Read and study the Bishops’ recent pastoral letter against racism, Open Wide Our Hearts (Spanish), and utilize their study guide to deepen your prayer and learning.

Study Guide – Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love
All who seek to open wide their hearts through prayerful engagement with this letter are invited to pray, listen, study, reflect, and respond. This study guide and the resources within are designed to complement the pastoral letter and will aid in grasping the spirit and intent of the letter.

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Webinar Series from the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM):

Breaking Open the Letter and Exploring How to Apply it in a Ministry Context – Free, four-part webinar series

Click on the images below to access the recorded webinar video. You will have to register your name and email address to watch each of the webinars.

Session 1: Empowering Church Leaders to Address Racism

Session 2: Empowering Church Leaders to Address Racism – Continuing the Conversation

Session 3: The Sin of Jesuit Slave Holding: Continuing the Conversation on Racism

Session 4: Just Mercy – An Opportunity for Church Leaders to Address Racism

How can we have honest, critical, and courageous conversations to move toward healing and restoring the dignity of all people? Join us to learn conversation techniques and receive resources to assist in facilitating these essential conversations with young people, colleagues, friends and family. Let’s take a bold step and explore these questions together with a diverse panel of presenters including: Pamela Harris (Diocese of Columbus), Deacon Art Miller (Archdiocese of Hartford), Greg “Dobie” Moser (Diocese of Cleveland) and Moderated by Darius Villalobos (NFCYM).

Click on the image below to watch the free webinar. Note: You will have to register your name and email address to watch.

Intercultural Competencies – This page explains the five competencies that were defined by the U.S. bishops in making “Recognition of Cultural Diversity in the Church” one of their priorities. Learn more about how the Diocese of St. Petersburg is working on building intercultural competencies in our diocese here.

Building Intercultural Competencies
Intercultural Competencies – This page explains the five competencies that were defined by the U.S. bishops in making “Recognition of Cultural Diversity in the Church” one of their priorities. Learn more about how the Diocese of St. Petersburg is working on building intercultural competencies in our diocese here.

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Is There Room for Me?
How do we build one parish out of many languages and cultures? How do we welcome others in a way that helps all of us feel that this parish is our home? This booklet, Is There Room for Me? A Catholic Guide and Response to Immigration, helps parishes frame, discuss, and answer these questions for themselves. Perfect for parish groups or individual reflection.

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Best Practices for Shared Parishes
This resource assists pastors of culturally diverse parishes in building unity in diversity. Identifies pastoral responses and proven best practices in relation to intercultural competencies in attitudes, knowledge, and skills. Parishes can discern pastoral planning strategies and opportunities that will lead to a higher level of stewardship.

Read and study the Bishops’ recent pastoral letter against racism, Open Wide Our Hearts (Spanish), and utilize their study guide (Spanish) to deepen your prayer and learning. Find webinars and other resources about the pastoral letter under the Open Wide Our Hearts section above.

Find additional resources on the USCCB’s website.

Backgrounders from the USCCB

What is Systemic Racism?: English | Spanish
Racism and Economic Inequality: English | Spanish
Racism and Education: English | Spanish
Racism and Employment: English | Spanish
Racism and Housing: English | Spanish
Racism and Migration: English | Spanish
Racism and the Criminal Justice System: English | Spanish
Racism and Voting: English | Spanish
Racism and the Native American Experience: English | Spanish

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Selection of Quotes from Pope Francis on Equality, Fraternity, Racism

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Responding to the Sin of Racism Resources – This packet, which includes bulletin text, handouts, and memes, was compiled by various offices of the USCCB.

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Examining Our Subconscious Perceptions | Spanish
This resource is designed to illustrate how subconscious thoughts are often based on words, people, or objects that we commonly associate with each other. In Open Wide Our Hearts, the bishops write that these often unconscious biases contribute to a failure to value each person’s dignity.

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Diversity and Racial Justice Resources. . . – The WeAreSaltandLight.org. . . website of the USCCB Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development includes a Diversity and Racial Justice page that features videos and articles on this topic.

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Rebuilding the Bridge: 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement – The U.S. recently celebrated the 50th anniversaries of several important civil rights milestones. To commemorate these important events and the contributions of many Catholics to the civil rights movement, Cultural Diversity in the Church and African American Affairs, in collaboration with several other organizations, has launched Rebuilding the Bridge: African American Affairs’ 50th Anniversary Initiative.

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The Racial Divide in the United States – Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Ph.D., S.T.D., Bishop of Belleville (Illinois) shares his thoughts on racism in his pastoral letter and study guide, The Racial Divide in the United States: A Reflection for the World Day of Peace 2015.

