Racial JUSTICE Ministry

Faith and Immigration Justice facilitates holy and healthy dialogue around immigration, a highly contentious topic that is nevertheless intricately linked with our Christian faith.

Presented in coordination with the Racial Justice Ministry  at St. Odilia Catholic Church, this Faith and Immigration Justice program contains eight two-hour sessions and an immersion experience. Program Goals Include:

• Discern how our faith calls us to respond to the immigration debate happening in our nation and explore the reasons why people choose to come to the United States.
• Learn about basic immigration policy: participants learn how to answer the question “why don’t undocumented immigrants ‘just get in line’ for citizenship?”
• Equip participants and groups to advocate for just, compassionate, and effective immigration policy and to welcome their immigrant neighbors within their own local communities.

January 8, 2026 - Session 1: Introduction to each other and to the theology of migration
January 15, 2026 - Session 2: History of Immigration to the U.S.
January 22, 2026 - Session 3: Simulation on current immigration policies and processes
January 29, 2026 - Session 4: “Why do people migrate?” (part one)
February 5, 2026 - Session 5: Guest speaker and “Why do people migrate?” (part two)
February 12, 2026 - Session 6: Current issues in migration - Immersion Experience (to be determined by the group)
February 19, 2026 - Session 7: Advocating for change
February 26, 2026 - Session 8: Discerning individual and small group action steps

Approximately 1-2 hours of reading will be expected each week after the first session.  Books/resources include:

• The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border, by Francisco Cantú
• Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate, by Matthew Soerens & Jenny Yang
  
  

To learn more visit:  Program Booklet    JustFaith website

Click here to register Here for the ‘Faith and Immigration Justice’ course.

• Type in group number 1826FIJ at the bottom.
• You will need to have a Just Faith account to register.  Create one if needed.
• Class size limited to 20 participants
• Contact Jim Carney, Group Facilitator, at [email protected]if you have any questions.

Soon after the Social Justice Ministry Area Council formed the Racial Equity Ministry, members were interested in learning about the history of racism and discrimination in America that includes both Black people and Indigenous peoples of North America and how we understand racism considering Catholic teachings and our faith. Instead of always swapping book titles when we met, members did research and compiled a book list of broad categories including racism, the church and racism, and racism in the communities of Black, Indigenous, and Hispanic people.

We read our first book:  The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson in November of 2023 and continued in 2024 reading four books about the   experience of African American people and will finish 2025 after reading three books about the history and experience of Indigenous people. 

The 2026 Book Club will embark on an ambitious list of five books that address issues regarding the church and racism. We begin in February 2026 with the book Racial Justice and the Catholic Church by Bryan Massingale. 

The REM Book Club is open to all, specifics about dates and location are published in the church bulletin and e-news. Books are available if needed.

Please join us and send any questions to Cathy Garvey at c[email protected]. 

REM BOOK CLUB 2026

• Racial Justice and the Catholic Church by Bryan N. Massingale
• The 272:  The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church by Rachel L Swarns
• Converting the Rosebud:  Catholic Mission and the LAKOTAS, 1886-1916 (Volume 277) (The Civilization of the American Indian Series) by Harvey Markowitz
• Undoing the Knots: Five Generations of American Catholic Anti-Blackness by Maureen O’Connell
• The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone

"Racism is a serious offense against God precisely because it violates the innate dignity of the human person. At its core racism is a failure to love our neighbor. Since we cannot claim to love God unless we love our neighbor, we can only be one with God if we reject racism and work aggressively to remove it from our personal lives, our church, and our society." In God's Image, a pastoral letter on racism, written in 2003 by the Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn when he was Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Ministry Mission:

To lead and motivate our faith community to make intentional steps toward becoming a parish that is committed to racial and ethnic equity, fosters a sense of belonging among people of all races, respects the humanity of each person, creates a culture that inspires transformative change, and welcomes diverse populations.

Important Links:

• Fr. Rask Letter on Racial Justice (2020)
• The Christian Response to Racism (2020)
• Open Wide Our Hearts Pastoral Letter on Racism (2018)
• In God’s Image Pastoral Letter on Racism (2003)

Click Here to access the following resources for learning more about racism and what you 
can do about it:

• Data Sheets on systemic racism related to several areas (federal policies and laws, 

        education, employment, health and healthcare, housing, policing, and incarceration).

• Resources for learning more and getting involved: 
  • Book List
  • Ongoing Education Opportunities
  • Organizations

Published Articles from REM and Members

1. Racial Covenants (Fall 2024)
2. Immigration Article (Fall 2024)
3. Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (July 2024)
4. Immigrant Heritage Month (June 2024)
5. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 2024)