To the editor:
My heart is heavy this week as we approach Sunday Mass (on Sept. 6). I am deeply saddened by the events … where we discovered that one of our fellow Rochesterians died in custody of the police under tragic circumstances.
As a grieving man, I would like to hear the advice and consolation of priests and deacons whose prayer life brings them insight into God’s loving kindness. I fear I will not hear this. I did not hear it after Ferguson, or Charlottesville, or George Floyd.
Our city is looking for answers, and we are looking to men of faith for those answers but we are not finding them, despite being called to eradicate the evil of discrimination by race in Gaudium et Spes; despite the fact that this evil has been with us in Rochester for decades; despite the fact we can name countless others in Rochester who died in police custody. It is now undeniably at our doorstop.
How do our spiritual leaders comfort those whose souls are recoiling from anti-Black racism? How do they guide those who have been led down a path contrary to God’s intent? Should we as Catholics guide our brethren back to God’s path? Or should we just‚Ķ not?
Andrew Gill
Surrey Hill Way
Rochester
EDITOR’S NOTE: Bishop Matano’s statement responding to Mr. Prude’s death can be found here: https://www.catholiccourier.com/sites/default/files/daniel_prude_statement.pdf. Readers might also be interested in this story about the participation of three local Sisters of St. Joseph as peacekeepers at subsequent demonstrations: https://catholiccourier.com/articles/rochester-nuns-are-peaceful-presence-at-daniel-prude-protests
