George Floyd’s May 25 death sparked international conversation about racial inequity and injustice. Questions about race and identity — and the ability in the United States for people to live together in peace and with justice as a racially diverse nation — remain at the forefront of the public discussion, said Jason Adkins, executive director and general counsel of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

“To be all things to all people and better preach the Gospel for such a time as this, we must consider how we as a Church foster racial reconciliation in our own community, so as to better foster it in the world,” he said.

To further that conversation, the MCC, public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Minnesota, is hosting a Zoom webinar 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 9 titled “Open Wide our Hearts: The Catholic Church Confronts Racism.”

Primarily intended for priests, deacons, educators and lay ecclesial ministers, the webinar is free and open to the public.

“What can we do to change it to better evangelize, so that all people see the Church as the place where they encounter the living God through his son, Jesus Christ?” asked Adkins. “It’s our hope that the discussion will help point us in the right direction, and offer practical suggestions from Black Catholic leaders about a way forward.”

Fortunately, Adkins said, the Catholic Church “has the best antidote to racism” — a sin that is fundamentally incompatible with Christian faith — which is to affirm everyone’s common humanity as children of God. Catholics don’t always do a great job of preaching that message loud and clear, he said.

Some people perceive the Catholic Church as a “white institution” infected with racism, Adkins said, despite the fact that the Church is the most ethnically and racially diverse religious community locally, nationally and globally.

“I think for all of us in the Church, we’re looking at how the current social situation plays out inside the Church,” said Father Erich Rutten, pastor of St. Peter Claver in St. Paul.

“And I think that this is especially significant for people who are in official leadership positions,” he said, including priests, deacons, educators and lay ecclesial ministers. “We’re all grappling … to make sense of social changes around us and the importance of standing on the side of … reconciliation and peacemaking, understanding the dignity of each and every person, all of those kinds of questions.”

And those in leadership need to ask, “What does this mean for the Church today?” Father Rutten said.

The webinar will be held on the liturgical calendar’s memorial of St. Peter Claver, a 17th-cenutury Spanish Jesuit known for ministering to West African slaves in the Caribbean, and a patron saint of both African Americans and interracial justice.

The webinar’s featured speaker is Bishop Shelton Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux in southeastern Louisiana. He is chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for African American Catholics and a member of its Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Bishop John Quinn of Winona-Rochester will offer remarks and prayer.

The session also includes a panel discussion and time for questions and answers. Panelists are Damon Clarke Owens, an international speaker and evangelist on St. John Paul II’s theology of the body and its implications for marriage and family life; Loralean Jordan, a member of St. Peter Claver and an advocate for social justice in her church and community; and Lannette Turicchi, a Catholic convert and former Walt Disney Co. executive.

For more information and to register, visit MNCatholic.org/OpenWideOurHearts.