authors representing every genre, anything that you can think of we are representing at miami book fair. >> watch live coverage of the miami book fair saturday and sunday starting at 10:30 a.m. eastern on booktv on c-span2. >> now my a discussion with religious leaders and civil rights activists on racism in america. we'll hear from georgia congressman john lewis who is ws part of the panel on the role of religious faith in confronting racism, bigotry and sexism. posted by georgetown university. this is just under two hours. >> good evening everyone. my name is father mark bosco, vice president here at georgetown university. occam to the chapel of the sacred heart. the spiritual heart of our jazz

with community. this chapel is the physical embodiment of the deep faith and spiritual substance at our nation's oldest catholic university. in this sacred space, generations of students, faculty, staff and alumni have encountered god in the sacraments, in prayer, and in communal reflection. in the spirit of our jazz with an catholic heritage, we profess here are deep respect and sincere appreciation for people of other backgrounds who seek to grow in faith as well as knowledge. georgetown jazz would tradition of education has always prized both the pursuit of truth and a virtue. it is the transformation of the whole person from ignorance to understanding, from isolation to dialogue, from indifference to

moral responsibility that characterize the best of what i jazz with education like georgetown has to offer. so much of the political and social discourse in our nation has hardened into a rancorous noise. it has distracted us from our ability to be informed, honest, and even prophetic in our dialogue about the ethical issues facing us today. with these dialogues we hope that a conversation in the midst of this sacred space might offer more prayerful posture to engage political, academic, and spiritual leaders. framing these dialogues within the place of prayer and worship consisting and empower us to be more active participants and renew our common sense of purpose. tonight the office of mission and ministry in collaboration with the initiative on catholic social thought continues our

series that seeks to deepen conversation about social justice in light of this rich and deep heritage and our christian faith. tonight we share our thoughts, reflections and prayers on confronting racism in our hearts and in our nation. before we begin though, with song and prayer, i would like to invite president john degioia to offer his own personal welcome and reflections. >> thank you very much, father bosco. good evening everyone. thank you for this opportunity to be with you all. as father bosco shared, for our second dialogue hosted by our initiative on catholic social thought in public life, and our office of mission and ministry. these dialogues are an opportunity for us to come

together in prayer, reflection and dialogue at the intersection of faith in public life as we seek a deeper alignment of our values and our action. with grateful to the initiative, to the office of mission and ministry and to the democracy fund, and chris crawford for their efforts to make this evenings dialogue possible. in just a moment the director of our initiative on catholic social thought and public life will introduce and invite to the stage and extraordinary panel, the most reverend wilton gregory, the honorable john lewis, professor marcia chatelain and reverend jim wallis. to each of you, i want to thank you for your presence. we are grateful to our panelists for the reflections that they will share with us. i'd also like to thank rabbi rachel gardner gartner who wils

an opening prayer in just a few moments. in recent years our community has come together in town hall meetings, in classrooms and religious spaces with our partners across the city. we've gathered responses to public incidents and personal experiences. we have sought to establish new structures and new opportunities to urge one another and to support one another in the important work towards racial justice. 150 years after the abolition of slavery, our society is still grappling with the problems of racism and racial injustice, and we are grappling with it here in our community and in our city. tonight we gather for this dog when dialogue to quote explore the role of religious faith in pursuit of the common good in

resisting racism. earlier this month cardinal rule issued a pastoral letter the challenges of racism today. in which he reminds us quote it is our faith that calls us to confront and overcome racism, closed quote. recent efforts under the leadership of archbishop gregory and bishop george murray. in 1979 pastoral reflection, brothers and sisters to us, the leadership of cardinal patrick o'boyle to illuminate the resources of our faith tradition. what also remind us of entering persistent and pernicious nature of the challenge of racism in our country that requires our enduring attention and response. cardinal o'boyle who served as the first archbishop of

washington sought to illuminate the cause of racial justice as a moral imperative for catholics, working to end segregation in catholic parochial schools in the years prior to brown v. board, offering the invocation to the march on washington alongside john lewis and dr. king, and encouraging the attendance and supportive of local parishes in the march. less well-known is a a gatherig that he helped to convene here at georgetown in april 1964 in support of the civil rights act in his role as chairman of the interreligious committee on race relations, he hosted and interreligious event here on campus attended by 6500 people, protestant, catholic and jewish faith in his opening comments he reflected quote, we are here tonight to speak with one voice, are deep religious convictions about the dignity of man and the

rights of all men but our congress considers in terms of public policy, we uphold in terms of human dignity, closed quote. and he concluded the gathering by saying quote, this assembly is but a beginning. we have embarked on a crusade that one of the individual every american is given equal right, equal opportunities, and full recognition of her or his human dignity. in these words, cardinal o'boyle should recall remain as urgent today as it was 53 years ago. the call that animates our ongoing and long-term commitment to grappling with our historic participation and the institution of slavery, i'll call that demands each of us to address with greater vigor the legacies of slavery, segregation, of discrimination and racism that persist in our

nation. a call that inspires a reflection, our action and our work together as a university community. i wish to express my appreciation to all of you for your presence here this evening, and it's a privilege to be here for this convening. again, we are grateful. [applause] >> please join with in singing amazing grace found in your program. please stand. ♪ amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.♪

♪ i once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now i see.♪ ♪ t'was grace that taught my heart to fear.♪ ♪ and grace, my fears relieved. ♪ how precious did that grace appear the hour i first believed.♪ ♪ through many dangers, toils

and snares i have already come;♪ ♪ he will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.♪ ♪ ♪

♪ when we've been here ten thousand years bright shining as the sun.♪ ♪ we've no less days to sing god's praise than when we've first begun.♪

>> please remain standing. in the shadow of rabbi abraham, all the generations of rabbis who fought for justice before me and surrounding me it is my privilege to pray with you tonight. blessed are you god, spirit and life breath that all that lives. who opens our eyes. open our eyes this day and every day to see your light, , dear g, as it shines to every human being. help us recognize the inherent dignity and equality, radiance and rights of all of the human family. blessed are you, god who guides our footsteps.

i does this day and everyday. melissa way from the racism that wins us, that divides us from ourselves and cut us off from one another and from you. drive us away from the equivocation that honor the divine image in some but not in others. blessed are you, god. who gives us strength. strength in our courage to turn inward and see ourselves as we are entering a word to pursue the world as it should be. strengthen as to protect and plead one and others cause. blessed are you, god, who takes care of our every need. finally, bless in a gathering

tonight, gardens with faithfulness to hear hard truths tonight bravely. if our hearts begin to harden in defensiveness, soften as to one another's pain. if we begin to recoil in discomfort, or just towards one another in empathy, , for this s what you desire for us and require of us. quiet our minds, ready our spirits for the hard work that the world so needs us to do. may we be comforted by the knowledge that you are with us every step of the way. may it be your will, and me the hours. amen. please be seated.

