by Sr. Maureen McLaughlin, SNDdeN
Pax Christi USA National Staff member
On Saturday, May 14, Ronaldo Cruz, Sisters Anne-Louise Nadeau, SNDdeN, Jamie Phelps, OP, and Patricia Chappell, SNDdeN presented the seventh and final workshop entitled, “We Grow Together: Catholic Communities of Color and Pax Christi USA.”
One purpose of the workshop was to bring together adult Catholic Latino/as, Hispanics, and African-Americans from local Catholic parishes of the Washington, D.C. area and members of Pax Christi USA Metro D.C.-Baltimore, to celebrate one another’s unique gifts to the Catholic-Christian community and to do the social analysis of Pax Christi USA’s four initiatives as they relate to Catholic Communities of Color. What unfolded was an in-depth day of mutual learning of African-American, Latino/a Hispanic contributions to the Catholic community here in the United States as well as group work in presenting concrete steps to further network with Catholic Adults of Color and Pax Christi members of Metro D.C.-Baltimore to address issues of injustice in these communities.
I was energized by the presentations re: Catholic Communities of Color and Pax Christi. I was most grateful to learn more history of people of color and their commitment to the mission of our Church in and beyond communities of color. Glad to be in this communion of saints and to continue following Jesus as they did, marked with the sign of our Catholic faith.