We should try to uplift one another and not put one another down. Yes, there are genetic differences between different groups of people - some have advantages and some have disadvantages, but everyone is loved by God, made by Him in His Image, and was important enough for Jesus Christ Our Lord to shed His Precious Blood for. We should love one another and work for their spiritual and material improvement. This was the true Catholic Christian spirit that animated the Great Missionaries. St. Peter Claver is a shining example.
"
Peter Claver, (
Spanish:
Pedro Claver y Corberó,
Catalan:
Pere Claver i Corberó) (26 June 1580 – 8 September 1654) was a
Spanish Jesuit priest and
missionary born in
Verdú (
Catalonia, Spain) who, due to his life and work, became the
patron saint of
slaves, the Republic of
Colombia, and ministry to
African Americans. During the 40 years of his ministry in the New Kingdom of Granada, it is estimated he personally baptized around 300,000 people (in groups of 10) and heard the
confessions of over 5,000 slaves per year. He is also patron saint for
seafarers. He is considered a heroic example of what should be the Christian praxis of love and of the exercise of human rights.
[2] The Congress of the Republic of Colombia declared
September 9 as the Human Rights national Day in his honor."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_ClaverAlso: "Whereas Sandoval had visited the slaves where they worked, Claver preferred to head for the wharf as soon as a slave ship entered the port. Boarding the ship, he entered the filthy and diseased holds to treat and minister to their badly treated, terrified human cargo, who had survived a voyage of several months under horrible conditions. It was difficult to move around on the ships, because the slave traffickers filled them to capacity. The slaves were often told they were being taken to a land where they would be eaten. Claver wore a cloak, which he would lend to anyone in need. A legend arose that whoever wore the cloak received lifetime health and was cured of all disease. After the slaves were herded from the ship and penned in nearby yards to be scrutinized by crowds of buyers, Claver joined them with medicine, food, bread, lemons. With the help of interpreters and pictures which he carried with him, he gave basic instructions.
[8]Claver saw the slaves as fellow Christians, encouraging others to do so as well. During the season when slavers were not accustomed to arrive, he traversed the country, visiting plantation after plantation, to give spiritual consolation to the slaves.
[9] During his 40 years of ministry it is estimated that he personally catechized and baptized 300,000 slaves. He would then follow up on them to ensure that as Christians they received their Christian and
civil rights. His mission extended beyond caring for slaves, however. He preached in the city square, to sailors and traders and conducted country missions, returning every spring to visit those he had baptized, ensuring that they were treated humanely. During these missions, whenever possible he avoided the hospitality of planters and overseers; instead, he would lodge in the
slave quarters.
[4]Claver's work on behalf of slaves did not prevent him from ministering to the souls of well-to-do members of society, traders and visitors to Cartagena (including Muslims and English Protestants) and condemned criminals, many of whom he spiritually prepared for death; he was also a frequent visitor at the city's hospitals. Through years of unremitting toil and the force of his own unique personality, the slaves' situation slowly improved. In time he became a moral force, the
Apostle of Cartagena.
[4]...
He was
canonized in 1888 by
Pope Leo XIII, along with the holy Jesuit
porter,
Alphonsus Rodriguez. In 1896 Pope Leo also declared Claver the patron of missionary work among all African peoples.
[3] His body is preserved and venerated in the church of the Jesuit residence, now renamed in his honor.
[10]"
Topic: George Washington Carver? (Read 1794 times)