A thread on Saint Gregory, Bishop of Agrigentum and a new Curse of Ham

Saint Gregory was born on the island of Sicily, in the village of Pretorium, not far from the city of Agrigentum, to his pious and virtuous parents Chariton and Theodoti. 

I was reading of him yesterday as it was his feast day. One aspect of his story stuck out to me.

He traveled from his homeland to Carthage, then Jerusalem, then Constantinople, the city in which he participated in the Fifth Ecumenical Synod of 553. I mention this as it is notable that he wasn't an 'obscure' saint. 

Fate had it that Gregory returned to his homeland and was ordained bishop, guiding his flock. However, two malicious priests, Sabinus and Crescens, framed Gregory for fornication, using a bribed prostitute. Gregory was also accused of sorcery by judges because of the demonic frenzy of the accusing prostitute during trial.

Gregory spent two and a half years in prison on orders of the Pope (who didn't even want to read the accusations against Gregory). Gregory exited the prison thanks to the fact that a synod was convened by the Pope to judge Gregory's case once again. Gregory healed the woman of her demons, after which she told the truth and of Sabinus' and Crescens' plot.

Here is the part I found most interesting and relevant to contemporary society:

"Sabinus and Crescens, along with the other malingers - more than a hundred in number - found their faces suddenly turned as black as coal (which could also be seen in their descendants for many generations), and they were punished with exile."

In a sense this is a repetition of the Curse of Ham which saw a similar darkening of the skin for Canaan.

I read this story in the Synaxarium I bought from a Romanian monastery. I wanted to find the same story in English and I found it on this blog. Interestingly this detail is left out in the story on the OCA website. 

I find this story relevant, as it further bolsters the possibility of the Curse of Ham as being related to race, and thus allowing an explanation in theological terms of truths that we observe in scientific studies and statistics today on the right.

Addendum: I think out of the spirit of peace it's important that I write that I don't post this out of ill will for darker skin folk, but rather because I feel the topic of race is often not discussed or if it is it's in lackluster, vague liberal interpretations of Galatians 3:28.