Pretoria, South Africa, Mar 11, 2016 / 00:04 am
Repentance, spiritual healing, and hard conversations are necessary to respond to racism and racial divisions, the bishops of South Africa said on Monday.
The Holy Spirit "calls us as a country to be healed; to build and develop relationships of equality, dignity and mutual respect," the bishops wrote. "Dialogue, rational and respectful, is necessary so that we open ourselves to receive God's healing."
The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference on March 7 released its pastoral letter "A Call to Overcome Racism." In addition to the South Africa, the conference includes the bishops of Botswana and Swaziland.
"In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, as Church in Southern Africa, we commit ourselves to a credible and comprehensive conversation on racism," the bishops said. "We realize that this is not an easy conversation, one that many of us may prefer to avoid."