By Gina Christian
OSV News
The U.S. bishops have named Bishop Daniel E. Garcia of Austin, Texas, as the first chairman of their Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation.
The news was announced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a Nov. 20 media release.
Bishop Garcia was appointed by Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. That committee — the scope of which includes Catholic social teaching on issues such as poverty, housing, criminal justice and the environment — oversees the subcommittee, since such challenges typically have a disproportionate effect on communities of color.
The subcommittee, created in 2017 as the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, was approved as a permanent entity under its new name by the USCCB’s administrative committee in September.
Speaking to OSV News, Bishop Garcia said that the committee is part of the church’s effort to “continue to work towards some aspect of equal justice among races.”
At the same time, he said, “where there have been profound hurt and wounds,” the committee seeks to help the church and its members “create an environment of reconciliation, to provide moments where we can acknowledge our faults” and “acknowledge God’s mercy that we’re called to give to each other.”
Bishop Garcia said he has personally witnessed the devastating experience of racial discrimination. Rather than being innate, “racism is taught,” he told OSV News — and it can be unlearned.