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"Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for
Change"
By David DiCerto, Catholic News Service
Jan 24, 2007 -- In March 1965, hundreds of civil rights marchers, risking imprisonment and injury, led a peaceful procession from Selma,
Ala., to the state capital in Montgomery, protesting infringement of voting rights against African-Americans in Selma and the brutal murder
of a demonstrator by a state trooper.
Among their number were six Midwestern Catholic nuns. Their participation -- as well as the service of other women religious who
ministered to Selma's black community -- is remembered in the edifying
documentary "Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for Change," airing in February on public television stations as part of PBS' Black History
Month programming (check local listings).
Several of the nuns interviewed credit the Second Vatican Council with inspiring them to become involved in the civil rights movement. Sister
Mary Leoline of the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary remembers how she was responding to Pope John XXIII's encouragement to "go where the need
is."
That need led her and the other sisters to Selma, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was organizing the Montgomery march after an earlier
attempt had ended in the "Bloody Sunday" tragedy, when demonstrators were turned back at the Edmund Pettus Bridge by mounted police with
batons and tear gas.
"All the people who'd been hurt that day, they were the body and blood of Christ," recalls Father
Maurice Ouellet, who as a pastor of one of Selma's black parishes at the time, allowed civil rights workers to use
the parish house as their base. "They had walked the stations of the cross ... and they had been crucified."
Memories still brings tears to the eyes of the women, who watch the violence on grainy film. A
still-plucky Sister Mary Antona Ebo of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary -- the first black nun to march -- didn't
think she was martyr material, but felt it was time to "put up or shut up."
Other orders represented in the Selma-to-Montgomery caravan included Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and Sisters of Loretto. The Sisters
of St. Joseph, who worked in Selma's Catholic hospitals and schools, were forbidden by their bishop to march, but nonetheless provided board
and medical care to the protesters.
Born Baptist, Sister Antona -- who experienced discrimination in her religious community which had segregated novices when she entered in the
1940s -- found herself in the national spotlight, but many of the others chose to remain, as Father Ouellet puts it, "silent witnesses," standing
in solidarity with those suffering injustice.
Active involvement didn't win favor with some Catholics or their local bishops. Archbishop Thomas Toolen of Mobile, Ala., is said to have
discouraged participation by nuns in his diocese, fearing Ku Klux Klan reprisals against the area's Catholic minority.
Produced and directed by Jayasri Hart, the program contains some remarkable archival footage,
including a confrontation between a snarling policeman and a young protester whose offer that they pray
together is flintily rebuffed.
Those who argue against the role of religion as a positive force in effecting political change are reminded that the civil rights movement
was "religious from beginning to end."
Partially funded by the U.S. bishops' Catholic Communication Campaign, this important documentary is a compelling testament to taking the
Gospel's message seriously and courageously putting one's faith into action. This is ideal viewing for parents to watch and discuss with
older children.
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DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops in New York. More reviews are available online
at www.usccb.org/movies.
Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
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By Brian E. Wilson, Booklist
May 1, 2007 - Riveting archival footage enhances this engaging
documentary featuring several Catholic nuns discussing how and why they
joined voting-rights protests in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. Following
"Bloody Sunday," a day in which peaceful demonstrations turned
violent, priests and nuns were recruited to help civil rights workers in
Selma. Intriguing 2003 footage shows the reunited nuns viewing protest
clips and commenting on the turbulent events. The women lucidly describe
marching to Montgomery and their confrontations with bureaucratic
authority figures. Skillfully edited archival footage documents the nuns'
participation, offering an enthralling you-are-there feeling. Also
addressed are the struggles of African American nuns, who felt like
outsiders even as they served the church. Features dynamic footage of
Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders.
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Brian
Wilson is a reviewer for Booklist, a publication of the American Library
Association.
Copyright (c) 2007 American Library Association
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By Ed Hulse, Video Librarian July-Aug, 2007 -
...a group of Catholic nuns--most of them white--risked their own safety
to walk side-by-side with African American protesters during those
turbulent times...Interwoven throughout are interview clips with other
religious figures--Catholics and Protestants alike--as well as
contemporary residents of Selma, who talk about the bravery and
selflessness of these unsung heroes. Recommended.
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The
Video Librarian is a Video Review Magazine for Libraries.
Copyright (c) 2007 www.videolibrarian.com
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