[THEME MUSIC] >> Father Pacwa: I’M FATHER MITCH PACWA, AND WELCOME TO “EWTN LIVE” WHERE WE BRING YOU GUESTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. OUR GUEST TONIGHT HAS BEEN ALL AROUND THE WORLD. HE IS THE FORMER PROVINCIAL SUPERIOR OF THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE OF THE SOCIETY OF THE DIVINE WORD. HE IS PRESENTLY PASTOR OF
ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST PARISH IN GULFPORT MISSISSIPPI. A GREAT LITTLE TOWN. AND HE IS HERE TONIGHT TO TALK ABOUT HIS RELIGIOUS ORDER’S MINISTRY AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THEY ARE IMPORTANT WORK IN ESTABLISHING THE FIRST SEMINARY IN THE UNITED STATES SPECIFICALLY GEARED TO PREPARING AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEN IN THE PRIESTHOOD IN THE CULTURALLY AND
SPIRITUALLY SEGREGATED SOUTHERN U.S. GOING BACK TO THE SHADOWS OF THE CIVIL WAR ERA, A TIME AFTER RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH JIM CROW AND OTHER HISTORIC RACIAL EVENTS OF THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY PRICK PLEASE WELCOME TONIGHT’S GUEST, FATHER MICHAEL SOMERS. FATHER, THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US. I MENTIONED THAT YOU’D BEEN
QUITE A FEW PLACES. YOU HAVE WORKED IN QUITE A NUMBER OF COUNTRIES, DONE WORK IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT CONTINENTS. >> Father Somers: BEEN AROUND A LITTLE BIT. >> Father Mitch: DON’T GIVE ME YOUR IRISH BLARNEY. YOU WORKED A LONG TIME IN ECUADOR. >> Father Somers: I DID, I
COLLECT MY FIRST LOVE, MY FIRST MISSION WAS ECUADOR, SOUTH AMERICA, THROUGHOUT THE NATION. I SPENT ABOUT 18 YEARS DOWN THERE. BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE, DEFINITELY. >> Father Mitch: WITHIN YOUR OWN COMMUNITY, YOU HAVE BEEN TO AFRICA, ASIA. >> Father Somers: ONE OF OUR INTERNATIONAL TEAMS OF THE CONGREGATION, SPIRITUALITY,
PSYCHOLOGY TEAM, WE GO AND SPEND TIME GIVING RETREATS, SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS TO OUR CONGREGATIONS AROUND THE WORLD. ABOUT NINE YEARS LITERALLY TRAVELING, LIVING OUT OF A SUITCASE. >> Father Mitch: I HAVE A STRONG AFFECTION FOR YOUR SOCIETY, THE DIVINE WORD FATHERS. AS A LITTLE BOY, I USED TO DO RECEIVE THE MAGAZINE THAT THEY
SENT TWO YOUNG MEN THINKING ABOUT THE PRIESTHOOD, BOYS. THE FUTURE PRIESTS CLUB. HAD JOINED THAT WHEN I WAS ABOUT NINE OR TEN. EARLY ON. USED TO GO TO YOUR SEMINARY FOR MASS, A BEAUTIFUL CHAPEL MADE BY SOME OF THE GERMAN BROTHERS, BEAUTIFULLY DECORATED. >> Father Somers: AND TOWERS.
>> Father Mitch: IT IS A GREAT, GREAT PLACE. I KNOW THAT YOUR COMMUNITY IS A VERY INTERNATIONAL MISSIONARY ORDER. THAT IS WHAT YOU WERE FOUNDED TO DO. TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR FOUNDER. >> Father Somers: OUR FOUNDER IS PROBABLY A VERY LITTLE-KNOWN SAINT, PART OF HIS OWN
INTENTION, HE NEVER WANTED TO PROMOTE HIMSELF, HE THOUGHT THAT GOD WAS THE ONE WHO HAD TO BE PROMOTED AND KNOWN. THAT WAS REALLY OUR MISSION, HIS VISION AND MISSION WAS TO GO WHERE GOD WAS NOT YET KNOWN OR WHERE THE GOSPEL HAD BEEN INADEQUATELY PREACHED OR KNOWN. AND SO HE FOUNDED THE FIRST
GERMAN-SPEAKING ORDER, INTERNATIONAL MISSIONARY ORDER FOR THE GERMAN-SPEAKING COUNTRIES IN EUROPE, AND IT WAS A TIME WHEN BISMARCK WAS OVER GERMANY, IT WAS THE PERSECUTION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. >> Father Mitch: BISMARCK SO WANTED TO UNITE GERMANS AROUND GERMAN IDENTITY, NATIONALISM WAS HIS IDEOLOGY, AND THE NATION WAS SUPERIOR TO GOD AND THE CHURCH.
>> Father Somers: ABSOLUTELY. ALSO VERY MUCH AGAINST THE CATHOLIC FAITH, CLOSED PARISHES, CONVENTS, SCHOOLS. YOU COULD SEE THAT THE CLERGY AND RELIGIOUS WERE UNEMPLOYED IN GERMANY. FATHER ARNOLD WAS A YOUNG PRIEST AND HE HAD READ THE CHRONICLES ON THE MISSIONS THANKS TO THE INFLUENCE OF HIS DAD FOR MANY YEARS.
AND HE HAD THAT SENSE HAVE, WHAT ARE WE ALL DOING HERE WITH OUR ARMS FOLDED WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD THAT HAVE NEVER HEARD THE NAME “GOD” OR NO GOD IN ANY WAY. HE FELT THE CALL MORE AND MORE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. HE APPROACHED BISHOPS, HE
APPROACHED PRIESTS, WHY DON’T THEY OPEN AN INTERNATIONAL SEMINARY AND SEND MANY OF THE YOUNG PRIESTS WHO WANTED TO GO ELSEWHERE. HE SPENT YEARS TRYING TO DO THAT. THAT. HE GOT A LOT OF KICK BACK, PEOPLE LAUGHED AT HIM, TOLD HIM IT WAS THE WRONG TIME IN HISTORY, TOLD HIM IT WAS THE
WRONG PLACE, AND TOLD HIM THAT HE WAS THE WRONG PERSON. >> Father Mitch: [LAUGHS] >> Father Somers: THE MORE THEY CRITICIZED HIM, THE MORE HE JUST GAVE HIMSELF TO GOD, AND HE HAD SUCH A PROFOUND RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND HE HAD SO MANY REASONS FOR GIVING UP BECAUSE NOBODY BELIEVED IN HIM.
BUT HE FELT HE COULD NOT TURN HIS BACK ON GOD AND HE FELT THE CALL SO, SO STRONG. AND SO EVENTUALLY HE CROSSED THE RIVER RHINE AND WENT INTO THE NETHERLANDS, BECAUSE HE COULDN’T OPEN A MISSION HOUSE IN GERMANY AND HE OPENED WHEN IN THE NETHERLANDS.
