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Revolt Simmers at Church
To the dismay of many parishioners, the group picketed on Morris Road SE in front of the church this summer. Its placards compared Fest to a grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, and they chanted slogans including "Jim Crow has got to go" and "Give us our church back."
The men view their fight as a symbol of larger injustices associated with being black in America. For more than a century, black Catholics have lobbied, with some success, for recognition of their unique cultural expressions within the church, such as using gospel music and Protestant-like sermons. Still, many believe the Catholic Church isn't doing enough.
  The Rev. Donald Fest greets parishioners after a Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Anacostia. (Photos By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post) |
At one meeting, Bill Shelton, a lawyer, shared a passage from Randall Robinson's "Quitting America," which chronicled his decision to move to the Caribbean island of St. Kitts rather than endure racism in the United States.
"I am convinced now that I cannot change them from within or without, and even attempting to from within is to run the risk of losing one's soul," read Shelton, a suspended parish council member.
All nodded their heads in agreement.
Search for Healing
On the morning of Alston's sidewalk encounter with the priest, the Rev. Sidney Speaks gave the sermon at Our Lady. Without acknowledging the fight directly, he seemed to talk to the parties involved. Being a Christian, he said, is like that moment when a household's credit cards are maxed out and there's no money to pay the bills. Nerves get frayed, he said, causing disputes between wives and husbands. Parents get tired of their children. The same thing, he said, happens with the church.
"Sometimes the church don't move fast enough for you," said Speaks, who is black, to amens and nods. "Your patience is running low. . . . Unlike in society, when the MasterCard runs out, God is always there to recharge you."
The parish family of Our Lady could use a recharge. Longtime members said they are weary of the fights at the parish council meetings, friends not talking to one another and showing up at church on edge. "I want to be able to come in on Sundays and be rejuvenated," said Wheeler, a lifelong member. "This is the place I go to for peace and quiet."
But neither the church nor the offended parishioners have shown any willingness to compromise, to the chagrin of local Catholics.
Angela Waters, a parishioner at a nearby congregation, kept up with the issue from afar until Alston handed her a flier after a recent Sunday Mass. Her friends honked their horn for her to get in the car, but she waved them off for nearly 15 minutes, searching for a more peaceable resolution.
"Have you gone to your parish council?" she asked. "Have you tried to talk to your pastor?"
"We've done that," Alston said, as other church members implored him to go home.
The next day, after thinking through the conversation, Waters said that Alston and the others handing out fliers seemed like nice people but that "it's sad to see things like that happening. It makes me feel that Satan is getting a foothold and breaking up the church."