New book tells the story of 16 Catholic heroes of civil and human rights

The authors of a new book profiling 16 holy men and women who championed civil and human rights want readers to know: You can be a saint.

“Most importantly, they should understand that every single person, through the power of God, can do the things that these men and women did,” Matthew Daniels, coauthor of “Catholic Heroes of Civil and Human Rights: 1800s to Present,” said during a virtual book launch Sept. 9.

Daniels, a distinguished professor of law, political science and human rights at Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina, and founder of the human dignity advocacy group Good of All, together with coauthor Roxanne King, former editor of the Denver Catholic Register and a freelance writer, spoke about the book at the virtual event held ahead of its Sept. 13 release.

More than 100 people registered for the hour-long event that took place on the 40th anniversary of the publication of a pastoral letter by U.S. Black Catholic bishops as a witness to Black American communities called “What We Have Seen and Heard.” It also marked the feast day of St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit priest who ministered to Africans under slavery, and advocated for their human dignity, during the 17th century in Cartagena, Colombia.

The event featured a panel about the book, which tells the stories of 16 Catholics who advanced civil and human rights while dedicating their lives to God. They include St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Katharine Drexel, St. Oscar Romero, Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, Venerable Augustus Tolton, Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Servant of God Dorothy Day, Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk and Servant of God Thea Bowman.

Daniels and King spoke during the panel moderated by Kathryn Jean Lopez, senior fellow at the National Review Institute and editor-at-large of National Review, which included Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, a Catholic author and speaker known as the “Dynamic Deacon”; Christopher Pichon, the supreme knight and CEO of the Knights of Peter Claver, and Father Maurice Henry Sands, executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office and a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

The book published by Ignatius Press draws from church documents and presents the stories of holy men and women in sections organized by the natural law pillars of freedom, perseverance, hope, justice and conscience.

“Each of them in their unique ways in different eras, ranging from the birth of the United States to World War II Germany to the current Latin American immigration crisis, courageously advanced civil and human rights, transformed lives and paved the way for a more equitable society,” King told OSV News ahead of the event.

“My hope,” she said, “is that they may inspire readers to be the light in this world God desires and to realize their own call to holiness.”

The book boasts the endorsements of several Catholic leaders, including Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles; Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver; retired Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia; Danielle M. Brown, director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism; and Mary Ann Glendon, the Learned Hand Professor of Law, emerita, at Harvard University and a former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.

Daniels expressed his excitement over the endorsements and hoped that the book would educate Americans.

“It is a shame that most Americans — including many Catholics — do not know the true and inspiring stories of most of the men and women profiled in our book,” he told OSV News ahead of the event.

During the panel, the participants discussed their favorite saints in the book while stressing the importance of making these lives known.

“People don’t appreciate all the gifts that the Catholic Church and the heroes of the Catholic Church have given us, especially contemporary (heroes),” Lopez said, calling the book a blessing.

Deacon Burke-Sivers revealed that his mother, a convert to the Catholic faith, wanted him and his siblings to have positive role models and introduced them to saints of color.

“We need to get this book in the hands of Catholic schools so that when they’re learning about our Catholic faith and the history, they get a full spectrum of the church,” he said.

The legacy of saints lives on today, Pichon said. He spoke about how the Knights of Peter Claver, a historically Black Catholic fraternal organization, serves with a focus on social justice and strives to transform the world by modeling their patron saint.

Daniels hoped that readers remember that “the story of civil rights is really a story of people of faith.” He and the other panelists also emphasized that saints are accessible as regular people.

“I think it’s a mistake that we sometimes make to put saints up on pedestals and treat them as if they’re superheroes,” Daniels said. “When you read these stories, what you’re going to find is that they were broken people with doubts; they struggled; they had setbacks; and they overcame by the power of God.”

Father Sands agreed, saying that when people look at the lives of remarkable people, it’s easy to think that they're very gifted and that they lived charmed lives.

“But if you really read ... about the lives of people who lived saintly lives, you’re able to see that actually a big part of how their life is (is) carrying the cross, sharing in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he said.

“It’s our response to the crosses that are presented in our lives,” he said, “that enable us to really make a difference.”

Katie Yoder is a contributing editor to the Our Sunday Visitor magazine.