Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland has spoken out several times against the violence in his city, while encouraging Catholics to renew their faith and hope in God.
He said in a July 31 video message that although he worries about the state of the Church and the world, "it's a great time to be a Catholic. I really think the Lord is going to ask some great things of us."
"A lot of the unrest is legitimate, and civilized, and peaceful, and needs to be expressed, and I applaud that and absolutely support that. But we know...some of it has also become very violent and destructive and divisive," Sample said.
Sample said in a Friday interview with EWTN News Nightly that "with the violence that has erupted here in Portland, the focus has been taken off the central issue that we all need to be looking at and addressing, and that is the issue of the remnants of racism that are still very much present in our society."
Catholics- and anyone, for that matter- should be outraged at the sin of racism, Sample said, but Catholics must be careful, rational and calm, and should avoid "virtue signaling," instead putting in the work actually to grow in virtue and to turn to Catholic social teaching in response to racism.
The Church teaches that every person has a dignity that we, as humans, do not bestow on other humans, but rather comes from God, the archbishop said.
Sample has encouraged Catholics to read the U.S. bishops' 2018 letter on racism, "Open Wide Our Hearts," and instructed Portland's parishes to organize groups to read, study, and discuss the letter.
The archbishop did not respond to a request for comment Aug. 3 regarding the specific incident of the Bible burning.
Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer. He is based in St. Louis.