THRS 2205 - Race, Ethnicity, and the US Catholic Church

5 credit hours
W.E.B. Du Bois once claimed that the “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line.” Taking this proposition seriously, what would it mean to look at the entangled and wounded histories that constitute the US Catholic Church? How might the histories of unassimilable, conquered, and enslaved Catholics challenge the dominant narrative that the US Catholic Church is an immigrant church that achieved full assimilation and Americanization with the election of President John F. Kennedy? In light of the Catholic vision of unity-in-diversity, this course seeks to examine the multiple wounds that emerge from a recognition of this color-line within the Church and a desire for how the healing of broken relationality may better help the Church to respond to Jesus’ prayer “that they may all be one” (John 17:21). Whether you embrace the tradition, question its relevance, approach in curiosity, or wrestle with faith, all voices are welcomed and find value in this community of learning. CT, TE