Day of Prayer and Fasting for Racial Reconciliation

Bishop David A. Zubik is asking all people of faith in Southwestern Pennsylvania to pray and fast for racial reconciliation on Wednesday, September 9, the memorial day of St. Peter Claver, patron of interracial justice.

“In solidarity with all people who suffer from discrimination and violence due to their race, I join my brother bishops nationwide in asking everyone to pray and work for racial justice and reconciliation,” Bishop Zubik said.

“May God use this opportunity to inspire change, first in our own hearts and then by showing us what we can do as individuals, parishes and communities to build bridges of understanding and true friendship across racial lines”

St. Peter Claver was a 17th century Jesuit priest from Spain who ministered to enslaved Africans in the Caribbean, providing material and spiritual care.

Bishop Zubik also asked local Catholics to seek the intercession of another patron saint of racial justice, who once lived in Pittsburgh. St. Katharine Drexel, who died in 1955, was a wealthy heiress who founded a religious order to educate Black and Indigenous Americans and to oppose racism. She prepared for her ministry while living with and learning from the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh.

“The example and prayers of St. Katharine should inspire us to work as deliberately she did for justice and to speak up and take action whenever we encounter racism,” Bishop Zubik said. “Let the memory of her presence on our streets move us to follow in her footsteps.”

On August 27 Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism asked all people of faith to observe September 9 as a day of fasting and prayer to end racism.

“We urge Catholics to consider attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and offer your participation in reparation for sins of racism to the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” Bishop Fabre said. “We must continue to engage the battle against the current evils of our society and in the words of Dr. King, refuse to believe ‘that the bank of justice is bankrupt.’ Dr. King’s dream, as he himself said, is deeply rooted in the American Dream. Let us not forget the price that he and so many courageous witnesses of all faiths and creeds paid to bring us to this moment.”

Prayer resources are available to help people pray in their homes or in socially-distanced gatherings. These include a novena to end racism, the U.S. Bishops’ Prayer Service for Racial Healing and the readings and prayers for the Memorial of St. Peter Claver.  Resources are also available on the diocesan website’s Catholic Voices on Racism page: https://diopitt.org/catholic-voices-on-racism.