The Black Catholic March for Racial Justice will begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, July 11, at St. Francis of Assisi Parish (1927 Vel R. Phillips Ave., Milwaukee).
Participants are asked to begin gathering at 9 a.m. and to wear facemasks. The march will proceed to the former site of Blessed Martin de Porres Parish (Seventh Street and Galena) and conclude at St. Benedict the Moor Parish (930 W. State St., Milwaukee), for a distance of 1.3 miles.
The Black Catholic March for Racial Justice will be a prayerful and reflective public display by Black Catholics, pastors and archdiocesan staff from the following offices: Black Catholic and Ethnic Ministries, Urban Catholic Ministry, Dignity of the Human Person/Social Justice Ministry and Community Relations. The initiative of the march came from Fr. Michael Bertram, OFM Cap., pastor of St. Francis of Assisi parish, and the event is supported by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
The Black Catholic March for Racial Justice will seek to:
- Publically support and stand in solidarity with African Americans and members of the Black community, who suffer racial injustice;
- Denounce the sin of racism and racial injustice; and
- Commemorate the commitment of the Catholic Church in Milwaukee to support African Americans and the Black communities through historic ministerial efforts of the following parishes: St. Benedict the Moor, Blessed Martin de Porres, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Boniface, and more recently St. Martin de Porres and All Saints.
