On eve of Ferguson, Bishop Braxton says Catholic church needs more connection to black struggles

By Kristen Taketa
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
10 hrs ago

SHREWSBURY • The Roman Catholic church is too timid and too silent about the racial inequalities that make African-Americans suffer, Bishop Edward Braxton of the Belleville Diocese argued in a speech Monday night that was critical of — but hopeful for — the church.

On the eve of the second anniversary of the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Braxton admonished the church overall for failing to engage African-Americans enough as more black men die from police shootings, such as Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

“Sadly, I know many African-American Catholics who do not believe that their black lives matter in the Catholic church as much as white lives matter,” he said.

The church is frequently not even welcoming enough to its own African-American members, of which there are few — and it’s not surprising why there are few, said the bishop, himself black.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/on-eve-of-ferguson-s-anniversary-bishop-braxton-says-catholic/article_58b28bfa-cbe8-5b56-8a90-7d878dfd50d5.html