Race remains one of the hardest subjects for American Catholics to discuss. Bishop Robert Boxie thinks avoiding it has come at a cost.
In this week’s Vatican Access, America’s youngest bishop speaks candidly about the history of racism in the Church, his own experience as a Black Catholic, and why he believes Catholics need to become more willing to have difficult conversations about race.
In this episode:
Why there are so few Black bishops in America
The Confederate flag he encountered in seminary
What white Catholics often misunderstand about the Black Catholic experience
Whether his appointment can be seen as tokenism
Why he says DEI has been “hijacked”
What Black Catholics bring to the wider Church
Why Pope Leo XIV’s words on slavery matter
For Boxie, the answer is not simply another political program. He points instead to ideas already central to Catholicism: the dignity of the human person, reconciliation, encounter and the willingness to listen seriously to another person’s experience.
The question is whether the Church is willing to talk about the things that make it uncomfortable.