AND IT WAS AT THE SIDE OF ONE OF THE RIVERS THERE, THE BOATS WOULD COME, THE FARMERS WOULD COME WITH THEIR PRODUCTS, AND OLD STABLE FOR FEEDING HORSES THAT BECAME THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SEMINARY. SO HE FOUNDED THE ORDER OF THE DIVINE WORD. >> Father Mitch: THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT THIS
NATIONALISTIC CRAZE — AN EVIL CRAZE — HAS INCREASED THE MISSIONARY WORK OF THE CHURCH. WHEN THE FRENCH DID THIS DURING THEIR REVOLUTION, THEY DROVE MANY MISSIONARIES ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND WHEN BISMARCK MADE IT, HE SENT A LOT OF GERMAN CATHOLICS TO AMERICA. YOU GO TO CINCINNATI, MILWAUKEE, KANSAS, THESE ARE PEOPLE PUSHED
OUT BY BISMARCK. THEY HAVE DONE WONDERFULLY WELL HERE IN THE UNITED STATES. GLAD TO HAVE THEM. >> Father Somers: AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH, WE WERE ABOUT 1,500 MISSIONARIES IN 21 COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD. TODAY COME UP WITH OUR THREE CONGREGATIONS, WE ARE 10,000 STRONG AND 80 COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE.
>> Father Mitch: BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE CONGREGATION OF SISTERS WHO ARE MISSIONARIES AND TEACHERS, RAY COOK, DO WE HAVE TWO — LIKE A FAMILY OF TWO GIRLS AND A BOY, TWO SISTER CONGREGATIONS, ONE IS THE HOLY SPIRIT MISSIONARY SISTERS, AND THEN WE HAVE THE HOLY SISTERS OF PERPETUAL ADORATION.
>> Father Mitch: IF THEY ARE SORT OF THE PRAYING, CONTEMPLATIVE GROUP. >> Father Somers: 24/7 THE FOURTH BLESSED SACRAMENT, PROPERLY KNOWN AS THE PINK SISTERS BECAUSE OF THEIR BEAUTIFUL HABIT. >> Father Mitch: IT NOT MANY ORDERS WHERE PINK, BUT THEY DO, AND THEY SPEND THEIR TIME PRAYING.
PART OF THIS STORY IS THAT, AS FAR AS FATHER ARNOLD WAS CONCERNED, IT STILL IS THE CASE IN STATES LIKE MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA, THE UNITED STATES HAS A NUMBER OF DIOCESES THAT ARE MISSION DIOCESES. YOU GO UP NORTH, WELL-ESTABLISHED. BUT ALABAMA IS 30% CATHOLIC, MISSISSIPPI PROBABLY ABOUT THE SAME. >> Father Somers: SURE.
>> Father Mitch: SOME PARTS OF LOUISIANA VERY CATHOLIC, OTHERS ARE NOT. MISSIONARY TERRITORY. >> Father Somers: VERY MUCH SO. >> Father Mitch: THAT IS HOW YOUR ORDER GOT TO BE HERE IN THE UNITED STATES. >> Father Somers: IT WAS. WE STARTED ACTUALLY IN CHICAGO, ONE PROVINCE. GRADUALLY WE GREW, WE CAME
SOUTH, WENT TO THE WEST COAST TO WHERE WE HAVE NOW THREE PROVINCES IN THE UNITED STATES, THE NORTHEAST, THE WESTERN PROVINCE, CALIFORNIA, AND THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE. AS OUR MISSIONARIES CAME DOWN SOUTH, YOU KNOW, AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, IT WAS MADE UP OF ABOUT THE 8 MILLION BLACK AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH, ABOUT
150,000 ADULTS WERE CATHOLIC AND MOST ADULTS WERE IN THE CITY. WE FOUND THAT THERE WAS VERY LITTLE EVANGELIZATION DONE IN THE RURAL AREAS OF THE BLACK COMMUNITIES, AND THERE WAS VERY FEW CATHOLIC CHURCHES. THAT GOT THE ATTENTION OF OUR MISSIONARIES AND WE BEGAN TO ESTABLISH CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS,
AND THAT IS REALLY WHERE IT STARTED. BEGAN TO OPEN SCHOOLS FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITIES. AND WE STARTED IN MARY GOLD, IN MISSISSIPPI, IN JACKSON, IN GREENVILLE, AND MERIDIAN, AND VICKSBURG. SLOWLY BUT SURELY, THE NUMBERS BEGAN TO INCREASE. THERE WAS A LOT OF DIFFICULTIES AT THE TIME, A LOT OF
PERSECUTION, A LOT OF VIOLENCE. THE FIRST PARISH WE TOOK IN MARIGOLD, A FATHER HAD TO LEAVE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT BECAUSE HIS LIFE WAS IN DANGER. HE WAS BEING PERSECUTED. AND THAT MISSION FAILED. THAT MISSION CLOSED DOWN. >> Father Mitch: WHAT WAS THE PERSECUTION ABOUT? WHY WOULD THERE BE OPPOSITION?
>> Father Somers: WELL, BECAUSE OF THE LAWS OF SEGREGATION AND BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE WERE COMING AND IT WAS SO THAT THESE PEOPLE WOULD HAVE A RIGHT TO EDUCATION, WOULD HAVE, YOU KNOW, BEING ABLE TO EVANGELIZE, BUILD CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS THAT WERE AT THAT TIME PROBABLY MORE EXCLUSIVELY FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS.
>> Father Mitch: ICU. >> Father Somers: IT WAS A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT TOOK EXCEPTION TO THAT. >> Father Mitch: BEFORE THE EMANCIPATION OF SLAVES, THERE HAD BEEN LAWS IN SOME OF THE STATES AGAINST TEACHING AFRICAN AMERICANS HOW TO READ OR WRITE. THERE HAD BEEN LAWS. AND SOME OF THAT CULTURE
APPARENTLY DIDN’T DIE OUT HERE. >> Father Somers: THAT’S RIGHT, THAT’S RIGHT. YEAH, IN A MATTER OF TEN YEARS, AS THE SCHOOLS WERE BEING BUILT AND ARE HOLY SPIRIT MISSIONARY SISTERS, THEY WERE REALLY VERY, VERY IMPORTANT. THEY RAN MOST OF OUR SCHOOLS. THEY WERE THE TEACHERS, PRINCIPALS, VERY, VERY GOOD AT
WHAT THEY WERE DOING. OVER A 10-YEAR PERIOD, PROBABLY 1,000 STUDENTS GOING THROUGH OUR SCHOOLS. AS THE TIME WENT ON, OR MISSIONARIES ALSO BEGAN TO NOTICE THAT THERE WAS VERY LITTLE, IF NO CONVERSIONS WHATSOEVER FROM THE PARENTS TO CATHOLICISM. THEY BEGAN TO ASK THE QUESTION WHY. ONE OF THE REASONS AGAIN WAS
UNLIKE THEIR OWN PROTESTANT CHURCHES WHERE THEY HAD LEADERS, MINISTERS THAT WERE BLACK, AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, THERE WAS NO REFERENCE, NO BLACK PRIESTS, NO BLACK LEADERS. THE WHOLE IDEA BEGAN TO MATURE AND THEY BEGAN TO BRING IT TO HER SUPERIORS AS TO HAVING A BLACK CLERGY, AND TO WHY NOT,
THAT THEY NEEDED A BLACK CLERGY. AND SO THE IDEA MATURE TO. AGAIN, THERE WAS A LOT OF OPPOSITION FROM THE CHURCH ITSELF, FROM MANY OF THE BISHOPS THAT WERE TOTALLY AGAINST THE IDEA. IN THE END, IT WAS THE VATICAN THAT INTERVENED AND SUPPORTED THE SOCIETY TO DO THIS WORK THAT
WAS VERY IMPORTANT, THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE BLACK COMMUNITIES IN THE SOUTH. >> Father Mitch: ABOUT WHEN WAS THAT VATICAN INTERVENTION, WHAT PERIOD? >> Father Somers: WE STARTED IN MARIGOLD AND AT 1905. ABOUT TEN OR 12 YEARS LATER WAS WHEN THE IDEA CAME TO PUSH FORWARD. I THINK IT WAS 1915.
