Archdiocese of Louisville hosts Racism Symposium

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The Archdiocese of Louisville’s Office of Multicultural Ministry and its African American Catholic Ministries hosted a Racism Symposium at the Flaget Center on Wednesday.

The event was held to address racism within the Catholic Church.

Archbishop Shelton Fabre and several other speakers were present, including retired Louisville priest Father John Judie.

The Executive Director at the Office of Multicultural Ministry, Annette Mandley-Turner, said that this has been a problem in the church for a long time and they have been waiting to host this conference for two years.

“I don’t feel that people are going to leave here today with all of the tools they need to eradicate racism,” Mandley-Turner said. “But I do feel that they will have a change of heart and they will look at it differently.”

The Conference follows a letter from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops titled “Open Wide Our Hearts,” which addresses racism in the church.