>> good evening. my name is john carr and a director of initiative on catholic social thought and public life. and honored to partner with our colleagues. thank you, rabbi, for that moving prayer. you can tell we are in interfaith community here at georgetown. we sang all the verses of the song. [laughing] in the catholic way, to verses. [laughing] i also want to say a word of great thanks to president degioia at only for his welcome to the initiative but also for his leadership in so many areas. he talked about how we are wrestling with this at georgetown. many of you know that has taken on very direct personal,

historical realities with a broader understanding of the sale of human beings to support the college and the university. very definition of white privilege i guess. and people ask why has george townes response been different than other places? there are many reasons. one of them is sitting next to me. the work of the working group on slavery memory and reconciliation to buy think there are two things that we ought to think about tonight. one is religious convictions about human life and dignity, about human rights and justice, about solidarity that give us a give away looking at the world. and the other, frankly, has been the leadership of president degioia who instead of trying to evade or escape or minimize, took this head-on and helped us find a way forward that will take a long time, it took a long time to get here.

moral principles and leadership are things we need to confront racism. religious institutions and people have been about the big part of the problem and elements of the solution. think about it. people relied on the bible to justify slavery. the klan burned across to intimidate african-americans and catholics and jews. on the other hand, the abolitionists drew on the scriptures. martin luther king, jr. was reverend martin luther king junior. cardinal opel as as as presidet degioia substantive and difficult times. cardinal world and the pastoral letter that you have in your hands step four. archbishop gregory has stepped forward. but we are here to talk about how those ideas, those institutions and leadership can

make a difference. and we have remarkable group of people to help us think about that. when is a pastor, a leader,, procedure, fact the only african-american archbishop in our country. the fact that he is the only says something about him, and to say something about us. jim wallis who has been a leader, a preacher, a writer, and advocate on these issues for all of his life. and dr. schanzenbach who has entered teaching and inner scholarship and also in her leadership on this campus and elsewhere has helped us find a way forward, and we will be joined by a hero, someone called the conscious of the congress. representative lewis has a day job and that is as a member of the congress and, in fact, he had votes tonight but we are assured he is on his way here.

but so we have hard questions. we have elements of responses and we have great group of people to help us. so let me turn to you first, archbishop gregory. you went to charlottesville after those horrible days, and you said as i recall that we have to find better ways to talk about the r word, racism. you lived a life, minister,, dealt with discrimination in your own situation, grew up in chicago. one of my favorite things about archbishop gregory, it said he decide to want to be a priest before he was a catholic. [laughing] a testament to the power of catholic schools. [laughing] in the inner-city. i worked in the conference archbishop gregory was president and he provided enormous tremendous leadership in many

areas, but i personally will never forget that at a time when the church was on trial and i was the parent of young sons, he stood up on clerical sexual abuse and insisted on accountability and change in the church. so this is pastor of courage and a lot of that has come in the air of racial justice or so when you say we have to talk about the r word, racism, what did you mean? how should we be talking about this? our colleagues at the democracy fund doctrine make the case that we can talk about tough issues through civil dialogue. why do we find it hard, and what she we be doing to over, our avoidance of the r word? >> i think we find it difficult especially at this moment in our nation's history because we have become so polarized and have in

so many different ways lost the ability to speak civilly to one another. but i also think it's difficult because the issue of racism at its core is a spiritual difficulty. it is a spiritual moment. and like any spiritual moment, it calls us to conversion. we are afraid in many different ways to talk about the race question, to talk about racism with one another because it might reveal that what we thought we understood, we don't understand. and that's the heart of a spiritual conversion, to acknowledge that what we thought

we possessed, that made us feel secure, we don't. >> when young men with torches marched through the streets of charlottesville saying you will not replace it, when young black men lose their lives in our cities in conflict with police and in broader violence, when, as president president degioia said, african-americans are likely to be jobless in the city and infant mortality is twice as high for african-american babies, how do we, if it's a spiritual conversion how do those realities shape not only our spiritual response, but our personal, our public response? >> john, i think part of this

moment and part of our response is that there have been moments within our history, recent history, where we have reached a momentous event, whether it was a civil right act, voting rights act, the election of the first african-american president, and there was so much hope, fresh hope, that we confused the achievement of a public event, civic event, with human conversion. and so there's a disappointment when we find ourselves facing the same issues, and sometimes even more complex issues, that we thought it we could only

enact this piece of legislation, if this young, articulate african man can be elected president, surely we've crossed the threshold. and these events cause us to doubt that we might ever be able to cross, to achieve those moments of real and deep spiritual reconciliation. >> you talked about spiritual conversion. you talked about whether we will cross the bridge. what are the roles and responsibilities of religious institutions and leaders in this? we are in a chapel. we are not in a lecture hall. we began with song and prayer, not a political call to arms.

pope francis seems to be a universal leader who can touch our conscious in ways that many others can't. what is the responsible of religious institutions and what can we learn from one religious leaders, one religious leader not only for other religious leaders but for civic and political and community leaders? what is his message that can touch us? >> i think pope francis and dr. king, basically enables prophetic way, said that the role of faith is to accompany people, to walk with them in life journey, not only just walk with them, challenge them. it's the work of evangelization and it's the work inviting people to conversion. earlier it was referenced that

dr. king, the world refers to the mass dr. king, was first reverend king, that his leadership was primarily a spiritual leadership. there's no question is directly involved with the civil changes that took place as the part of the civil rights movement, but he was first of all one who spoke to the heart of our nation about the spiritual values and that were being ignored. >> marcia, you're a scholar. you're a professor at georgetown. you were a professor -- i will get it right, it's got to be oklahoma, not oklahoma state, that's heresy.

you're a native of chicago. this is atlanta night but it's also chicago nitric georgetown. have gotten all sorts of awards for your teaching. you've written an incredible book about young african-american girls and women growing up. yet what it want to ask you about as the experience of serving on this working group, almost all of us walked in here, and off to the right is isaac hawkins hall. it used to be called mullaney hall. who was father mullaney? who was isaac hawkins and why is that important for this discussion tonight? >> when we think about the context of the work we did at the working group on slavery, memory and reconciliation, for a number of us it was an expression is not only georgetown system of history of

the jesuits in the united states. so father mullaney was an american catholic in a time when american catholics were not clear about the question of slavery. that was who he was. he was also leaders church in universe had a choice to make. the choice pivoted around the assets of human beings and those with a 272 men, women, and children who were sold in order to reconcile some of georgetown's that's and allow for the jesuit community here to imagine george dance future. i think it's really important for us to understand why we made the decision to rename not only mulledy hall to isaac hawkins hall but -- these two halls and the renaming i think are important for other institutions to resist the false idolatry of building confederate statues,

