Faithful learn about Black American Catholics on path to sainthood
Beginning with All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, November invites the faithful into the quiet — and to honor the holy men and women who have gone before us.
It is also Black Catholic History Month, as inaugurated by the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus in 1990.
This year, 12 parishes across the diocese are remembering the stories of six Black Catholics who are on the path to sainthood, each of whom has a unique story: Venerable Augustus Tolton, Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Venerable Henriette DeLille, and Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, Sister Thea Bowman and Julia Greeley, who have the title “Servant of God.”
According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a Servant of God is “a candidate for sainthood whose cause is still under investigation, prior to being declared venerable.” One who is named venerable “has not yet reached the beatification stage but whose heroic virtue has been declared by the pope.”
“They remained Catholic even when it was difficult to remain Catholic,” said Abby Causey, director of evangelization at Holy Family, Virginia Beach. “Their perseverance is a lesson for everyone who struggles with their faith.”
Through church bulletins and candlelit displays, film showings and special presentations, the parishes are working to raise awareness of these six people who serve as models of the Catholic faith.
Their efforts have been facilitated by Virginia Catholics for Racial Justice, a group that began in June 2020, when 75 members from various parishes were brought together by a series of online modules on racial justice, organized by JustFaith ministries.
The late Deacon Charles Williams, then director of the Office for Black Catholics, challenged the group to move from conversation to action, Causey said.
Rekindling stories from our past, she said, seemed the perfect way to begin.
Lessons in hope
“I believe in God. I hope in God. I love. I want to live and die for God.”
Venerable Henriette DeLille, born in 1812, wrote these words in a prayer book, having resolved to commit her life to the Lord. She founded the Sisters of the Holy Family, an order that opened the first Catholic home for the elderly in the country.
Our Lady of Nazareth, Roanoke, is making her biography — as well as those of the others — known through weekly bulletin columns and faith formation classes.
“Black Catholic History is the history of the Catholic faith,” said parishioner Colleen Hernandez. “If I don’t know the many contributions of Black American Catholics, I am missing an important piece of my faith formation.”
The parish also watched a film about the lives of the six, including Venerable Pierre Toussaint, who — born into slavery in Haiti — went on to become an entrepreneur and philanthropist, funding New York City’s first Catholic orphanage, its first school for Black children and the construction of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
The hope in sharing these stories, Hernandez said, is that parishioners might have a more complete understanding of the history of the Catholic Church in America.
‘Joy for her faith’
St. Edward the Confessor, Richmond, celebrated the month with a viewing of “Going Home Like a Shooting Star: Thea Bowman’s Journey to Sainthood” on Sunday, Nov. 13.
“I had never heard of her,” said Dave Evans, who helped organize the event. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget about her, though.”
Born in 1937, the daughter of a doctor and a teacher, Sister Bowman, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, converted to Catholicism at the age of 9, inspired by the Franciscan sisters who were her teachers.
She joined the order at 15 and went on to become a highly-acclaimed evangelizer, writer and professor. She was a founding member of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University, New Orleans.
In 1984, she was diagnosed with cancer. Throughout her illness, she kept up her busy schedule, tirelessly working to spread the Gospel.
“What stood out for me, was how reverently people spoke of her — priests, her fellow sisters,” Evans said. “How much joy she had for her faith, and how she brought her whole self to it.”
A legacy of scholarship
The Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Norfolk, held a dinner Friday, Nov. 4, for the retirement of Msgr. Walter Barrett, with proceeds from the event going toward a scholarship established in his honor.
The scholarship, said Eric Labat, a member of the organizing committee, will bear the name of a man who went against great odds in seeking the opportunity to study: Venerable Augustus Tolton.
Father Tolton, born in 1854, was called to become a priest but no seminary in the United States would accept a Black student. With the help of his pastor, Father Peter McGirr, he secured an appointment in Rome, and, after six years of study, was ordained on April 24, 1886.
“He was the first African-American priest in the country,” Labat said.
Father Tolton was assigned to serve in Chicago, and — although he became known nationally for his eloquent and insightful homilies — he devoted his life to the pastoral care of his congregants, many of whom lived in poverty.
“We’re looking to award the first scholarship for the fall of 2023,” Labat said. The award will be granted to a member of the Basilica who attends either a historically Black college or university, or a trade school.
Organizers plan to make the scholarship, which they hope will reach $2,000, available annually, he said, aiding the next generation of Catholics as they put their minds, hands and hearts to work in carrying on Father Tolton’s legacy.
Bringing the past to life
Immaculate Conception, Hampton, brought history to life with its program, “We’ve Come This Far by Faith: An Introduction to Black Catholic History,” held Sunday, Nov. 20. For the event, three presenters portrayed Sister Bowman, Father Tolton and Mother Mary Lange, the founder of The Oblate Sisters of Providence, a religious order devoted to educating Black girls.
Joan Kennedy, one of the organizers of the event, said she hoped the reenactments would shed light on a little-known part of Catholic history.
“When I started to learn more about Black Catholic history, I found that it goes back to the very roots of Catholicism,” she said. “So many of the Church Fathers were from northern Africa, and so much of Catholic history in the Americas is Black Catholic history as well.”
Immaculate Conception has also set up a display in its commons area featuring portraits of the six, including Julia Greeley, known in her life as “Denver’s Angel of Mercy.” A member of the Secular Franciscan Order, she was a comforting figure in the city, often seen pulling a wagon through the streets to deliver food to the poor.
“There’s a richness to our history,” Kennedy said. “Our Church truly is universal.”
‘A place at the table’
Evelyn Welch, volunteer social ministry chair at Holy Rosary, Richmond, said that her parish has celebrated Black Catholic History Month for more than three decades.
“This year, my church, Holy Rosary, which is predominately African American, is going to get together with Church of the Redeemer, which has a predominately white congregation, to watch the film ‘A Place at the Table,’” she said.
The film features biographical sketches on each of the six men and women who are on the journey to canonization.
Welch converted to Catholicism at the age of 10, she said, but still finds “there’s always something new to learn.” She said she hopes the movie night will inspire others to do their own research and to continue to discover more.
“Three of them have been designated as venerable, which means they have two more steps to go. I hope I’m living to see one of them make it,” she said, laughing.