March 7: Bloody Sunday

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Today is March 7th, and our story is Bloody Sunday. They've been called the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement, but the Edmonite priests of St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church in Selma, Alabama, didn't set out to be heroes. They set out to be faithful.

In the three decades leading up to the 1965 Selma Civil Rights Marches, the Edmonites devoted their lives to advancing the spiritual and physical well-being of African Americans in Alabama. They provided them with food, clothing, medical care, and most important, the sacraments, operating the only integrated Catholic parish in the state.

For their work, they were targeted by the Ku Klux Klan and received a steady stream of death threats. Yet, as racial tensions grew, the Edmonites risked even more, offering food and shelter to visiting civil rights activists. One priest even placed a full-page dad in the local paper that explained why all Christians should support the struggle for voting rights.

On the morning of March 7, 1965, as 500 peaceful protesters prepared to march from Selma to Montgomery, the priests began to pray. Their bishop had forbidden his clergy to march, but the Edmondites encouraged their parishioners to participate nevertheless, and now feared for their safety.

Once sirens began wailing, signaling the outbreak of violence, the priests made their way to the hospital they administered. Good Samaritan. It was the only one in the city that admitted Black patients. There, they spent what would become known as Bloody Sunday, caring for the peaceful protesters who'd been beaten by law enforcement officers when they attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

In the weeks that followed, the Edmonites opened their rectory and unused rooms in Good Samaritan to the priests and religious who came to Selma from across the nation to participate in subsequent marches. The Edmonites continued to house civil rights activists and workers for the next several years until the battle for voting rights was won. Then they carried on with the work they'd begun in 1937, ministering to the African Americans of the Deep South.

The Edmonite priest's courage to serve the oppressed, even under threat of violence, exemplifies Christ's call to love our neighbor as ourselves. Faith is not passive. It requires standing with the vulnerable, even when it is unpopular or dangerous. Their example challenges us to examine where we are called to act boldly in our own communities, using prayer, service, and moral courage to transform hearts and society in line with the gospel. Identify a situation in your community where you can act in solidarity with those in need or advocate for justice.

Take one concrete step this week, however small. Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Join us tomorrow, March 4th, for another story of faith and courage in America.