As Franciscans following Jesus in the little way of Francis and Clare, we are called to go from Gospel to life and from life to Gospel. And so:
- We bear witness to the brutality and oppression that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities still endure around the world, and especially within the United States.
- We acknowledge the history of genocide, slavery, terrorism, mass incarceration, and state-sanctioned violence that the curse of White Supremacy has inflicted upon so many.
- We acknowledge the structural and cultural violence that continues, and often obscures, the mechanisms of racism and their devastating impacts on our BIPOC siblings, neighbors, and fellow human beings.
- And we confess that our own lives, and the shared life of our Order, are not immune from this curse, and that we, especially the White folks among us, are called, like Francis, to repair Christ’s Church – in this case, through working to uproot racism, heal the wounds of White supremacy, and live together more fully in the ways of mutual equality and love.
We affirm that our shared commitment to racial justice is a vital expression of our Gospel calling. We believe that in this, too,“Christ calls us to follow this way so that he may send us, like Francis, to offer all that we have and all that we are.” So we bear witness to the harm of White Supremacy, acclaim that Black Lives Matter, and pledge ourselves to the ongoing and intentional work of antiracism.
