Following the tragic and horrific events of Charlottesville, Virginia one year ago, the Bishops of the United States formed a committee to focus on addressing the sin of racism and the urgent need to come together as a society to find solutions. A new diocesan Racial Justice Committee will address the issue of racism through a series of events, beginning with a Listening Session designed to offer the faithful an opportunity to share how racism has impacted our lives, our parishes and the Church.

The Listening Session will take place on Wednesday, September 5, 2018, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Higgins Hall at St. Lawrence Parish in Tampa. Bishop Gregory Parkes will be present along with Bishop Shelton J. Fabre, Chair of the US Bishops Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism. Contact Sabrina Burton Schultz, Director of Life, Justice and Advocacy Ministry with questions or to RSVP: sab@dosp.org; 727-344-1611, ext. 5325. RSVP is encouraged but not required. Click here to download a flyer for the listening session.

A workshop titled “Beyond Fear, Beyond Anger: Healing Racial Division in the Church and Society” will be held on Saturday, September 15 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Christ the King Parish in Tampa. The workshop will address questions such as:

• What is racism?
• How is it manifested in our Church and in society today?
• How are we, as Catholic Christians, called to respond to it?

Joan Woody, LCSW, Catholic Charities,  and Jim Cavendish, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of South Florida, will be the presenters and will lead experiential activities and discussions to help participants explore and reflect on the reality of racism and its influence on our personal lives. Hear about how the Catholic Church has responded to contemporary racism and what still needs to be done – by the leaders and the laity – to confront racism and fulfill the commitments made in Brothers and  Sisters to Us: U.S. Bishops’ Pastoral Letter on Racism in Our Day. Click here to download a flyer for the workshop.

Register at: www.dosp.org/life/upcoming-events/.