>> Father Mitch: THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE TIME OF POPE BENEDICT THE 15TH? >> Father Somers: I BELIEVE SO SO. THE VATICAN REALLY GAVE US A PUSH AND TOLD US IT WAS VERY INSTRUMENTAL, THE WILL OF GOD. >> Father Mitch: INTERESTING TO ME, 1942, DURING THE NAZI OCCUPATION, A LETTER WAS
WRITTEN TO THE BISHOPS, YOU, AS BISHOPS, HAVE TO TAKE LEADERSHIP IN ENDING SEGREGATION IN THE CHURCH. YOU KNOW, THAT DIDN’T COME FROM THEIR OWN INITIATIVE. SOME BISHOPS, OF COURSE. BUT, YOU KNOW, AS A BODY THEY NEEDED THAT PUSH FROM THE VATICAN. >> Father Somers: NO, IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT AT THE TIME, MANY
REASONS TO GIVE UP, PERSECUTION, VIOLENCE. AT THE SAME TIME, IT WAS JUST THE SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE, GOT AROUND OUR MISSIONARIES. I THINK WE WERE VERY DISAPPOINTED AT THE TIME WITH THE LACK OF SUPPORT FROM THE CHURCH. AND WE WERE NOT THE FIRST ONES, OF COURSE. THE JOSEPH SITES WHERE THEY ARE
BEFORE US SAVING THE BLACK COMMUNITIES IN THE SOUTH. ALSO ST. KATHARINE DREXEL AND HER ORDER, THEY WERE ALSO INSTRUMENTAL AND HELPED US. THEY WERE OUT THERE BEFORE WE WERE. >> Father Mitch: ST. KATHARINE DREXEL CAME FROM ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST CATHOLIC FAMILIES IN AMERICA AND SHE USED HER INHERITANCE TO START SCHOOLS FOR
NATIVE AMERICANS AND FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS. >> Father Somers: INCLUDING THE SEMINARY IN ST. LOUIS, IF IT WASN’T FOR ST. CATHERINE DREXEL — ST. KATHARINE DREXEL, SHE HELPED US HUGELY. >> Father Mitch: THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF HISTORY. I HAVE A LITTLE QUOTE I WOULD LIKE TO READ FROM POPE PIUS XII,
HIS VERY IMPORTANT “MYSTICI CORPORIS CHRISTI,” THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST, HE WROTE THAT AGAIN DURING THE WAR IN JUNE OF 1943, AND HE SAID IN THAT QUOTE, “THE CHURCH HAS A DIVINELY GIVEN UNITY BY WHICH ALL MEN OF EVERY RACE ARE UNITED TO CHRIST IN THE BOND OF BROTHERHOOD.”
AND THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH THE PEOPLE TEACHING. — PAPAL TEACHING. ONCE THE EUROPEANS BEGAN TO DISCOVER AFRICAN EXPLORATION AND CAME IN CONTACT, AND SOME EUROPEANS WERE ENSLAVING BLACKS, THE PAPACY SAID, THAT IS CONTRARY TO GOD TO ENSLAVE PEOPLE ON THE BASIS OF RACE AND, YOU KNOW, IT WAS ALWAYS PUT
UNDER EXCOMMUNICATION, AND IT WAS BECAUSE THEY HAVE EQUAL DIGNITY. >> Father Somers: ABSOLUTELY. >> Father Mitch: THIS WAS 1537 WITH POPE PAUL III AND SO ON. BUT THAT TEACHING HAD A TOUGH TIME GETTING TO THE FOLKS. IT JUST DID NOT SINK IN. >> Father Somers: TESTED WITH THE FIRE DEFINITELY.
>> Father Mitch: AND SO, ’43, ’42, POPE PIUS XII PUSHING HARD. >> Father Somers: 1948 WHEN THE BISHOPS ACTUALLY DECLARED AND MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE BLACK CLERGY, THAT IT WAS ACCEPTED. ALMOST 20 YEARS AFTER WE OPENED THE SEMINARY. >> Father Mitch: TOOK A WHILE.
THEY WERE PROMPTED BY THE PEPSI TO DO THIS. — PAPACY TO DO THIS. I WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THE SEMINARY, WENT TO TEACH THERE BACK IN THE MID-’90s. LIKE TO MENTION SOMETHING FROM A BOOK CALLED “IN THE LIGHT OF THE WORD” THAT WAS WRITTEN BY ERNEST BRANDEWIE. HE WROTE, “FOR YEARS,
THE UNITED STATES WHERE A YOUNG BLACK MAN WHO FELT HE HAD A VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD COULD GO TO TEST HIS VOCATION, BECAUSE OF THE PIONEERING WORK OF THIS EFFORT, OTHER SEMINARIES AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS BEGAN TO ACCEPT AND EVEN ACTIVELY RECRUIT CANDIDATES FROM THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY. BY ITS EXISTENCE AND BECAUSE OF
THE SUCCESS, ST. AUGUSTINE’S HAD ACCOMPLISHED HISTORIC WORK THAT GOD WILL OF IT.” THAT IS REALLY REMARKABLE, THAT IMPACT. TELL ME ABOUT THE FOUNDING OF THE SEMINARY. 100 YEARS NOW, RIGHT? >> Father Somers: 100 YEARS LAST SEPTEMBER. FOUNDED IN 1923. WE BEGAN A MINOR SEMINARY AND COLLEGE IN GREENVILLE MISSISSIPPI, AND AFTER TWO OR
THREE YEARS, THE LACK OF SUPPORT, THE THREATS OF VIOLENCE, WE HAD TO MOVE IT FROM GREENVILLE TO BAY, ST. LOUIS — BAY ST. LOUIS, AND THANKS TO ST. KATHARINE DREXEL, WE WERE DONATED A BIG PLOT OF LAND. CLOSER TO LOUISIANA, MORE CATHOLICS DOWN HERE. MUCH MORE RECEPTIVE, THE WHOLE
AREA, AND THAT IS WHERE WE STARTED IN 1923. AND, YES, IT WAS THE FIRST AND ONLY SEMINARY TO ACCEPT AFRICAN-AMERICAN CANDIDATES TO THE PRIESTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THERE WERE PRIESTS BEFORE, THE JOSEPH LIGHTS AND OTHER ORDERS, BUT THEY HAD BEEN TRAINED ABROAD OR CAME IN FROM ABROAD.
