A humble ex-slave has the honor of being the only person entombed at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception downtown. Julia Greeley, Denver’s Angel of Charity and Apostle of the Sacred Heart, is worthy of veneration because of her shining Christian witness. The pious, scholarly Archbishop Oscar Romero became the bold “gospel for El Salvador” during the violent government repression that led to the nation’s 12-year-long civil war. Former medicine man Nicholas Black Elk became a tireless Catholic catechist who brought the hope and new life of Jesus—called Wanikiya, “he who makes live,” by the Lakota—to his broken people. Reflecting the beautiful diversity of the Church, the saint and the two Servants of God are among 18 inspiring men and women featured in a new book published by Ignatius Press, Catholic Heroes of Civil and Human Rights: 1800s to the Present. The work is a collaboration between Matthew Daniels, a professor of law, political science and human rights at South Carolina’s Anderson University, and me, a former editor of the Denver Catholic Register and longtime freelance writer. Daniels, an Evangelical Christian, commissioned the book as a Catholic supplement to a civil rights curriculum he owns focused on the gospel-based principles of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. It evolved for a general audience.
“We need to remember that faith has always been integral to the human rights and civil rights enterprise,” Daniels said at the book’s virtual launch on Sept. 9. “The very human rights enterprise itself is rooted in faith and in the belief that people are made in the image of God.”
The launch date was the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Black bishops’ pastoral letter on evangelization, “What We Have Seen and Heard.” It was also the feast of St. Peter Claver, a 17th-century Spanish Jesuit priest who ministered to African slaves in Cartagena, Columbia.
A quick read, Catholic Heroes highlights the courageous work of canonized saints to an ordinary car mechanic. Ranging from the birth of the United States to World War II Germany to the current Latin American immigration crisis, it shows how committed Christians, whatever their life station or circumstances, can do extraordinary deeds. The book is themed on five pillars of Catholic social teaching—freedom, perseverance, hope, justice and conscience—which are defined by short quotes from Church documents. The people profiled, including Servant of God Dorothy Day, Ven. Father Augustus Tolton, Bl. Franz Jagerstatter and St. Teresa of Calcutta, transformed lives and advanced civil and human rights as they boldly defended human dignity. Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review editor-at-large, led the virtual launch panel discussion. “The power of this book is these are contemporary people,” she said. “This is what we’re called to be.” Panelists included Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, author and evangelist; Christopher Pichon, supreme knight and CEO of the Knights of St. Peter Claver; and Father Maurice Sands, executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office and a priest of the Detroit Archdiocese. “I had no idea who Nicholas Black Elk was,” Deacon Burke-Sivers said about Catholic Heroes. “To get more of these voices into the discussion is a beautiful thing. It opens our hearts to receive more of God’s Spirit. And it opens us to receive a perspective from all the different people affected by issues of social justice and race in our country.” “These are stories that need to be told, history that needs to be told,” added Father Sands. Pichon spoke about Claver, patron of the Knights of Peter Claver, and how members of the fraternal organization strive to model him through their social justice work. Catholic Heroes has received an abundance of endorsements, including from Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, archbishop emeritus of Denver, and former Denver prelates Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, retired Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia and Bishop James Conley of Lincoln. “A call to holiness and action,” Denver Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila said about Catholic Heroes. “May the rich diversity of these narratives empower readers with the courage to promote the truth about our fundamental identity as sons and daughters of God the Father.” “They remind us that we are all called to be points of light,” said Bishop Conley. Indeed, the men and women profiled in Catholic Heroes bear witness that “light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn 1:5). May they inspire readers to be the light in this world God desires and to realize their own call to holiness. To read endorsements and find out more, visit www.catholicheroes.com.
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