a785: Re: Uncle Tom saint - not Haitian? (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: William Murray <wamurray@familink.com>

In response to Jean Saint-Vil's posting:

So if you lived in New York when Pierre Toussaint was alive during the early
19th century, how would you have behaved any differently, particularly if
you owned you own business and had to provide for your family? Do you think
he should have acted like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson? Pierre Toussaint is
a model in Christian virtue because he forgave his enemies, lived a spirit
of sacrifice, and he helped other people become more Christ-like. Comparing
him to Uncle Tom or John Walker is really ludicrous.

Perhaps you should try to read a biography of Pierre Toussaint or read about
what it was like to be a black person living in the United States in the
early 19th century before you start judging the man.

The Catholic Church teaches that through the Communion of Saints, that the
living can pray for the repose of the souls of the deceased, and they can
also offer intercessory prayers to those who they believe are in heaven. By
canonizing Pierre Toussaint, the Church would be saying that she believes
he's in heaven, and it would allow people to offer public intercessory
prayers to Pierre. I'm not sure what "hoax" you're referring to, but the
"miracles" that get submitted to the Vatican get reviewed by non-Catholic
doctors.

Yes, the man was born in Haiti and lived much of his life in the U.S. I
think that makes him a Haitian-American, don't you think?