As part of their Centennial celebration, St. Catherine Parish is offering a unique experience to travel to the Deep South to walk the same footsteps of key figures in the Civil Rights Movement, such as John Lewis, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.
Pilgrimage organizers hope the journey, which will take place Sept. 29-Oct. 4 will bring together a multi-generational and multi-ethnic group of individuals to collectively explore critical events during the Civil Rights Movement. It will be a journey from sin to repentance and reconciliation as they explore slavery, racism and Jim Crow on this pilgrimage.
The fight for American civil rights spanned decades, cities and states. This will be a bus trip to the cities of: Memphis, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; Montgomery, Alabama; Selma, Alabama; and Nashville, Tennessee.
The pilgrimage is open to anyone said Carole Poth, director of administrations and operations of St. Sebastian and St. Catherine congregations. She added that it is important to understand the fight for civil rights and ensure that the true stories that changed American history are never lost.
“We are in a part of the city that is primarily African-American and feel like it is our responsibility to understand the history of our neighbors,” she said. “We have an active ‘Facing Racism Group’ that is learning about the issues of all races. This history belongs to all of us.”
The pilgrimage will include visiting the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, the Rosa Parks Museum, a tour of Brown Chapel AME Church, a pilgrim Crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and visits to 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham and St. Bernard Abbey.
The cost for the pilgrimage is $1,500 and includes transportation, hotel stay, some meals and the tours. The itinerary and application are available at http://saintcatherine51.org/. The deadline to sign up for the pilgrimage and make a $300 deposit is July 15.
For questions and additional information, contact Poth at cpoth@saintsebs.org, cpoth@saintcatherine.org or 414-445-5115, ext. 204.
