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Addressing the Sin of Racism

“Racism is a life issue [that] still profoundly affects our culture, and has no place in the Christian heart.”
— U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Open Wide Our Hearts—A Pastoral Letter Against Racism

Advancing Racial Equity

Catholic Mobilizing Network’s advocacy to end the death penalty highlights the deep-rooted racism and institutionalized discrimination within the U.S. criminal legal system, which leads to the disproportionate incarceration of Black and Brown individuals—particularly on death row.

The misuse and abuse of power perpetuate racial violence and deny human beings of their equal and God-given dignity. As a community of believers, we are called to engage in racial justice efforts at individual, social, and systemic levels. Our goal is to foster truth-telling, dismantle unjust systems, and build up approaches to justice that are equitable, restorative, and life-affirming.

CMN’s commitment to ending capital punishment includes our consistent advocacy to oppose executions. Join us in advocating for mercy, and make a meaningful difference in rejecting this vengeful approach to justice that is rooted in a legacy of racism.

Racism is a virus that quickly mutates and, instead of disappearing, retreats underground only to keep reemerging.

There is a need for paths of peace to heal open wounds. This requires a patient effort to seek truth and justice, to honor the memory of victims, and to open the way, step by step, to a shared hope.

— Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti

November 2025: Special Jubilee Year Experience in Montgomery & Selma, AL

Journeying as Pilgrims of Hope!

On November 5-7, 2025, CMN invites National Catholic Ministry Leaders for a transformative experience, to learn about the racist roots of the capital punishment and mass incarceration systems, and reflect on how we are called to advance truth-telling and healing.

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Deepen Your Understanding

In its mission to end the death penalty, advance justice, and begin healing, Catholic Mobilizing Network strives to foster education, advocacy, and prayer to help understand and overcome the sin of racism. Explore our resources and opportunities for engagement.

The legacy of our nation’s history of slavery, lynching, and segregation is manifest in contemporary injustices, such as mass incarceration, capital punishment, and the racial disparities embedded in the criminal legal system. Advancing justice requires an understanding of the relationship between past and modern-day systems of oppression.

  • [One-Pager] Racism and the Death Penalty: Compounding Systems of Dehumanization
  • [One-Pager] Restorative Approaches in a Time of Racial Reckoning
  • [One-Pager] Racism and the Criminal Justice System (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)
  • [Pamphlet] The Movie Just Mercy: A Catholic Study Guide

We draw inspiration and wisdom from the words of leaders within our Church who have spoken out against racism, including Pope Francis and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“As bishops, we unequivocally state that racism is a life issue [that] still profoundly affects our culture, and has no place in the Christian heart. It is a perversion of the Lord’s will for men and women, all of whom were made in God’s image and likeness.
Examining our sinfulness—individually, as the Christian community, and as a society—is a humbling experience. Only from a place of humility can we look honestly at past failures, ask for forgiveness, and move toward healing and reconciliation.”

— U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Open Wide Our Hearts

Explore the following foundational texts and resources:

Throughout time, and here in the United States, Christian and Catholic individuals and institutions have been complicit in violence that eroded the dignity and rights of Native people and communities, seeking to dismantle families and erase cultural traditions. CMN humbly acknowledges these injustices as violations of human dignity that are contrary to Catholic teaching.

Informed by relationships with Native and non-Native people who are committed to truth and healing efforts within Catholic institutions, CMN reflects on the need to learn and discern institutional and individual responses to harm committed against Indigenous peoples and ongoing reparative efforts.

  • [Resource] Addressing the Harms of Native American Residential Boarding Schools
  • [Blog] “In order to heal from Native American Boarding Schools, we need to face the hurt”, by Maka Akan Najin Black Elk
  • [Video] Historical Harms and Racial Injustice — Plenary session form the 2023 National Catholic Conference on Restorative Justice, co-hosted by Catholic Mobilizing Network and the Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing at the St. Thomas School of Law.
  • [Organization] U.S. Catholic Indigenous Boarding Schools Accountability and Healing Project

Our work to address the sin of racism is strongly rooted in prayer. Prayer transforms hearts and minds to combat racial injustices in a spirit of love, compassion, and courage. We humbly follow the path of “all those who, amid great inhumanity and corruption, retained their dignity and chose the part of solidarity, forgiveness and fraternity” (Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti).

Join CMN for a transformative two-day experience in Montgomery and Selma, Alabama. Learn about the racist roots of the capital punishment and mass incarceration systems, and reflect with fellow Catholic ministry leaders on how we are called to advance truth-telling and healing.

Since 2022, CMN has hosted multiple delegations of national Catholic ministry leaders in Montgomery and Selma to witness landmarks of racial violence and resilience in the heart of the domestic slave trade, the Confederacy, and the Civil Rights Movement. Through encounter, prayer, and dialogue, participants discern how Catholic leaders are called to play a more active role in truth-telling and healing efforts to move our Church and country forward.

You can participate as an individual, or request that CMN host a specific delegation for your Catholic institution or ministry network.

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