flags. the symbols in our culture at this moment that have people devoting these things, rather than thinking about the spiritual conversion that we were talking about. that's i think that in making the move to say that we're no longer going to put a place of honor for this person who had a legitimate choice and am aware american catholics were grappling about the -- made the choice that was most nefarious and the most fundamental in reifying the strength of the institution of slavery. and so isaac hawkins is the first name that appears on the bill of sales in 1838. and when were talking as a group about this renaming we also are thinking about a powerful character of isaac in the bible and that sacrifice. if we imagine all of our american institutions as being predicate on a sacrifice of human life and that human

dignity they perhaps we would have a different relationship not only to our institutions but to each other. the second hosting after a free woman of color in washington, d.c. established a school for african-american girls. i think that having immemorial on georgetown campus to her helps us remember the composition, the racial composition of georgetown. when it was george's town, the center of african-american life and to imagine a person is living a free life and watching her brothers and sisters live unfree lives. i think it's that complexity and that challenge that both of these figures lived with, knowing that they had human dignity and living in a world that can't see that, that is one of the ways that the memorialization process on this campus can really animate and help our students understand why we pursue the kind of education we pursue here at georgetown. >> you talked about what the

renaming symbolized the some people would say that's just a simple, that's easy. in making that judgment, as they made their judgment a long time ago, what are the attitudes? what are the behaviors? likely, what are the actions that we have to take to not talk about the legacy of years ago, but to do with reality today? you study this. you lived this. separate from faith, we are in the chapel but if you don't believe what archbishop gregory talked about, that isn't a matter of spiritual conversion, what are the moral qualities? what are the civic virtues that we need to deal with a time like this? >> i think that at the heart of white supremacy wealth and think about the power that it tries to consolidate picked the white supremacy also is about stripping dignity from others and being unable to live a dignified life yourself.

so i think what is happening in our nation as we had these conversations about this unending legacy, what we do about racism today, is that we don't have the kind of leadership that is saying to us it is not just about a a conversion of your heart think it's about the restoration of your own human dignity. i don't think that a person who has invested themselves in white supremacist ideas, they have no idea of their own human dignity because we have not lived the context that provides them the kind of rigorous moral inventory you need to do that. i'm going to bring up election because that's what i do. this past election, this past election was a moment in which we went from a real shock to what was possible in this nation and then this three ring circus about reach across the aisle, it's okay for person to liquor disagrees, no big deal, no big deal. that it's a white we take a

moment to think about the consequences of your power when you exercise them in a democracy and its predicated on the power and the stripping of dignity of other people. why don't we sit with that? the problem with antiracist work that is been happening in this country is its well-intentioned but it never requires anything of the person seeking conversion. there is no more wrestling, no reconciliation. and so i think that in terms of people who are organized around the religious communities, we are not the only ones who have access to the moral question. any member of this community living in society has to grapple with the moral question. when we decide that more questions or just for the churchy folks, we lose sight of the vision that we have at our capacity to actually see these things through. and so i think that what we did at georgetown was particularly instructed because we did this

think of my husband gives me this piece of advice for life. he says the more you can tolerate the negative emotions of others and your own negative emotions, the better you do in the world. talk about really hard to do. but we have never as a nation set with a negative emotion of what white supremacy has done and then we think healing is possible and it's not. >> wow. i love many things about you, but you say tough things in ways which invite us in instead of pushing us away. no one likes a grim do-gooder, and you call us to justice what was your line, joyful justice. i never thought those two words when together. somebody who is a practitioner of joyful justice is jim wallis. jim is a friend, a minister of the gospel.

he's a best-selling author. he's a colleague, president of the sojourners. he is a baseball coach. he coached other peoples kids. that's as close as he gets to purgatory in this life. [laughing] but you talked about moral wrestling. this is a man who has done moral rustling. since his teenage years growing up in michigan where he asked hard questions about segregation and discrimination, got involved with the black church. he has written 12 books, which is almost as hard as coaching for 11 years. in your latest book is america's original sin, racism, white privilege, and the bridge to the new america. i have my copy. i suggest you get one, too.

so why is racism america's original sin? what is your understanding of white privilege? and white is the bridge to the new america, when a lot of people simply want to make america great again? [laughing] >> well, when i realized we were going to have this in the chapel i was very grateful, because this is the right place for this conversation. particularly you mention the election, particularly the last couple of years. it's clear to me that we're not going to get to where we need by just talking politics. we've got to talk about the ecology. we've got to go deeper. what's at stake is literally the soul of the nation and the integrity of faith. so we were doing a racial justice week at marquette. he was at fordham and he said

that this distance at marquette, he said how many of you white students have ever heard racism named and called as sin from the pulpits? in your churches. he asked that question all the time of his white students. almost no white students raised their hands. so we heard about conversion, idolatry. let's talk about sin. that's my evangelical tradition, we talk about sin a lot. but this sin we don't talk about. so it wasn't just slavery. it was a kind of slavery that we created. we white christians in particular because we said you can't do what we're doing to kidnap africans or indigenous people if you believe they are people made in the image of god. so we had to say they weren't.

we threw away to create this system. and what is at stake is the continuing threat in our policing structures. mass incarceration, healthcare, education, jobs. it's about the image of god. and you mentioned little league baseball coaching, really good theology, , john, not bad theology. but white privilege, it gets down to this. every black player i ever coached for 22 seasons, 11 years, every black player i ever knew has had the talk with their dad or mom on how to behave in the presence of a police officer. what to do, not to do, how to hold your hands, your eyes.

and none of my white players ever had that talk with mom or dad. and in this little town very few of their parents, white parents, even knew what was going on. the talk, the talk is everywhere. and it's about what black parents have to tell their kids. white privilege, safety. safety. i can't tell you how many activists or academics, when i talk about white privilege, they talk about their kids and other don't feel safe where their kids are walking out the door, any door in the city. so the answer to sin in our traditions is of course repentance. that word is important in jewish, islamic, christian traditions. it doesn't mean just feeling guilty or sorry. that's too easy for us white folks. it means turning around and

going in a whole new direction. so what we say in chapel about sin, repentance, conversion and idolatry has two returning around things in policing systems. education, economics, healthcare, criminal justice. that's the test of our words here, what are words here do. so what do our words, our prayers mean here on the streets and the systems and structures and in our hearts? that's what we haven't yet dealt with, and this nation is not going to get to the bridge and less we go deep to the politics. >> bishop, archbishop. >> two weeks ago i had the privilege of going down to sea

island georgia which is a very scale, lovely place, and i stayed at the colony. and i was going to go out and play golf, so i was addressed in a good golf outfit. i'm not sure the game was worthy of respect, but as i was walking out, clearly dressed to go play golf, a young white lady came and asked me where, you know, where's the restaurant? she presumed, the presumption was if a black man was at the colony, no matter how he was dressed, he was a staffer. so the presumption, it's what you said. is it possible that this black

