Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu discusses the work of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism from his chancery office Nov. 17, 2020, as he participates in the USCCB’s fall general assembly, convened virtually due to COVID-19 precautions. (CNS photo/Screen Grab)
Bishop Larry Silva discusses the plight of Micronesian migrants in Hawaii escaping notice
By Rhina Guidos
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON — When the U.S. bishops decided to continue with their annual fall meeting despite a pandemic, they took it online, shortened its length but also its scope, leaving only the most essential matters on the to-do list.
And at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops 2020 fall meeting, racism was part of that essential business.
As U.S. cities and towns across the country clamored for justice this summer following more killings of Black men and women at the hands of authorities, there was hardly a diocese that wasn’t touched by widespread calls against racism, including Honolulu.
Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, who is chair of the USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, reminded the group gathered online that as a body of bishops they approved in 2018 a document on racism, “which among many other things unequivocally declares that racism is a life issue,” he said Nov. 17, the last day of the two-day online meeting.
It certainly was a life issue for Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who recalled how a racially motivated mass shooting in his diocese left 23 people dead and as many injured.
Authorities said the suspected gunman who opened fire targeted Latinos at a Walmart in El Paso Aug. 3, 2019, and had been looking to shoot “Mexicans.” He allegedly wrote a manifesto that spoke of the “Hispanic invasion” of Texas.
“It really brought home the fact that white supremacy is not a harmless fringe ideology but that it is death-dealing ideology,” said Bishop Seitz, speaking to the bishops gathered online.
Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu spoke of the racism Micronesian migrants in Hawaii face, working at essential jobs during the pandemic but receiving little economic benefit.
That circumstance also has put them at-risk because many have infected their families since they have to work as well as risk exposure and can’t afford homes where members can isolate while they have the virus, he said.
“To think that (some) people can be (considered) expendable,” he said.
Many such communities fly under the radar, “and I think sometimes that can be a problem that we don’t notice,” Bishop Silva said, reminding prelates to look around their communities for those who might be facing such issues.
