They also vow to not eat meat on Fridays.
Via Campus Reform:
More than 400 Catholic theologians have signed a “statement of commitment to racial justice” in response to the deaths of black Americans in confrontations with police officers.
Crafted by St. Louis University Professor of Theological Ethics Dr. Tobias Winright, the statement addresses “the flagrant failures of a nation still bound by sin, our bondage to and complicity in racial injustice.”
“The killings of Black [sic] men, women and children—including but not limited to Rekia Boyd, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, John Crawford, 7 year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones and 12 year-old Tamir Rice—by White [sic] policemen, and the failures of the grand jury process to indict some of the police officers involved, brought to our attention not only problems in law enforcement today, but also deeper racial injustice in our nation, our communities, and even our churches,” the statement says.
The theologians went on to compare Eric Garner to Christ.
“As Eric Garner’s dying words ‘I can’t breathe’ are chanted in the streets, and as people of faith, we hear the echo of Jesus’ breathing on his disciples, telling them, ‘Peace be with you,’” the theologians wrote.
The theologians also pledged to fast from meat on Fridays as a sign of their “penitence and need of conversion from the pervasive sin of racism.” The group also committed to placing their “bodies and/or privilege on the line in visible, public solidarity with movements of protest to address the deep-seated racism of our nation.”