BRIDGEPORT—Bishop Frank Caggiano of the Diocese of Bridgeport has announced that, beginning in 2022, all Catholic Center employees will receive Juneteenth as a paid holiday.
For many, Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, even if the timing is not exact. It gets its name from Maj. General Gordon Granger of Texas, who, on June 19, 1865, issued the proclamation announcing that all slaves were free. A few months later, the thirteenth amendment was ratified, abolishing slavery in the final four states not subjected to President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation two and a half years earlier.
“The recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday is an important step in the continued healing of racial divisions in our country,” Bishop Caggiano said. “We must do all we can to root out the sin of racism and bigotry wherever it can be found. To do that, we must continue to study the causes of racism in all its forms and make a concerted effort to avoid this sin in the future.”
In July 2020, Bishop Caggiano formed an Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, which continues to meet and offer suggestions to diocesan officials about formation and programming aimed at helping the faithful understand the role we all play in bringing about peace in our homes, our communities, and our country.
As Catholics, we respect the dignity of every human life and celebrate freedom for all. We pray that any form of slavery still in existence today comes to an end, and that all vestiges of discrimination and bias be eliminated as we work together for social justice.
