Racism: Challenges to Being Church

"The scholarship, wisdom, zeal, and pastoral insight…are an excellent contribution to the curricula of Catholic education and formation activities seeking to address the changing needs and views of modern and diverse societies in the hope of bridging the racial divide." —from the foreword This collection of essays by various church scholars from the African continent presents a unique perspective on racism and outlines the challenges that we all face in being Church. The issues addressed include the concept of structural sin, the importance of identity, the idea of power and influence, and the effects of racism on the entire church community. Cardinal Peter Turkson was ordained to the priesthood in 1975 and was elevated to cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003. As the former Archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana, and the Vatican's former president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and former prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Cardinal Turkson is currently the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences at the Vatican. Emmanuel Katongole is a priest of the Kampala Archdiocese, Uganda, where he was ordained in 1987. Fr. Katongole is a professor of theology and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame. He holds a joint appointment in the department of theology and in the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies of the Keough School of Global Affairs. †