>> Father Mitch: I HAVE HAD A NUMBER OF PROGRAMS ABOUT FATHER TOLTON, AUGUSTINE TOLTON, WHO WAS THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN PRIEST THAT WE KNOW OF, AND HE HAD TO GO TO ROME, STUDIED IN ROME. >> Father Somers: NO POSSIBILITY OTHERWISE. >> Father Mitch: THE FIRST FOUR FATHER’S THAT FINISHED SEMINARY THERE, FATHER ANTHONY,
MAURICE, FRANCIS WADE, AND VINCENT — I CAN’T READ HIS NAME NAME. OF FATHER VINCENT AS WELL. THEY WERE THE FIRST FOUR FATHER’S THAT WERE OWED TO AND THERE. >> Father Somers: THE FIRST FOUR, A HUGE EVENT, EVEN AFTER ORDINATION, ALSO PROTESTS. >> Father Mitch: IS THAT RIGHT? WHO IS PROTESTING.
>> Father Somers: PEOPLE WERE NOT HAPPY THAT THERE WAS GOING TO BE AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN CLERGY. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT WE STILL HAD DIFFICULTIES IN PLACEMENT, MANY, MANY BISHOPS WOULD NOT TAKE THEM INTO THEIR DIOCESES. >> Father Mitch: I HEARD THAT FROM SOME OF THE PRIESTS. >> Father Somers: IT TOOK A
LOT OF TIME AND A LOT OF COMMUNICATION AND NEGOTIATING, AND EVENTUALLY THE BISHOP OF LAFAYETTE, WE OPENED UP A GARISH, IMMACULATE HEART, WE ARE STILL THERE TODAY IN LAFAYETTE, THAT IS WHERE THEY SPEND THE FIRST THREE OR FOUR YEARS TOGETHER UNDER A WHITE PASTOR. GRADUALLY ABLE TO MOVE OUT INTO THEIR OWN PARISHES.
BUT THE STRUGGLE CONTINUED FOR MANY YEARS. IT WASN’T ONLY THE WHITE POPULATION. IT WAS INTERESTING, THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN POPULATION, THEY ALSO HAD TO COME TO ACCEPT WHITE, AND THIS WAS A MIND SHIFT TO ACCEPT BLACK CLERGY INTO THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES. THAT TOOK QUITE AN ADJUSTMENT. >> Father Mitch: SOME OF THE
PRIESTS ALSO TOLD ME THERE WAS RESISTANCE BECAUSE THEY WERE CATHOLIC, OTHER AFRICAN AMERICANS WHO WERE NOT CATHOLIC LEARNED A CERTAIN ANTI-CATHOLICISM. THEY GOT OPPOSITION FROM AFRICAN-AMERICAN NON-CATHOLIC CLERGY AS WELL. >> Father Somers: WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THE LAWS OF SEGREGATION, STILL UP AND RUNNING. >> Father Mitch: A LOT STILL BEING WRITTEN.
>> Father Somers: GOING AGAINST THE TIDE IN EVERY WAY. OUR FOUNDER WAS INSTRUMENTAL. REALLY, IT WASN’T SOMETHING OUT OF THE BOX, IT IS WHAT WE DO, GO WHERE THE CHURCH HASN’T GONE BEFORE, PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES, AND HIS BELIEF WAS, GOD IS AN ALL-INCLUSIVE GOD, NOBODY CAN BE EXCLUDED FROM GOD’S EMBRACE.
THAT IS OUR WITNESS WE TRY TO BRING. >> Father Mitch: THERE WAS A BOOK CALLED “DESEGREGATING THE ALTAR,” FAMILIAR WITH THAT? SUBTITLED “THE JO JOSEPHITES AND THE STRUGGLE.” WRITTEN BY DEACON HAROLD BURKE-SIVERS. THEY HAD A WEAK POSITION IN THE SOUTH, A LOT OF ANTI-CATHOLICISM ANTI-CATHOLICISM, THE KU KLUX KLAN WAS JUST ABOUT AS
ANTI-CATHOLIC AS IT WAS ANTI-JEWISH AND ANTIBLACK. A LOT OF RELUCTANCE BY CHURCH LEADERS IN THE SOUTH TO CHALLENGE THESE RACIAL NORMS. YOU MENTIONED, JIM CROW. >> Father Somers: UNDERESTIMATED WHAT WAS OUT THERE, REMARKABLE THAT THEY ACHIEVED WHAT THEY DID IN SUCH A SHORT TIME. >> Father Mitch: ANOTHER ELEMENT THAT CATHOLICS TEND TO
ACCOMMODATE TO LOCAL CUSTOM. WE ADAPT. TRAINED TO DO THAT. YOU GO TO INDIA, WE AND THEY ARE INDIAN CUSTOMS, EAT INDIAN FOOD, OR CHINESE, WHATEVER CULTURE, AND YOU ADAPT TO THE CULTURE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. BUT THIS WAS ADAPTING TO AN EVIL ELEMENT OF SEGREGATION. AND THEN, ANOTHER POINT THAT
BRINGS OUT, DEEP-SEATED PSYCHOSEXUAL FEARS THAT BLACKMAN WOULD BE UNABLE TO MAINTAIN CELIBACY AS — BLACK MEN WOULD BE UNABLE TO MAINTAIN CELIBACY, A MYTH THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE CELIBATE. ALSO THE MISSIONARY APPROACH TO BLACKS THAT TREATED THEM LIKE PASSIVE CHILDREN INSTEAD OF RECOGNIZING THEM AS SMART ADULTS
WITH FULL POTENTIAL TO DO THE SAME THING THAT ANYBODY ELSE COULD DO AND BE REAL EQUAL PARTNERS. THAT WAS MISSING. >> Father Somers: ABSOLUTELY. THAT WASN’T JUST OUTSIDE, THAT WAS THE CHURCH THAT HAD THOSE BELIEFS, B THAT THEY WERE NOT CAPABLE OF THE CLERICAL STATUS. >> Father Mitch: THIS WAS SOMETHING, UNDERSTANDING
AFRICAN AMERICANS, PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT, JUST BEING INFERIOR, THAT WAS BEING PUT INTO LAW. ALL OF THESE FACTORS SEEM TO COME INTO PLAY. YOU ALL WITH ST. AUGUSTINE’S COMPLETELY BUCKED THAT TREND, ALL OF THOSE TRENDS AND DID A WONDERFUL JOB OF HAVING MET A LOT OF THE GRADUATES THAT TAUGHT THERE.
THESE WERE COURAGEOUS, BRIGHT MEN WHO, I LOOK TO THEM AS HEROES. >> Father Somers: NOT ONLY DID THEY BLOCK THE LAW, MANY OF THE PRIESTS BECAME VERY ACTIVE IN PROMOTING CIVIL LIGHTS. WASN’T JUST A LEGACY OF EVANGELIZATION OF DESEGREGATION BUT ALSO OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS IN CIVIL RIGHTS.