man is here as a guest and is going to play golf, like my husband, or the presumption is just the opposite. and it takes on to what you were saying about white privilege -- tags. and the boards of black parents speaking to the kids about this is how you must behave in the event that you are stopped for a ticket or you are somehow in front of an authority. >> if i get at something. so the inability to read you as anything other than a servant, so this is kind of poor people are at, then their moral imagination to imagine a world without housing discrimination, with equal schools, with health care reduce, they can't even get there. and i think something that i

found when i i travel to speako people, people always ask what can i do? they want me to assign them a book. they really do. they say what can i do? i know i do longer dictates that question. i say it's more important to think about what you have done. what harm have you brought into the world? consciously and unconsciously, what are the choices you are making that a cost harm? and have to spend a little time with that, what are you willing to do? what is your imagination allow you to think about in terms of doing this work? so that we have to resist this idea that the prescription is xy and z, and then there's freedom. but we have to wrestle with the fact that our behavior has caused a series of limitations to our imagination and once we deal with that behavior we can start to imagine on a larger scale. >> because the solution is not superficial. it's in the heart and in the

soul. >> -- [inaudible] this hopeful black chief executive has those stories, though same stories. people throwing their keys to him. people asking for tea as he goes to head table to do a fundraiser, as an elected official these are stories pick in my class here at georgetown on race and faith politics i have a young students, he said i was a sidwell friends kid and my two best friends chase and ansr route walking one day, they were dating, i think we should stand up and -- [applause] [applause]

>> that was a really good story, jim. [laughing] just to transition. we're talking about how do we build the beloved community that you and dr. king, he talked about, , you talk about all the time. we were talking about talk, and the archbishop was telling the story, atlanta, atlanta, chicago, chicago. it's a little rough here for us minnesota people. explained that he was in the resort on his way to play golf and somebody stop by to say it was the restaurant? you never did say what you told her. >> i simply said that i against here like you. >> i was at the meeting, jim and i are something called circle of protection which is doing remarkable work together with

churches, christian churches of every stripe. and bread for the world as part of that, and i was at a meeting and i was trying to get my head on this. african-american bishop who jogs, first of all, i resented that. [laughing] but secondly, said he never leaves the house without his drivers license, even when he goes out running. my daughter is trying to teach me what, who teaches in baltimore, what white privilege is, and she had read about the leadership of our president in response to georgia. she said, well, maybe being part of the university where the sale of 272 human beings help to bring it forward, that might be a part of white privilege. there are a lot of untruths in washington these days. [laughing]

i'm being diplomatic here, it's a church. one untruths is there are no heroes in washington. we have hero and he is here tonight. [applause] you don't remember me but i remember you, congressman lewis. i had the great privilege of working for coretta scott king in the 70s, and part of that was to see the giants of the civil rights movement. and, frankly, they were mostly older men. and they would debate and talk, and eventually came time to decide, and then his much younger man would make the case with passion and with urgency and with clarity about the path forward. and that young man was you. and now you are not so young

anymore. >> that's true. [laughing] >> but still making the case for the path forward with passion and urgency and clarity. i looked at the program on the march on washington, and you were the youngest person to speak there. you are the only person still living who spoke at the march on washington, and it was the giants of the civil rights movement. it was the labor leaders, and it was seven leaders of religious groups. you have always told the religious community that we have to play our part in the struggle for civil and human rights. as you think back to the march on washington, which he which e to as a young man, and think about what we have been through, this last year, what do you think needs to be done?

>> well, first of all, i'm delighted to be here. i'm pleased to be here tonight. i regret very much i had a commitment at another university that delayed me, that i am always glad to be at georgetown. the past few months have been like hell on wheels. i've seen a great deal but i have never in all my days seen what is happening in america today. sometimes i feel like we lost our way. dr. king spoke a great deal about redeeming the soul of america, and i think it was some theologian that said there should be a headlight at the church, there should be

headlight and not a template. i think i'm getting it right. and martin luther king, jr. also set from time to time we have to be a spark plug. most of the and people wouldn't know what a spark plug is. [laughing] -- young people. firecracker just comes along and boom, a spark plug will continue to burn and burn. we have to give our people, all of our people, especially our young people, our children, the hope and faith that we are going to make it. that we are going to overcome, and tell them not to get lost and to never become better or hostile. that the way of love is a much better way.

just love everybody. you may get arrested and go to jail a few times, maybe being a left bloody, but you're making a down payment on building the beloved community. >> congressman lewis, you mentioned, i think you read you been arrested 50 times. >> almost 50. >> almost 50. don't bet against you breaking 50. you talked about blood, bloody sunday. that was your blood on the streets there, and others. yet you never are bitter. you talk about hate. he always talk about love. how do you come in a really divided nation, incredibly angry, resentful time where people are pitted against each other for political gain, how do you pull people together? how do you help them see that

what they have in common is more, we had some conversation earlier about white, what white predecessor white people. how do you lift up the banner of love and service and justice in a society that seems to be tearing itself apart without resorting to hate? how do you invite people and instead of pushing them away? >> i think it's important for all of us, all of us as children of god almighty to continue to live lives of love. just love everybody and never give up on this idea so we can all become a lovable human. we all are created in the image of god almighty. ..

>> through the whole list tonight, but if you were to think about a do and a don't, what would be on your list? jim?

in chapel we talk about love and we should, but the love which john lewis showed on the bridge that day was a love willing to risk and we often don't put the risk with the love and in our tradition, it's a love to risk and even suffer and so, i think, particularly when we're talking about building that bridge to a new america, i think it means those of us to believe in what we're saying tonight here, have to be willing to say where are we going to risk our presence, our privilege, our influence, our wealth, our time, our bodies, our faith, in the middle of transforming these systems about policing and health care and mass incarceration.

what i see from kids in the street, that's what i hear back from, not what we're trying to do, but what risk are you willing to take and that's a question, he think we all have to ask, what is the risk we're willing to take, where we live, where we act in the congregation, the coffee shops, in the streets and the systems, we are going to take some risks now to make the changes that we say we believe in, that's what i saw, and when had the 50th anniversary going back up the bridge and there you all were, you were just walking with wheelchairs and walkers and all the foot soldiers were there, the guys on top of the bridge and what struck me was the risk all of these foot soldiers took to make voting rights possible. it didn't just happen, it happened because of the risk you all took and that to me is a test of love is a risk now. >> thank you. one of the do's i was supposed

to, tell the people watching on live streaming and how to join our conversation. and you can join that on twitter at catholicsocial thoughts with the hash tag and pretend i told you that about an hour ago. and for those who couldn't fit if here, what an extraordinary turnout. this is taped by c-span and broadcast over the next days and weeks. so there will be a chance. archbishop, your do's or don'ts? >> obviously, congressman lewis put his finger on the heart of the issue about loving her people. i would say a do has to be moving yourself and realizing

