Onita Estes-Hicks has been Catholic her entire life. Men in her family were named “Nace” after St. Ignatius, a testament to the influence of the Jesuits in her family’s life. But her relationship with her faith was forever changed in 2004, when her family discovered that they were the descendents of one of the 272 enslaved persons sold by the Jesuits who ran Georgetown University in 1838.

We talk to Onita about what it was like to find out about her family’s history, what Georgetown has done to ask for forgiveness and what it’s been like to form a community of other descendants.

In Signs of the Times we unpack the latest developments from the case of former cardinal Theodore McCarrick (for a fuller discussion, listen to this week’s episode of Inside the Vatican) and discuss the new Archbishop of Washington, D.C. In our new segment, “Being Frank,” we talk about the pope’s advice to young travelers to focus on encounter, not consumerism (or Instagram likes).

Links from the show:

GU272 Descendants Association

New correspondence obtained by Crux confirms that the Vatican placed restrictions on former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick

In new interview that appears to have been conducted before this report was released, Pope Francis said he ‘knew nothing’ about McCarrick

Washington’s black Catholic community looks to Archbishop Gregory for new leadership

Pope praises Catholic tourism group dedicated to young people

 

What’s on tap?

Goodbye whiskey from Father Eric Sundrup 😔

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