In a forthcoming October 27 article in “America: The National Catholic Weekly,” Bishop Blase Cupich warns against the presence of racism in the November 4 presidential election. Calling racism “our nation’s own specific ‘original sin’,” Bishop Cupich notes that the Catholic Church declared racism a sin in 1979 and did so “in full knowledge that racism was a plague not merely in society at large but had even invaded the church, which too often conformed to the prejudices of society in its own interior life.”

Bishop Cupich oversees the Catholic Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota, having been ordained and installed on September 21, 1998. Prior to his appointment as Bishop, Cupich served as pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Omaha, Nebraska from 1997-1998, and as President and Rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio from 1989 until 1996.

The 1979 statement of the Catholic Church - Brothers and Sisters to Us - to which Bishop Cupich refers, states in part:

“Racism is a sin; a sin that divides the human family, blots out the image of God among specific members of that family, and violates the fundamental human dignity of those called to be children of the same Father. Racism is the sin that says some human beings are inherently superior and others essentially inferior because of races. It is the sin that makes racial characteristics the determining factor for the exercise of human rights. It mocks the words of Jesus: ‘Treat others the way you would have them treat you.’ Indeed, racism is more than a disregard for the words of Jesus; it is a denial of the truth of the dignity of each human being revealed by the mystery of the Incarnation.”

There are 270 million Catholics of African descent throughout the world, representing 25% of the Catholic faithful. In the United States there are 3 million Black Catholics, 250 African American priests, and 1,300 parishes.

In the article Bishop Cupich reminds Catholics of the church’s position that racism is a sin and calls upon them to participate in the November 4 election with the teachings of the church in mind. “As we draw near an election day in which one of the major party candidates for president is for the first time a person of African-American ancestry, we should be able to do so with a sense that whatever the outcome, America has crossed another threshold in healing the wounds that racism has inflicted on our nation’s body politic for our entire history.” Likewise Bishop Cupich also admonishes Catholics not to use abortion as a litmus test for their vote, warning that “voting for a candidate solely because of that candidate’s support for abortion or against him or her solely on the basis of his or her race is to promote an intrinsic evil.”

The Bishop makes his appeal as signs of racist sentiment have been surfacing as the presidential campaign winds down. Over the past several weeks there have been expressions of violence against Senator Barack Obama by supporters of the Republican presidential ticket at rallies for Senator John McCain, racist flyers depicting Senator Obama in a stereotypical manner that have been circulated by McCain supporters and statements from local Republican Party officials that are meant to raise suspicion of Senator Obama among white voters. The recent spate of racist activity confirms the suspicions of many Obama supporters that the Republican ticket would play upon some white voters’ bias toward Blacks as the campaign entered the final days before voting. In many ways the recent endorsement of Senator Obama by retired General Colin Powell was as much an indictment of recent GOP campaign tactics exploiting race, and the party’s drift to the right, as it was an expression of his preference for the Democratic candidate.

The Catholic vote remains one of the largest blocs of faith-based voters in the country, with a strong presence in key battleground states, such as Pennsylvania, among working class white voters who have been courted by both the Obama and McCain campaigns.