McCann deserves affirmation

Cardinal Blase Cupich, former bishop of the Spokane diocese, recently remarked, “We need to take up the hard work of healing the deep wound that has afflicted our people since the first slave ships docked on this continent.” Wilton Gregory, Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., said, “(A)s a society, we must find ways to understand and to respond to the pain of our brothers and sisters.” And Pope Francis penned, “(W)e cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.”

In responding to these challenges, Rob McCann did not turn a blind eye. He admitted to personal and institutional complicity in racism and exclusion. He identified ways to understand and respond to the pain of those directly impacted by that implicit bias. He is deserving of affirmation and support, not the admonition he received from his local bishop.

Paul McDonnell

Spokane