Jesus dies on the cross in this artwork of the Stations of the Cross. CNS

“Racism leads to many forms of injustice: sometimes death, sometimes imprisonment, sometimes closed doors and lost opportunities. We may not be in a crowd cheering the evil deed, but are we indifferent?”

That question is the first asked in a special Stations of the Cross with prayers for overcoming racism developed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. St. Peter Claver in St. Paul will be praying the stations 6 p.m. March 26. The parish is inviting the community to join them, in person or via livestream.

Father Erich Rutten, St. Peter Claver’s pastor, will lead his parish in the “Stations of the Cross: Overcoming Racism.” The meditation is based on “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love,” the USCCB’s 2018 statement on the sin of racism.

Father Rutten

“It’s Lent, so we’re supposed to think about these things,” Father Rutten said, “and especially, racism can be one of those things we’re unconscious of, so it’s just a nice time to reflect on it and say, ‘What difference can we make?’ Especially as we look around the world today, all of us need to ask what can we do to be part of the solution rather than the problem.”

St. Peter Claver parish was founded in 1888 to serve African American Catholics in St. Paul. That same year, its namesake, a Jesuit priest, was canonized for a life of holiness while teaching and baptizing African people enslaved in Colombia. Today, the parish serves a diverse population, but retains a particular ministry to Black Catholics.

Lifelong St. Peter Claver parishioner Rita Commodore, 66, plans to participate in the stations meditation. She’s spent time reflecting on the special stations, and said she was particularly struck by one station that addresses sins of omission, or the good that people fail to do, in the context of racism. Commodore described it as “what we do when we see it and we look and we deny that racism exists” and when “we look at systemic racism and act like it’s not there.”

The special Stations of the Cross are “a really good chance to prayerfully look at how we address (racism), (and) how we look at how we want to deal with ourselves,” she said.

The livestream will include images of the Stations of the Cross from African and Black art traditions. The livestream will be available on St. Peter Claver’s Facebook page, facebook.com/saintpeterclaver.

Read the text of “Stations of the Cross: Overcoming Racism” at usccb.org.