that my dignity, my goodness, my word is not dependent on my standing on someone else. if, in fact, we are god's children, that's where the dignity lies. in our creaturehood that god gave to us, and i don't have to -- i don't have to step on anyone to be worthwhile. your born with that. when you come down the birth channel, you bring it with you. and i'm not made a better man or a better woman because i can say, well, at least i'm better than. i have to love myself simply

because i'm convinced that god made me lovable. the do's are powerful and eloquent. sometimes the don't's are harder so i'm going to come back to each of you for a don't. one thing i was looking at the march on washington roster and i talked about that congressman lewis was the youngest. there were no women who spoke at the march on washington. several heroins are -- heroines were recognized and you're one of the leaders, what are your do's and don'ts? >> don't forget the women. [cheers and applause] because in forgetting the women, you forget where the

mechanism is made and developed and will-- where the longevity is and it's the women who remain committed to movements. and i think, if i were to had a don't to that his, i would say don't try to sooth the tears, do not try to silence the anger, stick with it because going back to this issue of gender, we have such an opportunity in this moment, when we think about racial conflict, to attend to the real grief of of community. and unfortunately, what really happens is the grief gets shut out because it feels angry or uncomfortable. you know, after the uprising in ferguson, i spent a lot of time talking to people of ferguson. a woman lost her son, a man lost his son. a group of people lost a member of their community and they were angry and sad about it and

that my only wish for other people is that the people we love, that we care about so much when we say goodbye to them in the morning, we all want them to return to us. and in this country, because of the color of your skin, because of your sexual identity, because of your gender, there's a possibility that you will not return. and so much of our christian teaching is about the miracle of jesus' return and the joy that it brought. and if we could connect that idea that we just want the people we love to come back to us, then perhaps we would have a who are humane approach to these questions. [applaus [applause] >> congressman you got me started on the do's and don'ts. what is a do and a don't for today? >> do love, love, love, it's so strong, it's so powerful. and i'll give you an example.

last october i had an opportunity to travel to rochester, new york. one of my colleagues invited me to come and meet some of the nuns that took care of us in selma, a small hospital. >> can people hear the congressmen? >> i met three of the nuns that took care of us on march 7th, 1965 in selma. they're retired and living at the mother's house in rochester. and i saw them, i started crying. i started crying and they kept saying, john, we love you. i kept saying, sister, i love you. if it hadn't been for these nuns, i don't know what would have happened to us. it's the power of love.

it may not meet us from time to time, but you have that connection. and i think that spark of the divine is in all of us. and when i was growing up in rural alabama from time to time, i don't know the word, but something like running from heart to heart and it just conne connects. a meeting and connected the spark of the divine. my-- don't hate. don't hate. as dr. king said and others said, hate is too heavy a burden to bear. it will destroy you. >> a don't, archbishop. >> hate is done. [laughter] >> thanks be to god. [laughte

[laughter] >> i would say the don't-- and especially to the young people who are here, early on in life don't lose hope. if there's a virtue, i think that this particular moment really calls for, it's the virtue of hope. because with so much of the negative energy that is out there, the divisiveness, there's the invitation, the temptation, i should say, because it's a temptation, to abandon hope. and you know, in dante's inferno, that's what's over the portal of hell, abandon hope all you who enter, and i think when you lose hope, that's hell

you talked about evangelicals talking about sin a lot. catholics have been known to use that word, too, and the way we get to that is an examination of conscience and part of that is what you should do and shouldn't do. what should we not do? >> we're talking about this one time in atlanta, actually, and this young white ally was saying, you know, i'm a recovering racist and i'm going to multicultural church, but things are getting so bad, i just don't see any hope anymore. this woman stood up and said, that's white privilege. i said, so a retreat to cynicism is what we don't do, but the hope desmond tutu

taught a lot time to go, hope and optimism aren't the same. optimism-- i'm not optimistic about what is happening right now, and you talked about that, but hope is not a feeling or a mood, it's a decision you make, because of this thing that we call faith. so the faith community-- and desmond tutu acted with hope when there wasn't much optimism. he was doing that every single day, how do we not retreat to cynicism which is a privilege, for those who can't survive who can't do that. how do you make that hope a decision and a decision you make every single day? >> i invite people, i'm going to p read this right. join us on twitter, and that should be a response. the lord be with you. >> yeah. >> the-- and i would invite our colleagues to bring the microphone forward because

we'll have some time for questions and if you could, just stand up here and ask people to line up instead of jumping around, that would be a great help. line up behind this gentleman. if you have a question. i want to begin a little bit to the back so we can see. okay. congressman lewis, you crossed that bridge not for love. you crossed it for voting rights. love was the way you expressed it. but our friends at the democracy fund want democracy to work better. but it looks like we're going backwards on voting rights. the supreme court invalidated major sections of the bill. people gave great speeches how they were going to fix it. now, we have legislatures and governors that appear to be trying to make voting hard to work. what, what do you think is at work here and what can the congress do?

is that something concrete that we can work on, voting rights? we thought, after you crossed that bridge, after the voting rights act was signed, we were going to fix that. it's not fixed. >> we can fix it and we must fix it. i've said on many occasions that the vote is precious. in a democratic society such as ours, it's the most powerful instrument or tool that we have and we have to use it. i believe what happened in virginia a few days ago, last tuesday, right, the handwriting is on the wall. [applaus [applause]. >> anybody else on voting

rights? >> i think the most important-- >> come forward. >> everything else is that in a couple of decades we will no longer be a white majority nation, we'll be majority of minorities and we're foolish if we don't see there is a strategy at work to take votes away from people of color. it's not just-- immigration policy, refugee policy, jeri -- je inju ger gerrymandering. that's what we're up against. what john did on the bridge, we have to protect it and we have to understand the strategies in place to, in fact, take votes away from people of color.

and incarceration is part of that. so if we care about these things, we have to get involved in those struggles in our own communities, particularly as we approach the elections coming forward. >> could i just add, you're so right. i'm convinced that there's a deliberate systemic effort to keep the same group of people from participating in the democratic process. when the pope came and spoke to the congress, he said we're all immigrants, we all come from some other place. what we need to do in america right now is to set the hundreds of thousands, millions of people living on this real estate we call america, set them free. set up the path to citizenship. open up the process and let everybody come in. [applaus

[applause]. >> in terms of the voting issues, too, we have to do something about the lack of hope or the fact that we live in this nation and a great percentage of our people don't vote, even those, you know, obviously congressman, you and the-- your colleagues in the civil rights movement spilled blood to get the right to vote. how many of our people, african-american and white people don't bother to vote? >> so we've got to really encourage the active participation in the franchise. >> we're turning to question. i ask you to identify yourself and put your question in the form of a question.

