John LaFarge, Jr.

Who was John LaFarge, Jr.?

John LaFarge, Jr. was an American Jesuit priest and a strong supporter of anti-racist policies.

Born in Newport, Rhode Island, he was the son of John LaFarge, an American painter, muralist, stained glass window maker, decorator, and writer.

He wrote several books and articles before World War II against racist ideologies. One of these caught the attention of Pope Pius XI, who summoned him to Rome and asked him to prepare a papal pronouncement against racist and totalitarian ideologies. Unfortunately, the proposed encyclical only reached the Pope three weeks before his death, and it remained in the Vatican archives, where it was discovered only recently. The draft is known under the title of Humani Generis Unitas.