The Gift of Blackness and the Dignity of Life: On Being Catholic, Anti-Racist and Pro-Life

Author(s)

Gloria Purvis, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Religious Liberty

Document Type

Multimedia

Streaming Media

Publication Date

3-9-2021

Abstract

Introduction by Kelly Johnson, Ferree Chair of Social Justice: Father William J. Ferree, S.M., was a Marianist scholar of Catholic social thought who held that the work of social justice is building networks of people who can together change unjust systems. He spent years training Marianists to think about social structures as matters of the faith, to recognize the profoundly spiritual character of work for the common good. I think Father Ferree would be excited about this event. Our speaker this evening, Ms. Gloria Purvis, stands, with grace and boldness and in a spirit of prayer in the midst of powerful crosscurrents within the U.S. and the U.S. Catholic community. That someone who advocates for the dignity of all life would speak about white supremacy and the beauty of blackness shouldn’t be surprising. And yet, for many of us, it is. She has that rare voice that speaks the faith not as an abstraction but as a saving truth, here and now, that calls people toward full life.

About Gloria Purvis

Gloria Purvis is a graduate of Cornell University. She worked for nearly two decades in the mortgage industry before becoming a risk management director at a major financial services company. She served on the National Black Catholic Congress' Leadership Commission on Social Justice, and as an Advisory Board Member on the Maryland Catholic Conference's Respect for Life Department as well as the Archdiocese of Washington's Pastoral Council. She also taught natural family planning and helped prepare engaged couples for marriage as a member of a pre-Cana team in the Archdiocese of Washington.

She has appeared in various media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, PBS Newshour, Catholic Answers Live, and EWTN News Nightly and hosted Morning Glory, an international radio show. Her strong on-air support for Black lives opened up controversy among many of her listeners. She is Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic of the Year for 2020. Currently, Gloria is a full-time stay-at-home mother and consultant for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Religious Liberty.

Highlights from the full-length video

• "All Lives Matter," a clip from Gloria Purvis' address at the University of Dayton

• "Bull Connor," a clip from Gloria Purvis' address at the University of Dayton

• "Cancel Culture," a clip from Gloria Purvis' address at the University of Dayton

• "Hang on! This is your Church!," a clip from Gloria Purvis' address at the University of Dayton

• "Just Follow the Law," a clip from Gloria Purvis' address at the University of Dayton

• "Police Brutality," a clip from Gloria Purvis' address at the University of Dayton

• "Racism Twists the Humanity of White People," a clip from Gloria Purvis' address at the University of Dayton

• "Reparations," a clip from Gloria Purvis' address at the University of Dayton

• "Sin Outlives the Sinner" a clip from Gloria Purvis' address at the University of Dayton

• "The Dignity of Life between Beginning and End," a clip from Gloria Purvis' address at the University of Dayton

• "The Lie of Racism," a clip from Gloria Purvis' address at the University of Dayton

• "The Sin of Racism," a clip from Gloria Purvis' address at the University of Dayton

eCommons Citation

Purvis, Gloria, "The Gift of Blackness and the Dignity of Life: On Being Catholic, Anti-Racist and Pro-Life" (2021). Documents, Events, Reports, and Promotional Materials of the Ferree Chair of Social Justice. 5.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/ferree_docs/5