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Slavery

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In Caribbean Colombia, Jesuits continue legacy of St. Peter Claver
- Catholic News Service, Pope in Colombia
- September 10, 2017
Pope Francis concludes his five-day visit to Colombia in Cartagena today. There, he is sure to refer to St. Peter Claver, a fellow Jesuit who promoted human rights and fought slavery. He also will pray the Angelus outside the parish where St. Peter watched slave ships arrive in the late 1500s and offered humane treatment to those arriving in chains.
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Who was St. Peter Claver, whose tomb the Pope will visit this week?
- Catholic News Agency, Pope in Colombia
- September 7, 2017
The body of St. Peter Claver is kept and venerated in a shrine in Cartagena, which Pope Francis will visit on Sunday Sept. 10, one day after the saint’s feast day. The legacy of St. Peter Claver is strong in the United States as well, where in the early 20th century the Knights of Peter Claver were founded in his honor in Mobile, Alabama.
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Comboni nun answers ‘scream of pain’ of human trafficking victims
- Global Church
- August 30, 2017
“Do you know where the gold in your crucifix came from?” Simone Blanchard, an expert on ethical trade from Catholic Relief Services, asked. In many cases, she explains, it was procured by children in Peru, forced to work in the gold mines, an illustration of the global reach of human trafficking, estimated at $150 billion in annual profit to be the world’s third most lucrative illegal industry.
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Life of African-American sainthood candidate a gripping tale
- Church in the US
- July 14, 2017
Born into slavery in the 19th century and later the servant of a wealthy white socialite in Denver, Julia Greeley is now a candidate for sainthood. Despite her own difficult circumstances, in part the result of being caught up in a soap opera divorce involving the Colorado governor, she gave everything she had to serve the poor and to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
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Pope Francis: Death penalty is inadmissible
- Catholic News Service, Vatican
- May 11, 2017
“Today, we say that the death penalty is inadmissible,” Pope Francis said during his morning Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae where he lives. Slavery “is a mortal sin; today we say this. Back then, some would say that this could be done because these people did not have a soul!”
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Georgetown renaming of buildings reflects shared journey with slave descendants
- Church in the US
- April 20, 2017
Georgetown University – the oldest Catholic university in the United States – renamed two buildings in an effort to express public contrition over its legacy of slavery. Isaac Hawkins Hall – formerly known as Mulledy Hall – is now named after a slave sold by the university in 1838. Anne Marie Becraft Hall – formerly known as McSherry Hall – is now named for a free woman of color who established a school in the town of Georgetown for black girls. Father Thomas Mulledy, S.J., and Father William McSherry, S.J., were two Georgetown Jesuits who played significant roles in an 1838 sale of 272 slaves by the school.
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