BRIDGEPORT— The National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (NBCCC) of the United States voted on Tuesday, July 24, 1990, while meeting in convention at Fordham University in New York, to establish November as Black Catholic History Month. The reason behind the selection of the month of November was the number of important dates to Catholics of African descent that fell within this month.
The first celebration of Black Catholic History Month began in November of 1990 in various cities in the United States with the celebration of St. Martin de Porres feast day. The liturgy celebrated the 350th anniversary of St. Martin’s transition from this life to eternal life. In Detroit on this day in 1990, Archbishop Adam Maida, the local Archbishop, was the celebrant for the Mass. Also present was the President of the NBCCC, Bro. Roy Smith, OSC. The Mass was held at St. Anthony Church.
In the world today there are 200 million people of African descent in the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world.
In observation of this month in the Church, The Leadership Institute has included resources on its website to help us learn more.
Links include opportunities to learn about different Black Catholics and initiatives.
Learn more about Father Augustus Tolton, the first Roman Catholic priest in the United States publicly known to be black. A former slave who was baptized and reared Catholic, Tolton studied formally in Rome and was ordained in 1886.
Learn more about the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first successful Roman Catholic sisterhood in the world established by women of African descent.
Learn more about the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, The Josephites, a religious community of Catholic priests and brothers, committed to serving the African American community through the proclamation of the Gospel and our personal witness.
Learn more about Black Catholic Saints and Martyrs from the National Black Catholic Congress, Black Catholics whose cause for sainthood is now in process, and the timeline of U.S. Black Catholics presented by The National Black Catholic Congress.
The Leadership Institute’s Black Catholic History Month webpage also links to the recent webinar series “Conversations About Race,” a seven-week series hosted by The Leadership Institute, the diocesan Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism and the Apostolate for Black Catholics.
(To view these resources and more visit: www.formationreimagined/black-catholic-history-month.)
