Archbishop, editor: Angelus News minimizes systemic racism
DATE
Recipient: Archbishop Gomez / Editor-in-Chief Angelus News
3424 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010-2241
During these challenging times for our nation, in the midst of racial divides and candor over historical systemic racism, the Los Angeles Archdiocesan media platform, Angelus, published a number of articles minimizing the scope, breadth and reality of systemic injustices faced by people of color.
Our faith calls us to prioritize the needs of the vulnerable and marginalized instead of prioritizing equality. As Pope Paul VI is quoted in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, "…an excessive affirmation of equality “can give rise to an individualism in which each one claims his own rights without wishing to be answerable for the common good.” (333)
Yet on June 9, 2020, the Angelus posted an article on their media platform discounting Black Lives Matters concerns to prioritize all lives matter: https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/06/can-we-agree-that-all-lives-matter-already/
A June 12, 2020, article placed blame for racial disparity with black fathers and dismissed racism. A further article on June 23, 2020 labeled concerns of Black Lives Matter as bigoted and ignorant. Both articles were originally published by The Federalist, an online media platform warned by Google about racist comments on their website's comment section. Twitter blocked The Federalist’s account for promoting Covid parties.
https://thefederalist.com/2020/06/12/to-truly-reduce-racial-disparities-we-must-acknowledge-black-fathers-matter/
https://thefederalist.com/2020/06/24/shaun-kings-demand-we-smash-white-european-jesus-images-is-bigoted-and-ignorant/
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/16/tech/google-federalist-zerohedge-advertising-ban/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/us/chickenpox-parties-federalist-twitter.html
A further article on June 25, 2020 ties the state of affairs to identity politics. Angelus republished this article from The Catholic Thing, a publication with a Twitter post labeling Black Lives Matter subversive.
https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2020/06/25/our-deeper-task/
https://twitter.com/catholicthing/status/1281198668264210432?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
On the same day, Angelus posted an article from Crisis Magazine stating it seems possible priests and bishops may need to call on force of arms by Knights of Columbus to defend churches. This article labels conservatives who pacify the mob by removing racist art as cowards and says the mob never was about the Confederacy, slavery or racism, but replacing America with a Marxist utopia. The article’s author, freelance writer Casey Chalk, has alliances with Christendom College, The American Conservative, The Federalist and The Catholic Thing. Crisis Magazine, an online publication apostolate of Sophia Institute, continues publishes inflammatory journalism like a recent article titled Civil War is Coming: Can We Stop It in Time?, with a picture of men armed with high-power weapons and featuring statements such as Black Lives Matter will take to the streets to destabilize the country. In 2014, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles collaborated with the Sophia Institute to launch the Sophia Institute for Teachers apostolate.
https://www.crisismagazine.com/2020/cancel-culture-comes-for-the-catholic-church
https://www.crisismagazine.com/2020/civil-war-is-coming-can-we-stop-it-in-time
https://www.sophiainstitute.com/information/history-and-mission
https://angelusnews.com/local/la-catholics/sophia-institute-workshops-are-giving-teachers-new-tools-to-use-in-class/
An Angelus article dated August 26, 2020 on Flannery O'Connor upheld her racist language as she was a woman of her time and environment in Georgia and she observe(d) the traditions of the society she fed on. https://angelusnews.com/arts-culture/the-irony-of-the-canceling-of-flannery-oconnor/
On November 9, 2020, the Angelus newsletter included an article from The City Journal, a publication of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a non-profit free market economics think tank started by William Cassey, Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the 1980's. The publication's current editor formerly worked for Crisis Magazine. This article's author labeled the 1619 project as intellectual fraud in a 2020 interview with Quillette. Previously, he authored the book TRIBES: How Race, Religion and Identity are Reshaping the Global Economy, which was critiqued for use of ethnic stereotypes. In this article, he labels California’s major metro regions as socialist rule and critiques young Hispanic millennials for seeking racial justice and public spending instead of economic growth.
https://www.city-journal.org/signs-of-weakness-in-californias-blue-alliance
Angelus' Always Forward newsletter has a disclaimer stating links necessarily don't reflect the views of the Archdiocese and the Church but are provided to reflect on a variety of perspectives on relevant issues, including ones with which the Church might disagree with. The stated ultimate goal is to equip readers to continue Christ's redemptive work. Yet the same day the June 9th article appeared in the Angelus, the Archdiocesan Office of Life, Justice and Peace promoted a virtual conference by the National Review Institute, where the author and other panelists expressed the same sentiments. On the issue of black fathers, the Angelus has published an article with similar prerogatives. https://angelusnews.com/news/life-family/why-fathers-matter-to-the-future-of-young-black-men/ The Crisis Magazine article was published by an apostolate affiliated with an organization with which the Archdiocese partnered to launch a parochial school teachers’ national training program. The June 25th article talks of identity politics. On the Archdiocesan website, LA Catholics, a web page addresses identity and gender with a series of in-house Angelus articles and resources from entities with like-minded perspectives. https://lacatholics.org/gender-and-sexuality/ The August 26th article was published in-house by Angelus. And if the Angelus publishes an article critiquing young Hispanic leaders pursuing racial justice and public policy in their communities, where is an article in the Angelus offering their insights reflective of Pope Francis' critique delineating the social and environmental consequences of the economic growth paradigm?
As the media platform for the largest archdiocese in America which has journalistic alliances with national Catholic media sources such as CRUX and Catholic News Agency, the Angelus should not repeatedly exemplify polarizing perspectives, especially giving a platform and credence to media sources with questionable journalistic practices and critiques demonizing segments of our nation's populous. With your leadership, may the Angelus come to exemplify a media platform for balanced reporting of contemporary issues and voices by authors and media sources with foundational journalistic credentials. For as Church, we cannot pursue Christ's redemptive work by repeatedly hearing the voices of partisan, divisive perspectives of a genre that can generate fear, but as Pope Francis encourages us we need the experience of encuentro, the encounter with all humanity.
Sincerely,
(your name)
(your mailing and/or email address)
Recipients:
Archbishop Gomez Archdiocese of Los Angeles and President USCCB
3424 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90010-2241
Pablo Kay, Editor-in-Chief Angelus News
3424 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010-2241
