In honor of Juneteenth, the Virginia Catholics for Racial Justice hosted an evening service at St. Joseph’s Memorial Park in downtown Richmond last night.
Local parishioners, religious life, and clergy gathered to commemorate the 160th anniversary of the day the enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had finally been granted freedom.
Attendants sang songs, heard readings from the Bible, heard talks from local speakers, and received a blessing from Fr. Tochi Iwuji, director of the diocesan Office for Black Catholics.
