The Catholic Church has a critical role to play in talking with the faithful about racial injustice, said Father Erich Rutten, pastor of?St. Peter Claver?in St. Paul, a historically Black parish, in a recent interview.

Father Erich Rutten

“That is the purpose for shepherds, to preach the Gospel,” he said, “and to call out injustice, to call out evil when we see it. … If 50 years from now, if they’re looking back and all they see was a silent Church, it’s just a great scandal,” he said.

Father Rutten made his remarks during his appearance on the new “Gloria Purvis Podcast” from America Media. Purvis, who is Black, is a radio personality and Catholic commentator.

During the podcast, Father Rutten and Purvis discussed?issues related to the?police-involved?murder of George Floyd last May 25. During the interview, Father Rutten recalled?seeing the video of George Floyd’s death, calling it egregious and traumatizing. He?said?the parish quickly put together a video “just to try to speak out.”?Father Rutten said he wanted to send a message to encourage “our community to hang on and hold onto each other.”

Purvis recalled the shooting deaths of three Black individuals last February, March and May that received national attention: Ahmaud Arbury, 25, who was killed while jogging in Brunswick, Georgia; Breonna Taylor, 26, who was shot March 13 by white plainclothes officers at her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, during an investigation into a drug operation; and Floyd, who died in Minneapolis May 25 while being restrained by four police officers. Purvis said the video of Floyd’s restraint and death was “taking it to another level.”

She said Catholics need to talk about racial justice, that she is praying for the clergy, that they can help awaken the consciences of people “who are asleep on this,” to open people’s eyes to the structures of sin in the United States that enable behaviors contrary to what God intended, and to give people hope that things can get better.

Purvis said she thinks “shepherds” — bishops and pastors — will have to do the work of helping the sheep recognize there’s a real presence of evil and help them recognize the structures of sin in the U.S. “And I’m not sure the vast majority of them are equipped yet to be able to do that,” she said.

The universal Church needs to be exactly that — a universal Church, Father Rutten said. “And really, if we have the heart of Christ, that means to reach out specifically to those who are on the margins. And if we’re missing that, that’s not just a feel-good thing. That’s a core element of the Gospel. And I think that would change the conversation about race.”

The full episode can be heard at americamagazine.org/gloria-purvis-podcast.

America Media publishes “America,” a Jesuit magazine on faith and culture, as well as other Catholic content across multiple platforms.