ALSO THE LEGACY OF THE IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY IN GENERAL. SEMINARY, DIDN’T BECOME PRIESTS, BUT THEY WENT OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY AND BECAME PROFESSIONALS. ONE OF THE BEAUTIFUL THINGS I EXPERIMENTED AT THE CENTENNIAL, THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THAT CAME BACK WHOSE UNCLES, WHOSE GRANDFATHER’S, WHOSE FATHERS HAD
GONE TO THE SEMINARY, AND IT WAS THAT SENSE OF PRIDE, THAT SENSE OF WHAT THEY THEMSELVES HAD BROUGHT TO THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITIES, THAT EDUCATION THEY RECEIVED, THAT SENSE OF CONTINUING TO WORK WITH CIVIL RIGHTS, WITH PROMOTING THE CATHOLIC FAITH. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. SO MUCH THAT WAS GOING OUT THERE.
AGAIN, WE HAVE THE LEGACY OF NINE BISHOPS CAME FROM THE ST. AUGUSTINE SEMINARY. THE FIRST ONE WAS BISHOP PERRY WHO WAS AN AUXILIARY BISHOP IN NEW ORLEANS, AND WE STILL, THANK GOD, HAVE TWO BISHOPS ALIVE, THE FORMER BISHOP OF BEAUMONT, AND THE FORMER BISHOP OF MEMPHIS. WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL MEN, A
WONDERFUL LEGACY, NINE BISHOPS CAME FROM THE SEMINARY. >> Father Mitch: THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, SADLY, IT SHOULD NOT HAVE HAD TO HAVE HAD BEEN THAT WAY, BUT IT DID. THE IMPRESSIVE PART IS THE WAY THAT YOUR COMMUNITY HAD THE VISION TO GO AGAINST ALL OF THESE OBSTACLES AND TRENDS IN
CULTURE AND BEGIN THIS PROCESS OF TREATING PEOPLE AS BROTHERS IN CHRIST. THESE ARE; HAPPY TO HAVE THEM AS BISHOPS. THIS IS WHAT WE DO. LEARNING FROM THEM AS GREAT LEADERS ALSO WHAT WE DO. >> Father Somers: PART OF THE WIDER VISION OF OUR FOUNDER, I THINK THAT IS BY THEY BROUGHT
BACK TO A VERY SPECIFIC VISION OF THE UNITED STATES, LIVING THAT, THANK GOD THEY WERE ABLE TO DO THAT. >> Father Mitch: WONDERFUL. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK IS IMPORTANT TOO IS THAT, AT THIS TIME, WE CAN LOOK BACK AT THAT AND BE SOMEWHAT PERPLEXED LIKE, HOW CAN THEY THINK THIS
WAY? WHY WOULD THEY? BUT THAT KIND OF QUESTION INDICATES; WATCH THAT KIND OF QUESTION INDICATES HAS BEEN A HUGE SHIFT IN CULTURE THAT THE JIM CROW LAWS ARE ALL GONE. THERE IS STILL DIFFICULTY, BIGOTRY AT TIMES, BUT IT CAN’T BE PUT INTO LAW. AND THE CHANGES IN CULTURAL ATTITUDE ARE PRETTY THOROUGH.
I WOULD SAY THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH AS WELL AS UP NORTH. >> Father Somers: YES. NO, IT’S VERY TRUE, CHALLENGES REMAIN, BUT I THINK IT IS SOMETHING WE HAVE TO, AGAIN, GOD IS AN ALL-INCLUSIVE GOD AND THAT EVERYBODY IN GOD’S EYES IS EQUAL EQUAL. I AM IN A MULTICULTURAL CHURCH AT THE MOMENT.
I LOVE IT BECAUSE IT IS SO MANY DIFFERENT FACES, COLORS, LANGUAGES, COULTERS, ALL AROUND THE SAME ALTAR, ALL WORSHIPING THE SAME GOD, ALL BROTHERS AND SISTERS. SO BEAUTIFUL. THE SHARING OF GIFTS, AND EACH ONE, WE ARE ENRICHED WHEN WE SHARE WITH SOMEBODY THAT IS DIFFERENT, DIFFERENCE SHOULD NEVER SEPARATE, DIFFERENCES BEAUTIFUL.
VERY OFTEN AND WAS PUT OUT THERE IS THE OPPOSITE. ON THE CONTRARY, IT IS BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL. >> Father Mitch: I REMEMBER ONE TIME WALKING INTO THE SACRISTY OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER IN JERUSALEM, I ASKED IF I COULD FIND A PLACE TO CELEBRATE A PRIVATE MASS. THEY SAID, NOTHING IS OPEN, BUT
A GERMAN PRIEST HOLDING HIS FIRST MASS INSIDE THE TOMB. IF IT IS OKAY WITH HIM, JOIN HIM HIM. HE SAID, WELL, GOING TO DO THE READINGS IN FRENCH, YOU CAN JOIN US, BUT THERE ARE SOME FRENCH NUNS COMING. THAT’S NO PROBLEM. AND THEN THIS ITALIAN JOINED US.
ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE MASS, IT HIT ME VERY HARD, HERE WE ARE INSIDE THE TOMB OF JESUS CHRIST FROM WHICH HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD DEAD, AND 50 YEARS BEFORE THAT, ALL OF OUR FATHERS WERE TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER. CHRIST MADE THAT HAVE NO DIFFERENCE. AND THIS APPLIES TO ALL THE
RACIAL, ETHNIC DIFFERENCES. WE NEED TO TAKE A LITTLE BREAK. WHEN WE COME BACK, IF ANY OF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, WE ASK YOU TO PLEASE CALL IN AND WE WILL BE BACK WITH YOU IN ABOUT 2 MINUTES. [THEME MUSIC] [THEME MUSIC] >> Father Mitch: WELCOME BACK. WE ARE SPEAKING TO FATHER
MICHAEL SOMERS OF THE SOCIETY OF THE DIVINE WORD, THE SVD FATHERS. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROVINCE AND THEIR MINISTRY AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS, YOU CAN GO TO TO DivineWord-USS.org. DivineWord-USS.org. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE KIND OF WORK THAT THEY DO. TELL US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT
SOME OF THE PRESENT WORK THAT YOU HAVE. >> Father Somers: AS I MENTIONED, FATHER MITCH, WE ARE ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES, BUT OUR SOUTHERN PROVINCE, OVER THE YEARS WE ARE HERE, NO STRETCHES FROM SOUTH FLORIDA, ALL THE STATES ALONG THE GULF OF MEXICO UP TO TEXAS, INCLUDING ARKANSAS AS WELL.
