Dear Parishioners:
This Monday, we will observe Columbus Day. In 2021, it is the cause of celebration and pride, especially for Italian Americans. However, it is also the cause of upset and protests for others. Some have even changed the name from Columbus Day to “Indigenous People Day.”
In 1492, when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and then landed on these shores, he introduced the Catholic Faith and Western Civilization to America. It was the beginning of the creation of the society in which we now live.
Many view it as one of history’s great triumphs. But “the woke” who have decided to cancel Columbus insist it was a great tragedy. In fact, in the City of Providence, the statue of Columbus, vandalized last year, now remains in storage.
Yet, there are still parades, and Masses celebrated to honor Christopher Columbus. These celebrations go on despite the wrath and protest of politically correct censors of the cancel culture. They seem to have little toleration by those who view Columbus with pride and in historical context.
Robert Royal, the author of Columbus and the Crisis of the West, asks: “If the arrival of our civilization and religion on these shores—whatever later evils ensued—can not be calmly discussed, let alone defended, what are we now as a people?” Indeed, there are tragic chapters in the history of the European conquest of the New World. There are sad chapters in the history of any nation. Acceptance of slavery and racism mars our American history.
Therefore, we must acknowledge that European discoverers brutally subjugated native Americans. But it was not their Catholic faith that motivated them to do so. On the contrary, many Catholic leaders strongly protested the mistreatment of native tribes, showing how it violated the principles of Catholic teaching and morality.
Columbus Day became a federal holiday in 1937. However, local celebrations by Italo-Americans began many decades earlier. In the late 19th century, those celebrations provoked a backlash from the anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic Know-Nothing movement. Once again, that same ideological hostility prompts rioters and protesters to vandalize and pull down statues of Christopher Columbus. It also motivates the desecration of Catholic churches in the United States.
At least 95 incidents of vandalism and desecration of Catholic Churches have occurred across 29 states since May 2020. These incidents of violent destruction and senseless vandalism include arson, statues smashed, beheaded and limbs cut. Many churches, statues, and gravestones were defaced with anti-Catholic graffiti.
Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, annually participates in New York’s Columbus Day Parade and celebrates a special Mass on Columbus Day at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Commenting on the rise of attacks upon churches, he recently observed:
“When people attack religion, faith, the churches, mosques, synagogues, or, worse, persons, our entire culture, society, and common good are weakened and threatened. These disturbed people of hate are shrewd. Nihilists and anarchists know that to wreck civilization, it is effective to target those who nobly advocate for the dignity of the human person and the sacredness of all human life—and that means people of faith and their houses of worship. While we pray for these culprits, we condemn their acts.”
So join us on Monday as we celebrate Columbus Day with Mass at 8:30 am. We pray and remember Columbus, an imperfect man who discovered our land and brought the Catholic Faith to the New World. Also, join us for Marian Devotions on Columbus Day at 7:00 pm as we offer a Rosary for increased respect for all human life and religious liberty in our nation.
Finally, we ask for your prayers this week for our Confirmation Candidates. Next Sunday at 5:00 pm, Bishop Matano of Rochester, NY, celebrates the Confirmation Mass at OLM. Pray for these young men and women about to receive the grace of the Sacrament and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Happy Columbus Day! See you at Devotions on Monday Night. Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!
