CLEVELAND (CNS) -- As the guilty verdicts were read April 20 in the trial of a white former Minneapolis police officer in the death of George Floyd, Reynold Verret, president of Xavier University of Louisiana, "could hear the rumble of a collective exhalation" across the New Orleans campus.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- As the Twin Cities and the nation continue to absorb events that led to the April 20 guilty verdict of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, Minnesota's Catholic leaders are pointing a way forward: Christ's example of forgiveness, compassion and thirst for justice.

This conviction is evidence of another step towards racial justice, a justice long overdue, “a promised land” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. hoped for.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Although Catholic leaders across the country called the April 20 jury verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial a moment of justice, they also stressed there is still a lot of work to do to move toward healing.

SAN DIEGO (CNS) -- Christ's crucifixion "encapsulates the magnitude of evil in our world," San Diego Bishop Robert W. McElroy said in his homily during an April 15 Mass he celebrated for racial healing.

MINNEAPOLIS (CNS) -- A jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three counts April 20 for the death of George Floyd, after deliberating for about 10 hours over two days.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- As closing arguments began April 19 in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda and priests across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis offered special Masses "For the Preservation of Peace and Justice."

Mounting his cellphone on a tripod on the flat roof, Father Shovelain prayed for the repose of the soul of Daunte Wright, 20, who was shot and killed April 11 while struggling with officers who were trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- After a night of protests and vandalism April 11 in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, following the police shooting of Daunte Wright, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis urged prayers for justice and peace.

SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- Decrying a rise in racial violence especially against Asian Americans, including in San Francisco, a city that he said has always offered "a welcoming and stable home" to newcomers, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone led a prayer service for unity, healing and peace April 10.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When Catholic educators met virtually this year at their annual conference, they took a close look at racism and how teachers should talk about its existence and work to promote an anti-racist environment in their schools.

Asian and Pacific Islander Catholic groups and a number of Catholic bishops have joined their voices with others in calling for an end to violence and hate crimes against Americans of Asian and Pacific Island heritage.

After decades of criticism for its unabashed support of the Confederacy, "Maryland, My Maryland" is closer than ever to being removed as the official song of the Free State.

Just before 8 a.m. March 22, nine people gathered outside St. Olaf Parish in downtown Minneapolis in a garden dedicated to St. Francis to pray that saint's famous prayer: "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace."

After he returned from Rome where Pope Francis elevated him to the College of Cardinals, children at Catholic schools in the Washington Archdiocese drew pictures of Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory wearing his new red hat.

In the days following the March 16 shootings in Atlanta that left eight people dead, including six Asian American women, protests and vigils took place around the country remembering the victims and calling for an end to a growing wave of anti-Asian racism and violence.

In a major address on confronting the sin of racism and working for racial harmony, Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, the nation's first African American cardinal, said a "healing of America's soul" is needed.

The work it takes to respond to the issue of racism in the church and the wider community is difficult and slow, but it must be done, said Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana.

The Jesuit order is pledging to raise $100 million for descendants of enslaved people once owned and sold by their order as a way to make reparations and also help the nation move toward racial healing.

Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis prayed March 6 for peace and justice in the upcoming trial of a white former city police officer in death of George Floyd, an African American, while in police custody.