WE ARE ABOUT 15, 16 DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES OF OUR 65 MISSIONARIES DOWN HERE SOUTH IN DIFFERENT PARISHES. WE HELP PRIMARILY OUR LOCAL BISHOPS WITH MINORITY GROUPS, OR SPECIALIZED MINISTRY WHERE WE ARE CALLED TO DO THAT. WE LIVE IN MIXED INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IS OURSELVES. YOU KNOW, I HAVE NEVER LIVED IN
A COMMUNITY OF ONLY IRISH MISSIONARIES. IT CAN DO YOUR HEAD IN AT TIMES, BUT IT IS ALSO IMMENSELY RICH AND BEAUTIFUL. YOU ARE CHALLENGED, BUT I THINK CHALLENGED TO BECOME A BETTER PERSON. WE BELIEVE THAT THAT ALREADY, WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING, THAT IS ALREADY A SIGN OF GOD’S KINGDOM.
IT IS A SIGN OF HOW GOD WANTS US OUT TO BE, WE CAN GET ON, AND SHARE EACH OTHER’S GIFTS, BECOME A BETTER PEOPLE THROUGH EACH OTHER AND OPEN UP TO THE DIFFERENCES THAT ENRICH US. IT IS A CHALLENGE BUT IT IS VERY REWARDING, AND THAT IS WHY WE LOVE GOING INTO
AFRICAN-AMERICANS OR VIETNAMESE PARISHES, MANY MULTICULTURAL PARISHES. >> Father Mitch: A LOT OF HISPANIC, SPANISH-SPEAKING FOLKS, AND YOUR OWN PARISH, RIGHT? >> Father Somers: A DO, INCREASINGLY WE ARE BEING ASKED TO HELP OUT, AND ALL HER PARISHES ACROSS THE SOUTH, PRESENTLY, JUST OVER TWO-THIRDS ARE STILL AFRICAN-AMERICAN PARISHES.
IT IS PART OF OUR IDENTITY, WE FEEL VERY STRONG ABOUT IT. BUT ALSO, THE OTHER THIRD MULTICULTURAL PARISHES, HISPANIC PARISHES, VIETNAMESE PARISHES, YES. >> Father Somers: AND ARTIST — I DON’T KNOW IF YOU HAVE STATS ON THIS OR DATA — >> Father Mitch: AND WHAT IS — I DON’T KNOW IF YOU HAVE
STATS ON THIS OR DATA — WHAT ABOUT THE NUMBER OF AMERICANS WHO ARE STATING FOR THE PRIESTHOOD NOW? >> Father Somers: LIKE, IN THE SOUTH, NOT ONLY ANGLO-AMERICANS, BUT AFRICAN AMERICANS COME UP VOCATIONS HAVE DECLINED DRASTICALLY, VERY UNFORTUNATELY. AS OF A FEW YEARS AGO, PRESENTLY WE HAVE NO AFRICAN-AMERICAN
PRIESTS IN ACTIVE MINISTRY IN THE SOUTH. IT’S NOT TRUE. IT WAS TRUE UP UNTIL A YEAR AGO AND WE JUST GOT A NEW MISSIONARY MISSIONARY, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, BORN IN THE UNITED STATES, WHO CAME A YEAR AGO. THERE HAS BEEN A FEW VOCATIONS RECENTLY FROM AROUND THE UNITED STATES, AFRICAN AMERICANS, WHICH WE ARE
GRATEFUL FOR. BUT THERE HAS BEEN A LAPSE OF 20 YEARS OR MORE WHERE THERE WASN’T ANY VOCATIONS FROM AFRICAN AMERICANS. >> Father Mitch: THERE ARE A LOT OF AFRICANS. ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES, WE SEE AFRICAN MISSIONARIES COMING TO THE UNITED STATES, FROM MANY PARTS OF AFRICA, NIGERIA, OF COURSE, A LARGE CATHOLIC
POPULATION THERE, BUT ALSO EAST AFRICA, SOUTH AFRICA, ALL OVER, QUITE A FEW OF THEM, BUT WE DON’T HAVE AS MANY AFRICAN AMERICANS. >> Father Somers: YEAH, NO MORE THAN I THINK EASTERN CULTURE, OTHER THAN ISLAND, A SPECIES INTO EXTINCTION. UNFORTUNATELY, NO VOCATIONS MUCH THERE EITHER. >> Father Mitch: WHAT ARE WE
GOING TO LAUGH AT? [LAUGHS] >> Father Somers: WHAT IS EXTRAORDINARY, PREVIOUSLY MISSION COUNTRIES, MISSION TERRITORY, THAT IS WHERE ALL THE VOCATIONS ARE COMING FROM. OUR RECRUITS ARE COMING PRESENTLY FROM INDONESIA, THE PHILIPPINES, INDIA, VIETNAM, THE REPUBLIC OF CONGO, ANNA. NOW EVANGELIZING EUROPE AND PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES. GOD ALWAYS HAS HIS PLAN.
>> Father Mitch: IT REALLY IS A REMARKABLE PROCESS, FOR INSTANCE, I HAVE SEEN A LOT OF AFRICAN PRIESTS WORKING WONDERFULLY AND INTIMATELY. A FEW IN GERMANY. DIDN’T SEE AS MANY IN GERMANY, BUT A LOT IN ITALY, BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I’VE BEEN TO GERMANY. THE WESTERN NATIONS DON’T SEEM
TO BE CATCHING THE SENSE OF VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD. IRELAND USED TO HAVE SOME BIG SEMINARIES, NOT ANYMORE, RIGHT? >> Father Somers: IT NOT ANYMORE, DWINDLING FAST, UNFORTUNATELY. WE HAVE A LOT OF CLERGY FROM AFRICA, INDIA, DIFFERENT COUNTRIES GOING TO EVANGELIZE, BUT VERY FEW VOCATIONS FROM THE COUNTRY ITSELF.
>> Father Mitch: AS I LOOK BACK ON THE HISTORY OF A PLACE LIKE IRELAND AND OTHER PLACES, OFTEN TIMES IT WAS THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS, THE MONKS, AND IRELAND ESPECIALLY, WHO REALLY LIVED THE TOUGH LIFE OF PENITENCE, AND THEY WERE THE ONES WHO WORKED SO HARD FOR THE EVANGELIZATION OF
IRELAND AND THE REST OF EUROPE. THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL TO GET NEW VOCATIONS IF — THIS IS A NICE WAY OF LIFE, THINGS WILL BE OKAY, BE EASY. NO, IT HAS TO BE THAT COMMITMENT TO CHRIST AND THE SIMPLICITY OF LIFE THAT WILL BE THE REENERGIZING OF THESE CATHOLIC COUNTRIES.
SPEED TO ENSURE. WHOLE INSTITUTION OF CHRIST, SECULARISM, VERY DIFFICULT AT THE MOMENT. AGAIN, THE CHURCH WENT THROUGH ITS OWN CRISIS IN IRELAND VERY MUCH ALSO, THE WAY THAT WAS HANDLED. WE PAID A VERY HIGH PRICE FOR ALL OF THAT. >> Father Mitch: THAT IS, I THINK, ANOTHER FACTOR.