>> all right, my name is mark comb and i don't know how i ended up in georgetown, i'm not catholic, my friend drags me here to every one i'm not interested in, and the only one i come to that he's not here, i'm interested in. >> they're all wonderful. yes, they are all wonderful. that's true. but my question is, i guess, maybe probably for the doctor, it's not really a question, i just want to tell a short experience i had. i play poker, okay? so i am sitting at a poker table with-- >> there's quite a diverse poker game. >> it's going to be quick here. >> all right. >> so there are two black kids, one of which i knew, that i played with before, she is, she works at another casino, and she has a good job, so they're

probably middle class type kids. there is another gentleman about my age and he makes a very racist comment, okay? at the table. and i say something to him. you know, i say something to him, you know, i just, i have a big mouth so i say something to him. but the two kids, they quieted me down. they clearly did not want any part of it. they didn't want an argument. they didn't want anything, just like no-- i don't want, i want to ignore it, like it did not happen. so i'm wondering, is that how -- is the younger generation, maybe has not run into racism and maybe they just want to pretend like it doesn't exist anymore and maybe that's the best way in our minds, it's getting better, it's not as bad as it used to be and it will take care of itself. is that a pervasive thought? >> i mean, i can't presuppose

their impulse, but one i think th this-- one thing i do know, a person wants to say something on my behalf, but one of the consequences of racism is try to strategically protect yourself from further humiliation. the way that racism works, it either disciplines you or hue mi mill-- humiliates you. perhaps they really actually appreciated that someone was calling out the racism, but sometimes in those moments, and i think especially in a country so armed as our own, that confronting racism, you always have a second thought because you don't know who or what is on the other end of it and as someone who spends a lot of time, i live with the kind of anxiety that is probably unhealthy, but is very much grounded in experience of not knowing what kind of exposure i open myself up to, thank you. [applaus

[applause]. >> good evening, i have the privilege of working at archbishop carroll high school, the first opened by cardinal o'boil as-- o'boyle. i'm wondering how our churches need to change given the fact that the current administration, if i understand the research correctly, was mostly elected by people who identified themselves as christians, but tend not to go to church. if we're talking about the role that religious institutions can play, it's hard to play that role if religious institutions aren't factors in people's lives. i'm wondering how you feel the church would have a place as forming that moral imagination as you framed it. >> archbishop? >> first of all, i think the first thing our church has to do is to acknowledge it, too, is racist.

that the sin of racism isn't a sin that's out there, it's a sin that permeates, you know, all of us. so one of the things that pope francis does, and he does quite well, when he describes himself, he said-- it was asked, well, how do you describe yourself? he said i'm a sinner. and it wasn't just a cute response, i think it was a sincere awareness that if i'm-- if as a minister of the gospel i'm going to invite the people that i care for and serve to conversion, i have to begin by saying, it's a journey, i've got to take with you. jim. >> the operative word in white christian these days is white

and not christian. those who are evangelicals, catholics, mainline protestants, that's the question back to idolry. how do we name where there's white supremacy and it's id idolry. how do we love enough to preach the gospel to them. this is not an issue of politics or civility, this is a matter of discipleship. what does it mean to be a disciple in our tradition and what does conversion really call us to. until that issue is that kind of issue in our churches where the pulpit and our discipleship and our congregations are talking about racial equity and healing as matters of faith, then we're not going to help

navigate this bridge to a new america. it's got to happen someplace. i think that schools are critical and i think that sports, little league sports is a critical place, but congregations are going to be a critical venue for navigating this bridge to a new america. if we talk about this in a chapel as an issue of faith, that we are in fact called-- >> thank you, archbishop carroll, is an amazing place. >> i'm josh, a student here. as you know the 60th anniversary of dr. king's laying is coming up this april and no doubt see his face on magazine covers and life and legacy. what do you hope to see as part of the commentary and what do you hope not to see? >> well, while you think of that story may not be appropriate, i went to memphis and my flight was canceled and

so i had a day in memphis and so i went to graceland and then i called for a taxi to go to the civil rights museum, the lorraine hotel where dr. king was murdered and the woman on the taxi phone said, ain't no one ever gone that way before, in terms of making that journey. we have to make a journey. so that everybody, including the people at graceland also see the civil rights museum. so-- >> i think that said it all, what you just said. i plan to go-- >> you're the person here who knew dr. king the best intimately. 50 years, we've sort of sanitized him in some ways. it's wonderful that he's now part of a national holiday, but

as we remember his death, what should we remember about his life? >> well, we should remember that he was a preacher of the gospel. he was a -- he didn't study to be a civil rights leader. he was a minister of the gospel. who believes in the power of the holy spirit, the power of god almighty working through human beings. and i think he had, as he headed and became involved in the movement, i think he wanted to deal what i like to call pockets of communities and you saw it. you saw it in selma, in birmingham, in montgomery, and around our country. but i also think when dr. king

was assassinated, and when he died, maybe something died with him. in the hours we heard dr. king had been assassinated, i was in indianapolis campaigning for bobby kennedy and i cried like many, many people all over the world and two months later bobby kennedy was gone. but i didn't do-- i didn't lose hope. i kept the faith. somehow and some way he was alive. and i think if it hadn't been for dr. king and robert kennedy, i probably wouldn't be

involved in american politics today. something sort of said i admired these two men h . if it weren't martin luther king, jr., i don't know what would have happened to me. he freed me. so april 4th i'll go back to indianapolis and later to memphis. i haven't been back to indianapolis since that day. april 4th, 1968. i'm going back there early in the morning and make it to memphis later that day. you have to go back. >> any comment? how do we remember-- >> the only thing that i hope in the reflections is that king's anti-militarism and the questions about the wages of capitalism that at 50 years that we as a nation could understand that that's part of

his greatness. [applaus [applause]. >> the archdiocese of atlanta has been working very closely with a number of our acumen cal and interfaith partners and while we haven't fleshed out a specific program, i suspect it will be an interfaith and acum acumenical prayer service on that day. from my service, one of my predecessors, the first archbishop of atlanta was a friend of dr. king's and paul died that same week. so, he had been sick, obviously, but i'd like to kind of combine those two, because archbishop hallenen had a

profound impact on the catholic community, the interfaith community and the 50th anniversary of dr. king's assassination might be a good time for me to realize the importance of the ecumenical fellowship that has to be the b bedrock of our society. >> the last speech had the three evil triplets, racism, militarism and injustin. he wasn't done and we can't be done either. and there's rumors and murmurs of poor people's campaign because it's the 50th anniversary of that beginning and ending, but that's coming back, so how do we bring, how do we bring this back, that he wasn't done. what would he think watching

the newscast i just watched? what would dr. king think if he saw what we were watching this evening? he would have a clear agenda in his head about not being done so what's our agenda in this 50th anniversary. >> important to remember that he went to memphis, it was memphis and not nashville. and supporting garbage men fighting for wages and jobs. next. i'm a sophomore at georgetown. in my-- as aforementioned we talked about women in civil rights movement and how that was kind of the role we, you know, we supplanted race and racial liberation and running currently. and one of those is black and brown women identifying lbgtq

