For the team at DeSales Media, the cathedrals of America are “an inspiring testament to the story of Catholicism in this country. And in each you find the bishop’s chair, the cathedra.”
It’s why they visited Raleigh and Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral. And it’s why they sat down to talk with Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama. The result is a 23-minute video story featuring history, photographs and interviews.
The documentary is part of a series titled “The Chair,” which features church leaders and cathedrals throughout the United States.
In the video, Bishop Luis talks about faith, his childhood in Colombia, his priestly ministry in the Archdiocese of Atlanta and how he felt when first saw the newly built cathedral and was named bishop of Raleigh in 2017.
The video also features professors, a writer/commentator and an art historian.
These experts discussed Belmont Abbey, the symbolic architecture of cathedral and how Catholicism in North Carolina was influenced by newcomers, or people from other parts of the country who relocated to the state and brought their faith with them, especially in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
The sources commented on race relations, de-segregation, Bishop Vincent Waters and the ministry of Monsignor Thomas Hadden, a convert to Catholicism who was the first Black priest ordained for the diocese.
“His life is really a reminder of the remarkable perseverance that Black Catholics faced in finding acceptance in their Church and living out their lives as Catholics,” said Dr. Tom Rzeznik, a history professor at Seton Hall.