing the “isms” of society with children; reaching out across parishes and continuing cross-cultural work; forming a delegation to dis-cuss with Bishop Jugis how the Charlotte diocese could implement the new pastoral letter; and fostering further discussion.
— Lisa Geraci, correspondent
More online
Read the full text of the U.S. bishops’ new pastoral letter against racism, “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love”
Restoration effort begins with careful survey of historic Asheville church
Using drones and laser scanners, technicians survey St. Lawrence Basilica Oct. 10 as part of an extensive evaluation that will determine what needs to be done to restore the historic church. (Photos by John Cosmas | Catholic News Herald)ASHEVILLE — Architects and historians are using the latest technology to help save historic St. Lawrence Basilica.
Armed with laser scanners, drones and cameras, experts carefully scrutinized every inch of the century- old basilica in downtown Asheville for two weeks in October – climbing all over the dome, descending into the basement, and even rappelling down the two bell towers and exterior walls as curious passersby stopped to watch. Their goal: to evaluate the extent of damage done to the basilica by water, winter temperatures and 100-plus years of use.
The basilica has deteriorated over the years and shows signs of damage – everything from crumbling tile and brickwork to moisture damage and cracks in the famed dome ceiling. The stunning tile-decorated apse and chapels, as well as the brick walls, need cleaning from 109 years of incense, candles and heating.
Experts are analyzing the drone photos, laser infrared assessments and extensive evaluations taken inside and outside the basilica to help develop a restoration plan, said Jim Crumlish, president of the Basilica Preservation Fund Inc. That plan is expected by mid-2019.
The Basilica Preservation Fund Inc., a non-profit, tax-exempt organization dedicated to protecting and raising awareness about the historic structure, is leading the preservation effort in coordination with parish and Diocese of Charlotte officials. The fund was set up in 2008 in part to help enable a national campaign to try to acquire donors who could be interested in preserving a historic landmark like this.
Preserving and updating the basilica could cost anywhere from $10 million to $15 million or more, Crumlish estimates.
The historic basilica in downtown Asheville was built from 1905 to 1909 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only work by renowned architect Rafael Guastavino that he both designed and constructed.
Guastavino, nicknamed “the architect of New York,” was famous for his vaulted domes and herringbone tile work in Carnegie Hall, Grand Central Terminal, the American Museum of Natural History, St. Patrick Cathedral, the Federal Reserve Bank and the Great Hall on Ellis Island in New York, as well as Grant’s Tomb and the U.S. Army War College in Washington, D.C., among hundreds of other buildings. Work on the Biltmore House brought him to Asheville, where the Spanish immigrant decided to make his home. He died in 1908 and was laid to rest in a crypt to the left of the basilica’s altar, behind a door covered with tiles and a medallion made by his son and partner, Rafael Jr.
Guastavino is credited with reviving an ancient tile and mortar building system that was used for centuries in Spain, and there has been renewed interest in his work following the restoration of Grand Central Terminal and other Guastavino works in New York City. Read more about its history.
Because of that history, the hope is that fans of Guastavino might be interested in restoring this unique work to its original splendor, noted Anthony Morlando, diocesan director of properties and risk management.
The first step is determining the extent of the damage wrought on the basilica during the past century.
“They are still quite early in the process,” Morlando said. “First is to study what needs to be done, then qualifying costs and then proceeding with a national capital campaign to raise the necessary funds. There is much work ahead of us to get to the point where we’re actually restoring the basilica.”
Joseph K. Oppermann-Architect, P.A. of Winston-Salem, a preservation expert known in the Asheville area for his work at the Biltmore Estate and the Thomas Wolfe House, will lead the overall project to determine the basilica’s preservation needs. Vertical Access, based in Ithaca, N.Y., is assessing the building’s condition.
The basilica was built without wood beams or steel, with massive stone foundations. All floors, ceilings and pillars are tile and masonry material. The tile dome, clad in copper, is believed to be the largest unsupported elliptical dome in North America. And nearly every part of the building is showing its age.
“When one of the workers did her first rappel off the building, she grabbed on to a brick and it came off in her hand. There’s some obvious weakness in the basic structure. We don’t know how much. Luckily, there was also a soaking, driving rain while the crew was using infrared. This should help follow the water to the source of the leaks,” Crumlish said.
“The firm will sit down and go through photo by photo and identify ‘how do we correct this?’ There’s a lot of work behind it,” he said.
At the same time as they are assessing the damage, historians are also working on creating a historical structure report which is useful for fundraising, Crumlish said. This report identifies what the basilica was like in its initial design, what changes have taken place over the years, and what needs to be done to restore the building to its original design.
The hope is that foundations interested in architectural preservation will contribute financially to the restoration effort, Crumlish said, who also chairs the parish finance council. “Our mission is to use a minimal amount of parish funds.”
“Restoring the basilica absolutely needs to be done,” Morlando said.
This isn’t the first time an evaluation of the basilica has been conducted. A study in 2004-2005 determined that it would cost $5 million to fix the roof, but that work wasn’t performed. More than a decade later, Crumlish said he suspects additional deterioration and rising construction costs mean that the project will total significantly more.
In addition to the structure, Crumlish said, they hope to be able to address other issues in the building including updating the HVAC, lighting and acoustics, as well as cleaning the dome.
— Kimberly Bender, online reporter. Photos by John Cosmas.
More online
At www.savethebasilica.org: Learn more about St. Lawrence Basilica and the efforts to preserve it.
