Father Massingale Calls for Church to Fight Racial Injustice

Some called it an uncomfortable message—“An Inconvenient Truth”—borrowing the title from the famous documentary. On Nov. 13, before an overflow crowd in the Soda Center, Father Bryan Massingale called out the Catholic Church for doing too little to fight racial injustice. “If a Church is going to speak with credibility, it has to be attentive to what is going on in the world,” he said.

As one of the world’s leading Catholic scholars of African American theological ethics and liberation theology, Father Massingale cited several high-profile cases of racial injustice—just in the last four years. “Looking at it through the lens of 2019 graduates,” he said, “this is what they’ve seen.”

Ferguson. Charleston. The controversial deaths of Walter Scott, Philando Castile, Freddie Gray, and Trayvon Martin. Add to that the Philadelphia Starbucks incident, the NFL protests, and what Father Massingale called the “white nationalist marchers with tiki torches” in Charlottesville. “We are living at a time of increased racial tension, polarization, and division...worse than this country has experienced in over two generations,” he said.

Each case of racism, Father Massingale argued, warranted a strong stand from his religious community. “But the official Catholic response called for dialogue, order, and calm. The implicit undertone is that those who are protesting are the source or the cause of social disruption, and they bear the burden of restoring peace.”

In quoting Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 letter from a Birmingham jail, Father Massingale said, “I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate...who is more devoted to order than justice; who prefers a negative peace—which is the absence of tension—to the positive peace— which is the presence of justice.”

Giving examples of what he called racial injustice against a broader demographic than just African Americans, Father Massingale talked about President Trump’s words and actions over the last two years.

“Trump’s ‘I’m a nationalist’ comment will likely represent the biggest boon for white supremacists,” he said, citing a second statement Trump made about the migrant caravan’s including ‘criminals and unknown middle easterners.’  

“This is the state of our country,” Father Massingale said. “This is what calls for a response from the faith community for the sake of the Gospel, and for the integrity of this faith.”

It isn’t that the Church is completely complacent, Father Massingale noted, but that dialogue alone is not enough. “Dialogue gives a shallow feeling of well-being. ‘Aren’t we good for doing that? We had this dialogue.’ And it excuses further action, saying ‘what more do you want?’ ”

Father Massingale offered what he called “a really bold statement” for why the Catholic Church has a “default of dialogue that is often ineffective.” He blamed the Church’s own self-understanding as being a white institution. “What makes the Church white and racist,” he said, “is the pervasive belief that European aesthetics, music, theology...are standard, normative, universal, and truly Catholic.”  

In a closing argument that triggered enthusiastic applause, Father Massingale left the audience with a call to action. “Theologically speaking, dialog without action and commitment is simply cheap grace. My challenge to you...is to take up the mantle De La Salle has given you. I invite you into the race. I want you to carry the baton.”

The evening’s events concluded with Father Massingale’s being honored as the College’s 2018 Montini Fellow for his scholarly and practical contributions toward advancing antiracism and inclusion in the Church and beyond. The award is presented by the Cummins Institute for Catholic Thought, Culture, and Action. The event was sponsored by the Cummins Institute with support from the Catholic Institute for Lasallian Social Action (CILSA), the Mission and Ministry Center, and SMC’s Department of Theology & Religious Studies.