In sermons delivered this weekend, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez spoke out about the racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va., and urged Catholics to be an “instrument of healing and unity.”

“We are seeing in our country a new kind of racism and nationalism,” Gomez said. “It is a racism and nationalism rooted in fear.”

Gomez said some of the fear is about “what is happening in our society,” referring to the racial tensions that have divided the country following the white supremacy rally in Charlottesville last weekend that left one person dead and several others injured.

“Our country has become so angry and bitter, so divided — in so many different areas,” he said. “There is no place in the Church — and there is no place in American society — for racism and prejudice against people based on their race or nationality.”

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