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Letter from Birmingham Jail Study Guide – In recognition of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, Christian Churches Together, one of the largest ecumenical organizations in the U.S., offered a response and created a Study Guide to facilitate reflection either for groups or individuals.  The webpage for this important document also has an additional introduction for Catholics to the Study Guide and an introductory letter from Bishop Madden and Bishop Flores.

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Webinars and Online Discussions from the Diocese of St. Petersburg

Sign up for our email list to receive information on local upcoming webinars, online discussions and events here.

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On July 27, 2020, an online discussion took place called: Why Do They March? Answering the Questions that Divide Us so that Understanding and Love Can Unite Us. A panel of five Tampa Bay area Catholics responded to some challenging questions regarding racism. 

St. Joseph Catholic Church and St. Paul Catholic Church, both located in St. Petersburg, entered into a process to courageously listen and dialogue on race. On October 22, 2020, local pastors, Monsignor Robert Gibbons of St. Paul, and Father Stephan Brown, SVD of St. Joseph had a conversation that was streamed on St. Joseph’s Facebook page and website. 

October 28, 2020 – Monthly Conversation about Race online discussion. The speaker Monsignor Carruthers, parochial administrator of Resurrection Parish in Riverview. He talked about “Racism is a Life Issue.”

November 19, 2020 – Monthly Conversation about Race online discussion. The speaker was Dr. Moneque Walker-Pickett, a professor at St. Leo University. She talked about “The Result of No Action: Why We Need to Work Together for Justice.”

February 24, 2021 – Monthly Conversation about Race online discussion. The speaker was Dr. Ansel Augustine, Executive Director of Cultural Diversity and Outreach for the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. He talked about “Black History Month – Why It’s Important” and what we can do in observance of it in February and beyond.

March 24, 2021 and March 25, 2021 – Can American be Bi-lingual and United?
Presenter: Fr. Rafael Capó, the Vice President for Mission and Ministry and Dean of Theology at St Thomas University, is a priest of the Archdiocese of Miami and a Missionary of Mercy by appointment of Pope Francis. Watch the dialogues in English and Spanish below.

April 27, 2021 – Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation
1-hour, virtual experience. Sponsored by the Diocesan Racial Justice Committee. The simulation was created to help people understand how federal policies have created and sustained the gaps in wealth income, and hunger between white and black Americans, and by extension, the systemic racial discrimination that all communities of color confront. Watch/listen to the recording below.
Powerpoint of Simulation

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Other Webinars

Racism in Our Streets and Structures: A Test of Faith, a Crisis for our Nation: Georgetown University Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life
Learn more about this initiative on their website, complete with further resources. Watch a recorded dialogue that took place on June 5, 2020, as part of this initiative, below.

Reconciling the Body of Christ: Race and Reconciliation
Fr. Mike Schmitz sits down with Fr. Josh Johnson to discuss racial division in the Church and how Catholics can strive to restore unity in the Body of Christ.

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Looking for ways to talk about working against racism with children? Find resources below and on the USCCB’s website.

Grade K Activity: We Are All Sacred: English | Spanish
(“God’s Children of the World” slideshow)

Grade 1 Activity: Fr. Augustus Tolton Story: English | Spanish

Grade 2 Activity: What Makes a Person?: English | Spanish

Grade 3 Activity: How Do We Respect Human Dignity?: English | Spanish

Grade 4 Activity: The Beatitudes Show Us True Happiness: English | Spanish

Grade 5 Activity A: Racism Imperils the Unity of the Body of Christ: English | Spanish

Grade 5 Activity B: Implicit Bias and the Unity of the Body of Christ: English | Spanish

Grade 6 Activity: The Unity of God’s Family: English | Spanish

Grade 7 Activity: Social Sin, Racism, and Our Response – The Native American Experience: English | Spanish

Grade 8 Activity: Understanding Individual vs. Institutional Racism: English | Spanish 

Looking for ways to talk about working against racism with high schoolers? Find resources below and on the USCCB’s website.

High School Activity: Fr. Augustus Tolton

High School Activity: Dehumanization in Nazi Germany

High School Activity: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy

High School Activity: Structures of Sin and Racism

Activity for College Campus Communities

The USCCB Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism and Loyola Press have published a short storybook called, Everyone Belongs, about the reality of racism and our Catholic response. The book is for readers aged 5-12 to reflect on the reality of racism in our society, to see it through the lens of history and faith, and act towards respect, understanding, and friendship. 

Printable activity sheets to accompany Everyone Belongs are available for kindergarten and grades 1 through 5.

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Here is a listing of books for children that talk about racism. Parents, please preview the books first to be sure they are appropriate for your children.