Bishop adds his voice to racism fight
Brennan: Some issues require ‘a moral voice’
When asked about his predecessors speaking about the importance of racial justice, Bishop Robert J. Brennan referred to a statement made more than 20 years ago.
Brennan, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus’ 12th bishop, has been outspoken of late on the topic of racial injustice, especially when it comes to police shootings of Black men.
“There are community issues that need a moral voice,” Brennan said. “We want to proclaim the good news, the joy of the gospel. We want to bring that to everyday situations.”
Brennan is breaking precedent by releasing public statements on the topic in Columbus, though bishops in other dioceses have long spoken on the issue, as have bishops as a group through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“I wouldn’t say it hasn’t been done before,” Brennan said, when asked about the history of Columbus bishops speaking on race. “Bishop (James) Griffin issued a major statement about racism in (1997). It circulated very widely through the country.”
However, it doesn’t appear Brennan’s most recent predecessor, Bishop Frederick Campbell, who served from 2005 to 2019, commented publicly on racial injustice and race relations much, if at all, during his tenure.
Campbell didn’t use public statements in the same way Brennan does, George Jones, diocesan spokesman, said in an email. Instead, Campbell often made statements with other Ohio bishops and put his feelings in homilies and letters distributed internally to parishioners, Jones said.
Frederick’s 2016 “Homily for Peace and Healing” was a founding document for the creation of the Catholic Ethnic Ministries Office and the “Bridging the Racial Divide” initiative, which is a curriculum and process to examine race relations within the Catholic church and the country, Jones said.
More recently, it has been all but impossible to ignore the issue of racial injustice in Columbus. Two Black men were killed by local law enforcement officers 18 days apart.
Casey Goodson Jr., 23, was shot and killed by Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Meade outside his grandmother’s North Side home on Dec. 4.
Andre Hill, 47, was shot and killed by Columbus police officer Adam Coy on Dec. 22 outside a friend’s Northwest Side home.
Many local faith leaders have taken to calling on lawmakers and others to seek justice, and Brennan has joined some of their pleas.
Brennan wrote statements published in the Diocese’s Catholic Times and on the diocesan website following both deaths. He also signed on to a letter written by several faith leaders and published in The Dispatch on Dec. 15.
“In some ways there is something very unique, particularly about the Casey Goodson shooting, because it is close to home, it happened here. It happened right down the block from one of our parishes, and that’s something we have to respond to,” Brennan said in an interview with The Dispatch on Dec. 17.
Brennan’s first statement on race issues was about the May 25 death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police, which caused days of protests nationwide and Downtown beginning May 28.
Brennan also hosted a private prayer session with other faith leaders at St. Matthias Church, near the site of Goodson’s death, on Dec. 18.
The Rev. Tim Ahrens, senior pastor at First Congregational Church, Downtown, said he has been impressed by Brennan since his installation Mass
in March 2019.
Ahrens said Brennan’s first impression to local faith leaders was one of transparency, genuineness and openness. “You set the tone as you step into your leadership role,” Ahrens said. “His whole spirit from the opening of his ministry here was, ‘I want to be together with others,’ and he has shown that. He’s welcomed the conversations of the presence of other people from across faiths and throughout the community.”
Pamela Harris, director of the diocese’s Office of Ethnic Ministries, said Brennan began meeting with other clergy when he first arrived in Columbus and started building relationships with them.
“It’s been a collaborative effort,” Harris said, adding that the need for collaboration among faith leaders has grown with recent events, such as the deaths of Goodson and Hill. “Seeing how close to home it is, I thank God that the relationships started before it really hit home here in Columbus, so it wasn’t that hard for leadership to come together and to really focus ... in order to address the racial inequities in our area.”
Harris came to Columbus in August 2018, when Campbell began the Office of Ethnic Ministries. Harris said his establishing the office and her other knowledge of his efforts shows he was “very attuned to the needs of our respective communities.”
Though Brennan released his first statement on race following Floyd’s death, Harris emphasized that the diocese’s response to racial injustice didn’t start with Floyd.
Harris, at the request of Brennan, presents discussions at parishes and schools on racism.
Brennan said the purpose of his statements is to engage people, ask them to listen deeply to one another, encourage people to pray, call for healing and stand in solidarity with people who are hurting. “We want to shine the light of faith, to shine the light of faith on even the most difficult of human circumstances,” Brennan said.
Brennan said he began meeting with Christian pastors many months ago and that the group is trying to look at the racism and violence that “plagues our communities.”
Brennan said he is also trying to foster an environment where people listen to others when it comes to racism.
“We’re trying to encourage parishes to talk to one another, and Catholics of different races and ethnicities to share their own stories and cultures,” he said. “I’m encouraging pastors to be moral voices in the world today, but also that we might listen deeply to one another and understand each other’s experiences.” dking@dispatch.com @Danaeking