in that community. what is the church doing to support those who are black and brown and those part of the lbgtq community, especially as parts of my generation, i'm growing up believing that-- our generation, i don't want to be general. my generation, me, i tend to think that religion is almost conflicting with those who are part of the sexual liberation. how do you guys recognize, what is the charge doing to support those black and brown people. >> who should we ask to answer that? [laughter] >> the first part of my answer is not enough, but a wonderful jesuit, james martin, has written a wonderful book in which he challenges both the institutional church, his catholic church, my church, to be in dialog with the lgbt

community, to build bridges. and that has-- that has challenged a lot of people in my church because you don't want to build a bridge if you think you're already on the right side of the cliff, but that's-- that's, i think, where we have to go next. and we aren't doing a lot. about two years ago i met with a group of parents of gay and lesbian young people and they called themselves the fortunate family. and they just wanted to talk to me and the bottom-- the last question that one of them asked me was, archbishop, can you love our kids? and my response is, was to

them, i have to love your kids. i don't of an option. and so it's got to be a lot of bridge building from both sides of the chasm though, because i think if the lbgt community has felt hurt, and they have been, they've built up a certain anger and resentment and if you're going to build a bridge you've got to do it jointly. and i think that's the call that we have to have right now. >> i heard the chimes and we've got a little bit late start so we're going to go a little longer. can i ask people to offer two questions together? and then we'll ask the panel to respond and then two more and then we'll wrap up. >> pull the mic down, please. >> thank you for this opportunity. i am encouraged by the story

that archbishop gregory told of the presumption being staff because you're african-american. i'm honored to congressional lewis and i wonder from the panel and the congressman lewis and to the archbishop and tell me how do i deal with laws in response to the anger that i feel when i am presumed, presumed what i am not? only because of the way i look and the way i sound? i came back from canada on october the 23rd, it was a monday like today. at 2:00 in the border, congressman lewis, at 2:00 at the border in champlain, new

york, back in customs and my closest friend, white, caucasian, blue eyes, he and his son. so we gave the passports to the border patrol and why they chose me to run all the data bases to found out if there was something wrong with me. they had no problem with them. but they wanted to see what about her. but this is what he goes, he says, where were you on what were you doing there? and my friend responds, we were visiting my sister in montreal. >> okay. >> and we're coming back. and he looked at me and he said to my friend, and her, how do you know her? like if he had picked me up from down the road and maybe he was smuggling and an illegal

alien. i've been in this country 40 years, citizen, and worked for 12 years and served this nation as part of fema. i serve communities in disasters. i serve this country and represent the government to three countries in south america, i couldn't believe what happened to me. >> thank you. >> and they put us in a room to wait for 40 minutes, and the custom border patrol called me, and i think that i better don't say what he asked me because humiliation is beyond what i can tell you and accusation was beyond. >> thank you. >> and i cried from albany new york to boston, massachusetts, i couldn't come back that day. so, the love that you're telling me to practice, teach me. and the understanding, and the understanding that you want me to have on the presumption of

me not being a very honest, honorable and decent woman is unacceptable. so, i don't know how you want to respond to me, please. thank you. >> thank you for sharing your story. if you could add your question, and then we'll respond to several at once. >> yeah, i think that, first of all, her question is much more important than mine was going to be. i would just like the panel to, in addition to commenting on her comment, to also comment on the topic of the panel in relation to race relations, not just with the african-american community, but with the latino community, which is the other community to be disturbingly affected by the current administration. >> comments to-- >> i would like to add, it's not simply the black community

or the latino community, although clearly we're-- we are at the butt of a lot of the hostility. but i'm also deeply concerned about the bigotry against our islamic brothers and sisters. [applaus [applause] >> congressman. >> well, i'm deeply concerned about what happened to you and to so many others, human beings, citizens, every day because the color of your skin. maybe had the dress that maybe-- the way we speak.

a black man born in jacksonville, florida, he moved to new york city, became a champion of civil rights, human rights and labor rights. when we were planning the march on washington, he was over and over and over again, maybe our forefathers and our foremothers came to this land in different ships, but we're all in the same boat now. martin luther king, jr. put it another way, we must learn to live together as brothers and sisters, if not, we-- we've got to sensetize, but when you have people, let's leave it like that, in high

places defending the word out there, maybe you don't look like us, you're not one of us, then people become, you know, begin to single people out. that's not the human way, we've got to work, work every single day to remove those scars and stains from america. we have to do it. >> okay. there are i think three more people in line, four, three. i would ask that we'll forego closing comments and i would ask if we could take the three questions and ask the panelists to respond and summarize, and then we'll begin to bring the evening to a close. please. >> kimball long, a junior here

at georgetown and naacp chapter on campus. and my question is for congressman lewis, is there a pressure to change your ideology for different forces, what part of your practice and ideology have stayed the time and parts change. and also, how do you stay tuned to the values used in a place where compromise is seemingly fundamental? >> it sound like a term paper in the making. come forward and i'm sure that congressman lewis will handle that. >> my name is nina, a senior and student for campus ministry. my question is for the whole panel. i wanted to know how you guys personally would explain racism to people who claim not to see

color or race? a very large problem i ran into my faith community and friends and other faith communities have run into very well-intentioned people claim not to see race in the hopes that racism will just disappear. so how would you guys respond to that? >> okay. and please join us. >> and i'm francesca, from georgetown. it's hard to follow such smart people before me. >> you fit right in. >> my question, i guess, i grew up here in washington d.c., but i'm a latino and how do we approach racism, white privilege in our community, especially with those who refuse to acknowledge the existence of two things that are clearly very exist tent to this day in our community? >> actually, these are great comments and first of all, how do you keep your values, how

have they changed, how do you stay consistent. how do you explain racism to people insists they're not racist or don't understand racism and how do you talk to people who insist they don't see color or ethnicity? >> well-- i think we all as humans, as humans have some strange habits, really. within the civil rights movement people discriminated. look at the people who spoke at the march on washington, it was all men, right? it was dominated by ministers who didn't think there was a role for women in the church. right? and some of the leaders of the movement consider the movement

their church. that's discriminating against people who happen to be gay. right? and one of the great organizers of the march on washington was gay. but there was not a role for this person to play in the movement. to play upfront in open daylight because there were afraid a member of congress, a southern senator would stand up and say something about this particular person or about the movement. so i think we all have to find ways and means, just as their brothers and sisters, let's just be human beings, let's get along, let's be friends. the scars and stains of racism, sexism and all the others are deeply embedded in american socie society. i said there must be a

