INTRODUCTION
Mattering: St. Vincent de Paul
CHAPTER ONE
Witnessing: St. James
CHAPTER TWO
Aligning: Christ’s Church
CHAPTER THREE
Grafting: St. Agnes
CHAPTER FOUR
Manufacturing: St. Charles Borromeo
CHAPTER FIVE
Maneuvering: St. Stephen’s
CHAPTER SIX
Defending: The Church of the Gesu
CHAPTER SEVEN
Homesteading: St. Francis of Assisi
CHAPTER EIGHT
Doubting: Catholic Higher Education
EPILOGUE
Undoing
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
Maureen H. O'Connell is associate professor and chair of the Department of Religion and Theology at LaSalle University. She authored Compassion- Loving Our Neighbor in an Age of Globalization and If These Walls Could Talk- Community Muralism and the Beauty of Justice. She is a member of POWER (Philadelphians Organizing to Witness, Empower, and Rebuild), an interfaith coalition of more than 50 congregations committed to making Philadelphia the city of "just love" through faith-based community organizing.
“[The author’s] willingness to examine her actions while coming to
the realization that, while her intentions have always been good,
they do not address the problem, is incredibly refreshing . . .
Though the material may be uncomfortable to digest, it is an
absolutely necessary read to foster antiracism.”
—Booklist
"Recommended for readers interested in assimilation issues faced by
Irish Catholic immigrants as well as the varied aspects of racism
in the United States."
—Denise J. Stankovics, Library Journal
"O’Connell’s…revelation offers some hope to the reader: traditions
are constantly evolving. Although Catholicism and anti-Blackness
remain entangled, O’Connell believes that connection can be
unwound."
—Emma McDonald, Commonweal Magazine
"[A] book that will challenge white Catholics to draw on the
personal to see beyond it and confront systemic racism in the
Church—possibly for the first time."
—Dr. Tia Noelle Pratt, curator of the #BlackCatholics Syllabus
and assistant vice president for Mission Engagement and Strategic
Initiatives, Villanova University
"Maureen O'Connell's important book. . . offers a model for how
white Catholics can face up to our histories and find a way forward
as people who pursue racial justice."
—John Gehring, National Catholic Reporter
"In unearthing the church’s troublesome history around racism
through the lens of her own family, Maureen O’Connell invites us to
join her on an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual journey that
will give us the tools we need to show up for racial justice in our
communities, especially our faith communities. A superb book by a
gifted writer, a talented theologian, and a thoughtful observer of
our contemporary world."
—James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage
“Undoing the Knots is a bold, brave, courageous prayer and plea for
us to create ‘a new earth.’ O’Connell’s incisive writing leads the
reader into a soul excavation, one that peels back
self-righteousness and makes you grapple with the destructive
underlying scripts—from church doctrine to family
conversations—that inform racism at its most personal level. This
is a book that compels the reader to engage the conversation on
race with head and heart, and to manifest that heart transformation
through a commitment toward structural change within Catholic
communities and the Church itself.”
—Rev. Natosha Reid Rice, founder of Fresh Rain for Life Ministries
and Global Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Officer for Habitat for
Humanity International
“Maureen O’Connell’s Undoing the Knots is essential reading for
this country’s conversation about whiteness and systemic racism
from the angle of O’Connell&rrsquo;s faith tradition,
Catholicism. At once personal and historical, narrative and
analytical, O’Connell’s writing is vulnerable, searching, and open.
Her desire to draw what is often a shameful history into the light
is ultimately a hopeful project, and O’Connell is a worthy
conversation partner on our journey to a more just union.”
—Donna Freitas, author of Consent: A Memoir of Unwanted
Attention
“In unearthing the Church’s troublesome history around racism
through the lens of her own family, Maureen O’Connell invites us to
join her on an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual journey that
will give us the tools we need to show up for racial justice in our
communities, especially our faith communities. A superb book by a
gifted writer, a talented theologian, and a thoughtful observer of
our contemporary world.”
—James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage
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