Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Pope Francis met Nov. 28 with some 6,000 Italian schoolchildren, teens and their teachers, who have been participating in the program of the National Network of Schools for Peace.

Societies today need “artisans of peace,” like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., “who can be messengers and authentic witnesses of God the Father, who wills the good and the happiness of the human family,” said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

About 2,000 people gathered on the National Mall April 4 to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and to commit themselves to fighting racism and discrimination.

Fifty years after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — he was gunned down April 4, 1968 — the great civil rights advocate continues to be an outstanding example of how to live the Gospel message, according to Catholic clergy and others.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of a dignified life for all men and women regardless of color or creed continues to live on in the teachings of one his most influential admirers, Pope Francis, a Vatican representative said.

The federal holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is “an important time to recommit ourselves to the Gospel message he preached,” said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

I, like many of you, was shocked by what I saw on television and in the newspapers. It was another reminder of the sad reality that our nation continues to struggle with the blight of racism, bigotry and intolerance.

In the late 1950s and 1960s Mathew Ahmann was at the heart of national Catholic efforts on behalf of racial harmony and equality.