revolution of values. a revolution of ideas. and we all have to become a little more human. just be human. i see some of my colleagues in the congress and i say hello, brother, how are you doing? hello, sister, how are you doing today? they probably think i'm a little crazy, calling them brother and sister, but we all are brothers, we all are sisters, we all are humans. and can't we just be human beings, one big family blessed by god almighty. >> i'm trying to think of you and president trump running into each other. [laughter] >> jim, can you take a stab at this? then i'll close with marsha. >> so, in los angeles just a

couple of months ago ice arrested this pen costal pastor, he had been 27 years being a pentecostal pastor, and he went to check with ice to tell them where he was, as he did every year. and they detained him. and they're going to deport him after all of these years. so a bunch of young people like the questioners organized a new my conversion text of matthew 25, what you've done as a stranger you've done to me and they organized this matthew 25 group in los angeles and two months later got this pastor set free. they beat ice and beat donald trump in los angeles and someone asked me yesterday, what keeps me going and i said, being with young people who are actually acting on what they think is true, lbgtq, for

example, are initials beloved of god and get back to the foundation here, i like the fact that they took on ice in l.a. with a text and not a political slogan. and the text won. so, getting back to the beginning of this conversation, i think that this is where faith has to shape and change politics. it's going to be all of our faith traditions, but if we don't put our faith into action, we're not going to change politics, and so, when questioners come like you, it's, i always come back and say, what is faith to you, what does that mean? what does that mean? and what are you going to do about what you say faith is. it can mean different things. georgetown, the god squad taking care of these students, but i think unless we put our faith into action and debate politics, we're not going to win and we're in a serious battle for the soul of this nation and the integrity of faith. those two are now at stake and

they're tied together. >> archbishop. >> the individual who says i don't see color, race, i would say then you don't see god's creation because part of the magnificence of god's creation is difference. and it's at the root of-- i didn't study science, but it's at the root of scientific discovery, how do things differ? how do bugs differ and mammals differ? that's part of god's creative genius that he can create all kind of different things as in the book of genesis, it clearly describes. so someone who says i don't see difference, my response is, then you don't understand creati creation. >> i get that feedback a lot to

some people not seeing this and not seeing that. and i say can you imagine the kind of thing i'm trying to talk to you about? and that is sometimes jarring, but i think we are at a point right now where the resistance and the silence is not only a way of coping with people's internal stuff, but i think we have to present it as a real barrier to intimacy. if you choose not to see color, you choose not to be close to me and i need to know why. when you frame it that way, it's a time for a person to come closer to what you teach them or them to run away. if i can make an editorial comment. the african-american community i've only been able to get tickets because some of my former students work for you and gulf them to me. there's a gajillian objects in

the museum. and there's a little box that someone donated, great-great-great grandparent, when he got his freedom papers, they were in that box and for some people we think it's our credentials and patriotism, but in a sense we have freedom papers etched onto us and people are asking us to constantlily show them, but i think we have to get to a point where we just assume that everyone is free because they're valuable. [applaus [applause] >> what a night. i have lots of people that i should thank and i'm not going to. [laughter] >> on your program are a couple of upcoming things that i'm just going to highlight. one is the advent resources of

our colleagues of mission and ministry, you go go on-line and sign up for daily reflections will will help you focus the mind and your heart on the-- some of the things we have been talking about, what faith requires. and there's other wonderful programs. this thursday evening, our initiative is hosting a session, again, with the democracy fund's help. on faith, the common good and democracy, in a time of president trump and pope francis. it should be very interesting discussion. and we're marking the 50th anniversary of the passing of john murray, a great jesuit and we have bishop robert mcelroy from san diego wrote a wonderful book on the obama faith-based director, and rogers and law professor for

notre dame, rick garnet. we began in prayer, and song. we've had wonderful reflections, candor, passion, questions. it is appropriate we end in prayer. i want to introduce carl powell. he is-- he grew up in brooklyn. he's part of the class of 2018, studying history. he's a mentor, a counsellor and a leader in our protestant community here to ask god's blessing for us, for our panelists and for our nation. carl. >> please stand. as we end our time together, let us take a moment to pray for hope in our world and in our time.

please respond to each petition, give us hope, lord. >> let us pray that this dialog here today be counted for the enlargement of our community. >> sorry-- a little slow there. that we may come together for a common purpose and bring together that which divides, we pray. >> give us hope, lord. >> may our endeavors begin to restore the dignity of all of our people and work for the common good of all, especially those from whom much has been taken. may those who were counted as little, be counted as much and may their lives be an abiding testimony to these efforts. we pray. >> give us hope, lord. >> let us pray for renewal of our commitment to those pushed aside and forgotten. may a sense of personal accountability of their struggles abide and may the light of love radiate out and heal the abiding wounds of our

nation, we pray. >> give us hope, lord. >> give us the faith to be in a new world where fear will no longer lead to injustice and selfish inest to others. we pray. >> give us hope, lord. >> and finally, we ask god to inspire us the act of participants, to promote peace and justice and comfort one another in the process, we pray. >> give us hope,lord. >> we close our gathering with a prayer that was first read by archbishop patrick o'boyle, archbishop of washington d.c., august 28th, 1963. our father in heaven, we who are assembled here in a spirit of peace and in good faith dedicate ourselves and hopes to you. we ask the fullness of your blessing upon those who have gathered with us today and upon all men and women of goodwill,

to whom the cause of justice and equality is sacred. we ask this blessing because we are convinced that in honoring all of your children, we show forth in our lives, the love that you have given us. bless this nation and all its people. may the warmth of your love replace the coldness that springs from prejudice and bitterness. send in our midst the holy spirit to open the eyes to all to the great truth that are equal in our sights. let us understand that system pell justice demand that the rights of all be honored by all. give strengths and wisdom to our president and vice-president, enlighten and guide the congress of these united states. may our judges in every court be heralds of justice and he can equity. let just law be administered. see to it no one is owe

empowered to be above the law, we ask special blessing for those men and women who in sincerity and honesty have been leaders of all the races. they've gone before the people to a land of promise. let that promise quickly become reality so the ideas of freedom blessed alike by our religious faith and our heritage of democracy will prevail in our land. finally, we ask that you concentrate to our service all in this crusade dedicated to the principles of the constitutions of the united states. may we be sensitive to our duties towards others as we demand from them our rights. may we move forward without bitterness. even when confronted with prejudice and discrimination. may we shun violence, knowing that the meek shall inherit the earth, but may this meekness of manner be with courage and

strength oh, heavenly father, in following teachings of christ your son may we live together as brothers and sisters in dignity, justice, charity and peace, amen. >> amen. >> ♪ >> c-span with history unfolds daily. in 1979 c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies, and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. the u.s. senate today considering nomination of steven bradbury to the general counsel at transportation

department. and a vote time has not been announced and the mine health and safety administration and rece recess 2:15 and we expect to bring you statements before they gavel back in. now to live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal lord god, as the waters fill the sea, let america be