Retrospectively considering the Catholic Church’s role in American racial relations, one is struck by how rarely the principles of the Catholic faith were applied to dismantle systems of racial oppression. More than recognizing that the history of the American Church does not ‘exist in a vacuum,’ obtaining a full understanding of the role of American Catholicism in the age of racial segregation requires scrutiny of the many opportunities for the promotion of equality—from integration of Catholic colleges and universities to admission to religious orders—in which Catholics failed to overcome a predominantly discriminatory status quo. The history of the Boston College’s Jesuit Order, having long prided itself on its innovative approaches towards social justice and longstanding efforts to ameliorate the conditions of marginalized peoples, namely the founding of Xavier University of Louisiana, the United States’ only historically black Catholic college, does not lie fully on the right side of history, either. One need look no further than the ongoing reckoning regarding Georgetown University’s 1838 sale of 272 enslaved men, women, and children to realize the centuries-long effects of the denial of human rights at the hands of prominent American Catholics.
It is stories like that of Georgetown that seemingly undermine the notion that a drive for social justice and respect for the marginalized have long underpinned the Jesuit ethos. In the wake of the era of segregation, was there an instance in which the Jesuits truly preempted the prejudicial malaise of the American Catholic Church, or that called the global Church to condemn the cruel ideologies of racial hierarchy? In the wake of decades of discriminatory practices on the American continent, as well as the rise nationalistic fervor and brutal antisemitism abroad, what did the Church have to say?
It was amidst this tumultuous context that, in 1938, the reigning Pope Pius XI asked an American Jesuit by name of John LaFarge (not the elegant Boston painter and stained glass artist, but his son), to draft an encyclical addressing the unity of the human race. Fr. LaFarge had joined the Jesuits in Austria, where he traveled for several years after his time at Harvard. Upon returning to the US, ministering to African American communities in Maryland and founding a school for African American boys, and he began his affiliation with the Jesuit publication America, of which he would later assume the role of editor in chief.
Greatly affected by his missionary experience, LaFarge resolved to fight the sin of racism, and vigorously advocated against notions of black inferiority as well for as an end to the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine in his 1937 book Interracial Justice: A Study of the Catholic Doctrine of Race Relations. Many of these sentiments were mirrored in LaFarge’s draft of Humani generis unitas, condemning the denial of human unity and of religious and moral values inherent in the ‘racialism’ Pius XI had asked him to address.
The planned encyclical, on which LaFarge collaborated with fellow Jesuits Gustav Gundlach and Gustave Desbuquois, addressed more than American conceptions of, and struggles with, racism. While the first section focuses on a critique of theological modernism and the fervent nationalism that had manifested itself in the burgeoning fascist states of Europe, the latter portion of the document focused on condemnation of the sin of anti-Semitism. Without explicit mention of particular regimes or nations, the text of the draft reads as an explicit rebuke of both American racial segregation and Jewish persecution under the Hitler and Mussolini’s regimes.
Ultimately, Pope Pius XI died before the encyclical could be published, and his successor, Pius XII, declined to release the document to the public. Its existence was not widely reported until the early 1970s, and LaFarge died in 1963 without assuming credit for what would undoubtedly have been his most consequential contribution to both the Church and the effort to eradicate racism. LaFarge’s advocacy, comparatively enlightened, yet admittedly flawed (for more, consult John LaFarge and the Limits of Catholic Interracialism), would have greatly accelerated the Church’s efforts to promote racial equity and combat worldwide oppression.
Because of its ominous timing, immediately preceding the widespread outbreak of the War, as well as its imperfect denunciation of anti-Semitism, the draft encyclical is likely to remain primarily associated with the events unfolding in Europe. However, LaFarge’s experience with race relations in the United States remains a foremost consideration in analyzing the document, and its writing represents an important event in the development of the Catholic struggle against racism. One of the original typescripts of the draft encyclical, alongside other writings and correspondence of Father LaFarge, resides in the care of Burns Library at Boston College, as part of the Edward Stanton S.J. papers. The collection of documents is available to view upon request.
Featured Image Courtesy of National Park Service via Wikipedia
- Boston College Tree Stump Returns to Catholic Roots: Strategically Planning Catholic Art Expansion on Campus - April 30, 2021
- Encounters: Inspiration & Conversion on View in Carney Hall - March 26, 2021
- Angels Unawares: An Interview with Melodie Wyttenbach - November 26, 2020
Thank you kind sir for informing me on this essential Catholic knowledge. I rely on the Catholicism 101 for my catechetical needs. God bless <3