Condemning racism (or “racialist prejudice,” as he referred to it), Pope St. Paul VI affirmed that:
The members of mankind share the same basic rights and duties, as well as the same supernatural destiny. Within a country which belongs to each one, all should be equal before the law, find equal admittance to economic, cultural, civic and social life and benefit from a fair sharing of the nation’s riches. (Octogesima Adveniens 16).
This suggests a useful definition of racism, which is best understood as the denial of what the pope here affirms. In other words, racism is the thesis that not all races have the same basic rights and duties and/or supernatural destiny, so that not all races should be equal before the law, find equal admittance to economic, cultural, civic and social life, or benefit from a fair sharing of the nation’s riches.
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