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In May, a Portland, Oregon, train was the site of a violent attack, which killed two men and critically injured a third, all of whom were defending two teenage girls from a hate-filled verbal assault. The incident offered a poignant answer to a timely question: What is an American?

In the turbid stew of political discourse that pollutes our airwaves, our conversations, and even our thoughts, this question simmers below the surface.

Detroit

On July 23, 1967, what would become known as the “12th Street Riot ” erupts in Detroit, Michigan, when police raid an unlicensed bar in the early morning hours. The angry cops treat the black patrons like criminals and herd them outside. A crowd gathers, a store window is smashed, and an uprising is born from years of mistreatment by police, housing segregation, and a lack of jobs, opportunities, and education. Five days later, 43 people are dead and 1,189 people are injured.

Although I was raised Catholic and attend Sunday Mass regularly, in recent years I am finding the Church’s position, or perhaps its silence, on many political issues disturbing. I understand pro-life concerns, but I don’t understand why the only pro-life issue the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) really seems to care about is abortion.

Pope Francis is the best thing that has happened to the Catholic Church since St. John XXIII. I know there are lots of dedicated priests, religious, and laypeople working on the front lines with refugees, the poor, the elderly, single mothers, and other at-risk groups of people. But where among today’s leaders are the Oscar Romeros, the Daniel Berrigans, and the Dorothy Days? I don’t think I’m having a crisis of faith; it feels more like a crisis of religion because of tepid leadership.