WE SAW IN THE UNITED STATES THAT DURING SOME OF THE DARKEST DAYS OF THE PRIEST ABUSE CRISIS, A LOT OF MEN WERE STEPPING UP AND ENTERING. SOME SEMINARIES WERE VERY FULL. THEY RECOGNIZED, WE CAN STEP IN HERE. DO YOU SENSE THAT IN A PLACE LIKE IRELAND? >> Father Somers: I THINK NOT
UNDER THE PRESENT STRUCTURE IS. I THINK SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE AND I THINK WE HAVE TO RECREATE, REIMAGINE OF HOW A PRESENCE IN A COUNTRY LIKE IRELAND IN A SECULARIZED WORLD, THE PRESENT STRUCTURES ARE NOT SERVING THE COMMUNITY, PEOPLE ARE STILL VERY SPIRITUAL, MANY PEOPLE WILL CLAIM THEY ARE CATHOLIC, BUT
THEY ARE NOT … AND THEY SAY THEY DO NOT WANT TO BELONG TO ANY INSTITUTION. I REALLY THINK WE HAVE TO RECREATE, REIMAGINE HOW TO RE-EVANGELIZE IN GENERAL. >> Father Mitch: THAT WILL TAKE A LOT OF PRAYER, A LOT OF PRAYER, PENANCE FOR PAST SINS, AND PRAYER. ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT THE
MISSIONARY WORK HERE, THIS WAS CERTAINLY PART OF THE MISSIONARY WORK OF SOME OF THE EUROPEAN PRIESTS. WHEN I WAS STILL A LITTLE BOY, MY GRANDPARENTS ESPECIALLY LIKED GOING TO A PARISH WHERE THE PRIEST WOULD SPEAK POLISH. MASK WAS IN LATIN, OF COURSE, BUT THEY WANTED THE SERMON IN THE LANGUAGE THEY WERE
COMFORTABLE WITH. IT STRIKES ME THAT ONE OF THE GOALS OF THEIR BEING AFRICAN-AMERICAN CLERGY IS THAT THIS WOULD ALSO BE MEN WHO HAVE AN EXPERIENCE THAT OTHER AFRICAN AMERICANS CAN HAVE AN IMMEDIATE SHARING. A POLISH PRIEST WITH SOMEONE, HE UNDERSTANDS THE WAY WE THINK, THEY COULD RELATE TO THAT. IN MY FAMILY.
THINK THAT THAT WOULD BE THE CASE FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS THAT FOLKS WHO COME FROM EXPERIENCES OF BIGOTRY AND OTHER STRUGGLES, ET CETERA, THEY WOULD HAVE AN INSTINCT, YOU KNOW, TO SAY, I RESONATE. >> Father Somers: I THINK IT WOULD APPLY TOO MANY MINORITY GROUPS, PRECISELY BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU ARE SAYING.
THEY HAVE DEALT WITH THE PREJUDICES THAT WENT ON, SOMEBODY FROM THEIR OWN CULTURE WOULD UNDERSTAND THAT BETTER THAN ANYBODY ELSE WOULD BE ABLE TO RELATE. THAT IS VERY TRUE. I THINK THERE IS NO, YOU KNOW, NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THAT, ABSOLUTELY. >> Father Mitch: I THINK THE GOSPEL HAS THE SUBJECTIVE
TRUTH TO IT, AND YET, THE WAY WE EXPLAIN WHAT THE GOSPEL SAYS INFORMS THAT FOLKS RESONATE WITH IS VERY IMPORTANT. >> Father Somers: IT IS. I THINK THE ONUS IS ON US, WHEN WE COME TO ANY MISSION COUNTRY, WHEN WE COME DOWN SOUTH, HOW WE BECOME ACCULTURATED INTO THE
LOCAL CULTURE, THAT CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT, ESPECIALLY IF WE TEND TO COME THAT WE ALREADY KNOW IT ALL, THAT WE HAVE HAD OUR TRAINING, I JUST COME TO EVANGELIZE. I THINK THAT CAN BE A MISTAKE. THAT HAPPENED TO ME A LITTLE BIT IN ECUADOR AND I HAD TO GET A RUDE AWAKENING.
BUT IT IS VERY TRUE. IF WE DON’T APPRECIATE THAT AND BECOME ENCULTURATED INTO WHERE WE ARE BEING SENT, WE ARE IN FOR SOME SERIOUS TROUBLE. >> Father Mitch: THIS IS SOMETHING, I WORKED DOWN IN PERU PERU, AND PART OF THAT ENCULTURATION FOR SOMEONE THAT IS NOT PART OF THAT CULTURE, IS
TO RECOGNIZE AND HIS OTHER CULTURAL FORMS, THERE IS A BASIC HUMANITY THAT I SHARED, SOMETIMES THESE FOLKS EXPRESS IT DIFFERENTLY THAN I WOULD EVER THINK OF, AND IT TAKES ME TIME TO MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT HUMANITY IS IN THEIR EXPRESSION OF IT. >> Father Somers: TRUE.
I THINK SOMETIMES THEY HAVE TO HELP YOU TO TAKE AWAY THE OUTER LAYERS TO GET DOWN TO YOUR OWN HUMANITY FIRST. WHEN I WENT TO ECUADOR, I WAS FIRED UP ON HIGH THEOLOGY. I WAS RARING TO GO. EVENTUALLY I WAS GOING TO CHANGE AND HAVE MY OWN LITTLE PATCH OF
GROUND GOING TO CHANGE ALL OF THESE PAGANS AND CONVERT THEM IN ECUADOR. I WENT UP, MY FIRST MISSION WAS THE ABORIGINES IN THE ANDEAN MOUNTAINS, AND I WAS FIRING UP ALL THE THEOLOGY I HAD LEARNED FOR SO MANY YEARS, AND AFTER TWO OR THREE YEARS, AN ELDERLY MAN
CAME TO ME AND SAYS, FATHER MIKE. I SAYS, YES? HE SAYS, YOU GIVE GREAT SERMONS, FATHER. I FELT MYSELF GETTING BIGGER AND FEELING GOOD. HE WENT ON TO SAY, WE DON’T UNDERSTAND A WORD YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT? I SAYS, WHAT DO YOU MEAN? “OH, FATHER, NOT IMPORTANT.” I SAID, IT’S VERY IMPORTANT.
“FATHER, THAT ISN’T THE MOST IMPORTANT AT ALL.” I SAID, I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU ARE GOING. HE SAYS, FATHER, WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO US IS WHEN YOU ACCEPT THIS PLATE OF FOOD THAT WE PREPARE FOR YOU FROM OUR POVERTY AND YOU HAVE IT HERE WITH US. WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO US IS WHEN
YOU COME HERE WITH YOUR RUCKSACK ON YOUR BACK AND YOU SLEEP OVER IN THE MOUNTAINS AND YOUR TAKE ON OUR WAY OF LIFE. HE SAYS, FATHER, THAT SPEAKS TO US. NOTHING YOU CAN SAY SPEAKS LOUDER THAN THAT. AND IT WAS LIKE SOMEBODY PULLING A RUG FROM UNDER MY FEET.
MY WHOLE CAUSE OF VOCATION BEGAN TO CHANGE. THEY HAD TO STRIPPED ME DOWN TO THAT LEVEL. I HAVE TO HONESTLY SAY I DISCOVERED WERE BREAKING BREAD MEANT THANKS TO THEM. I DISCOVERED WHAT PRIESTHOOD MEANT TO ME. I THOUGHT I KNEW IT ALL AFTER LEAVING THE SEMINARY. I LEARNED THROUGH THEM WHAT
PRIESTHOOD MEANT I CHERISH IT TODAY. BEAUTIFUL. THEY SLOWLY AND BEAUTIFULLY TOOK AWAY THE OUTER LAYERS OF PRIDE, OF ARROGANCE, OH, MY GOD, TO BEAR MY OWN SOUL AND SHOW ME WHAT WAS IMPORTANT IN MY OWN MINISTRY. I WILL NEVER, EVER FORGET THEM. THE GREATEST LESSON I LEARNED.
THAT GOD I WENT TO PREACH, I WAS PREACHING TO THEM, WAS AN ABSTRACT, DISTANT GOD. THEY REVEALED TO ME IN A GOD THAT WAS TANGIBLE, PRESENT, PERSONABLE. AND NEVER LEARNED ALL THAT, I’M SORRY TO SAY, IN THE SEMINARY. I HAD TO GO THERE TO DISCOVER.
THAT IS WHY I SAY IT IS MY FIRST LOVE. I COULD NEVER FORGET THAT. >> Father Mitch: YOU REMIND ME OF A FRENCH SAYING THAT “THIS MIGHT BE A PROBLEM SO DIFFICULT, EVEN A NEWLY ORDAINED PRIEST DOESN’T HAVE AN ANSWER.” [LAUGHS] >> Father Somers: GOD HELP US, YEAH. >> Father Mitch: I THINK
SOMETIMES WE DO COME OUT… >> Father Somers: FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS, THINK WE HAVE IT. >> Father Mitch: FIRING UP THE TANK WHEN WE NEED THE BICYCLE TO GO HANG OUT WITH FOLKS. >> Father Somers: LITTLE DID I THINK THAT THE ONES I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO CONVERT WERE THE
ONES THAT WOULD HELP ME WITH MY CONVERSION, STILL ONGOING. >> THAT’S TRUE FOR… >> I HAVE TO TELL YOU A STORY. I KNEW BISHOP PARKS, IN THE DIOCESE OF PENSACOLA, TALLAHASSEE, WHEN HE WAS BISHOP THERE, BUT LATER HE BISHOP WHERE HE IS TODAY. AS PROVINCIAL SUPERIOR, I GOT A
CALL ONE DAY FROM HIM. I HOPE YOU WON’T MIND ME SHARING THIS. >> Father Mitch: TOO LATE, GO AHEAD. >> Father Somers: HE INVITED ME AND SHARED WITH ME, FATHER MIKE, HE KNOWS ABOUT OUR COMMITMENT TO THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN THE SOUTH OF THE COUNTRY, AND HE
SAID HE HAD A PARISH IN DOWNTOWN TAMPA, AFRICAN-AMERICAN PARISH, ONE OF ONLY TWO, IF I’M CORRECT, AND THE DIOCESE OF ST. PETERSBURG. HAD BEEN VACANT FOR SEVEN MONTHS WITHOUT A PRIEST, AND HE HAD DIFFICULTIES FINDING A PRIEST TO GO THERE, AND HE ASKED ME, AS AN ORDER, WHAT WE LOOK AT IT.
I SAID, BISHOP, I CERTAINLY WILL THINK ABOUT IT, WILL CONSULT. WENT TO THE PARISH WITH ONE OR TWO OF OUR COUNSELORS ANOTHER DAY. WE SPOKE WITH SOME PEOPLE. IT ITS DIFFICULTIES, A LOT HAD GONE ON IN ITS RECENT HISTORY. MAYBE ABOUT TO GO UP MONTHS LATER I WAS IN TAMPA AGAIN,
CALLED BISHOP PARKS AND WE GOT TOGETHER. HE SAYS, FATHER MIKE, DID YOU MAKE A DECISION? I SAYS, FATHER, WE DID. THE POOR MAN, HE SAT DOWN, HE WAS AFRAID OF WHAT I MIGHT BE SAYING. HE SAYS, WHAT DID YOU DECIDE? I SAYS, BISHOP, OF COURSE WE ARE TAKING THE PARISH, THAT IS WHAT
WE DO. JUST THIS SIDE OF RELIEF ON THE MAN’S FACE, I CAN STILL REMEMBER IT. WHAT I TELL THIS STORY IS THAT THE PASTOR THAT WENT THERE, NOT A TERRITORY OR PARISH, BECAUSE IT IS A LONG, LONG HISTORY OF BEING AN AFRICAN AMERICAN PARISH, PEOPLE HAVE COME BACK TO
IT FROM ALL OVER TAMPA. NOT ONLY DO THEY COME FOR SUNDAY EUCHARIST AND WORSHIP, BUT LUNCH GOES ON FOR HOURS AFTERWARD. THE FRATERNITY IS SOMETHING TO BE EXPERIENCED. THE JOY, THE CELEBRATION. IT IS JUST BEAUTIFUL. THAT IS WHAT WE LOVE TO DO, WE ARE WHERE WE CAN DO IT, REALLY A
JOY TO BE IN THAT PARISH ON A SUNDAY FOR WORSHIP. >> Father Mitch: I THINK FOR US, LIKE POPE ST. JOHN POLLARD SAID, WE DON’T HIT A WAY TO CHURCH, WE DON’T HAVE A BLACK CHURCH, IT IS ONE CATHOLIC CHURCH. AND ALL OF US SHOULD BE AS FREE
TO GO AND CELEBRATE WITH ONE ANOTHER AND YET ALSO HAVE A SENSE OF COMFORT WITH OUR CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS THAT MAKES THE WHOLE CHURCH BETTER. BUT ALSO HAVE THAT SENSE THAT EVERYONE IS WELCOME AND THAT WE ALL BELONG TO THE ONE SAME CHURCH. AGAIN WANT TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO
CHECK OUT THE WORK OF THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE, SOCIETY OF THE DIVINE WORD, BY GOING TO DivineWord-USS.org. FATHER MIKE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING WITH US TONIGHT, JOIN ME IN GIVING THE BLESSING. MAY THE ALMIGHTY GOD KEEP YOU AND BLESS YOU. MAY HE CAUSE HIS FACE TO SHINE UPON YOU.
MAY HE LEAD YOU AND ALL OF YOUR WAYS BY HIS PEACE. MAY THE ALMIGHTY GOD BLESS YOU. THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. YOU KNOW, WE CAN BRING YOU FATHER MIKE AND ALL OF OUR OTHER GUESTS AND ALL THE OTHER PROGRAMS IN THE NETWORK ONLY BECAUSE THE NETWORK IS BROUGHT
TO YOU BY YOU. THIS IS HOW OUR LORD INSPIRED MOTHER ANGELICA. WE DEPEND ON YOU TO PLEASE KEEP US BETWEEN YOUR GAS BILL, YOUR ELECTRIC BILL, AND YOUR CABLE BILL, AND IF YOU DO THAT, WE’LL BE ABLE TO PAY ALL OF OUR BILLS TOO. GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND THANK YOU. [THEME MUSIC]
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