Celebrating Black Catholic History

“Solomon is a type of Christ, and just as the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon to consult him because he was so wise, so the Church comes to Christ who is Wisdom himself. As a result, since the Queen of Sheba is black, so must the Church be black and beautiful. Her very blackness is a symbol of her universality; all nations are present in her.”

Cyprian Davis, OSB, commenting on the Song of Songs

As Black History Month comes to a close, it behooves us as Catholics to learn more about black history in the context of the Church we know in love. Though celebrating and engaging with Church history is a perpetually relevant task, it seems especially important for the Church in these days to look inward and celebrate the contributions of black Catholics to the universal Church over the centuries. Though people of African descent have been a constant presence in the history of Catholicism from the earliest days of the Church (and even before, considering those Africans who converted to Judaism in the time before Christ and appear in the Scriptures) I think it is fair to say that for many, this is a topic where many of us can admit some ignorance. This is partially due to wide ranging misconceptions about religion and race that affect many in the our country, most notably those pet prejudices of both white Catholics and non-Catholic African Americans, for whom the history of black Catholicism is either intentionally or unintentionally invisible. The purposes of this post is to draw attention in a brief way to the importance of black Catholics throughout the Church’s history and hopefully inspire the reader to explore and learn more on their own. After all, our understanding and interest of black history in general and black Catholicism in particular should not be limited to a mere 28 days.

BLACK CATHOLICS IN THE EARLY CHURCH

To begin with, it bears noting that some of the most famous and important saints of the early Church were in fact, Africans and thus form part of the tradition of black Catholicism. This illustrious list includes St. Anthony of Egypt, regarded by many as the founder of monasticism; Sts Felicitas and Perpetua; and of course St. Augustine and his mother St. Monica. A perhaps lesser known saint from this period was the physically imposing monk St. Moses, whose story of conversion is no less dramatic than that of Augustine of Hippo.

Besides those formerly recognized by the Church as saints, we also can assume a sizable portion of black Africans were members of the early Church. The first main missionary thrusts of the Church were in the Roman Empire, an Empire which at its height included much of North Africa. Besides that, black Africans permeated the Roman Empire so it is natural to assume that many early converts to the Christian faith were black Africans. Outside of Rome and further into Africa, the Axumite kingdom of Ethiopia was an early convert to Christianity, as was Nubia, a country to the south of Egypt. Christianity remains firmly entrenched in this part of the world, and the Ethiopian Rite Catholic Church remains a sign that black Catholicism has ancient roots.

Icon of St. Moses the black, from CatholicSaints.info.

BLACK CATHOLICS IN MEDIEVAL TIMES AND THE AGE OF EXPLORATION

At the beginning of the medieval period, many of the lands of previously Christian North Africa were conquered by early followers of Islam and afterward tended to be dominated by that religion. However, just as black Africans could be found throughout the Roman Empire, so too was the case with the Southern European communities where the medieval Church grew in medieval times. One saintly figure who came from these Afro-European communities was St. Benedict the Moor, an Sicilian Franciscan of African descent who lived in the 16th century.

Despite the aforementioned Islamic conquests, Catholicism also continued to take root in Africa, especially in the late medieval/renaissance period. Most notably, the Kingdom of the Congo converted to Catholic Christianity from paganism and established itself as a Christian kingdom in the heart of Africa before the first European expeditions to the New World.

When the European expeditions did come however, the creation of the Transatlantic slave trade soon transported countless Africans across the continents North and South America leading to what we today would call the African diaspora. As the Congolese example attests, some of these people were already Catholics, while others converted to Catholicism based on their association with Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English Catholics during the slave trade. Though the trade would be condemned officially in 1839 by the papal document In Supremo Apostalatus, it goes without saying that many European Catholics participated in the enslavement and dehumanization of their own coreligionists in what of the greatest tragedies of history.

The simultaneously brutal and beautiful transformation of the New World that followed proved a forge for many holy saints. St. Peter Claver, though not black himself, became a hero for the enslaved by being a tireless advocate for their wellbeing and introduction to the faith. St. Peter was a Jesuit priest born in Spain who worked in present day Columbia. His name marks the Knights of Peter Claver today, a Catholic fraternal organization. He stands as an example of true Christian charity during a time of much brutality towards black people. Another South American saint worth mentioning who was indeed black is St. Martin Porres. The first black American canonized, St. Martin de Porres was a Dominican who struggled against Spanish laws which restricted black people from joining religious communities. He was known for his pious connection to Mary and his ceaseless care for the sick and poor of Peru. St. Martin de Porres is honored in the song Black Christ of the Andes by Catholic jazz musician Mary Lou Williams.

“The King’s Fountain” a painting from the 16th century depicting the city of Lisbon in Portugal, showcasing black Africans as traders, slaves, entertainers and knights.

BLACK CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES

The history of Catholics in America includes the story of slaves, slave revolt leaders, reformers, jazz musicians, and civil rights activists, just as the history of African Americans includes priests, going to confession, and praying to saints.

As our country to this day struggles over questions of race and racism, it has become increasingly important to become more aware of our black past. For American Catholics, there is no exception. The history of black Catholics in the United States is rich and interesting, though admittedly under-represented in historiography and popular culture. Though many of our casual ideas African American culture are associated with various Protestant religious traditions, the fact remains that vibrant communities of black Catholics in Louisiana, Maryland, and Kentucky have been present since the early days of the republic and have had a large impact on our cultural consciousness of Americans. One has only to watch the Mardi Gras celebrations of New Orleans to see a blending of Congolese, Caribbean, French, Spanish, and American traditions coming together in a Catholic celebration.

Due to the relative youth of the United States as a country, the black saints of this part of the world are in many cases “saints in waiting”, though many holy African Americans have been designated as Venerable or Blessed by the Church. These include the humble layman Pierre Toussaint, who was a Haitian immigrant living in NYC in the early 19th century; Servant of God Mother Mary Lange who dedicated her life to the education of black children in Maryland; and, of course, Venerable Augustus Tolton requires mention as the first black priest in the country, being ordained 1886.

The history of black Catholics in the United States is a complex one, with many African Americans of the faith facing suspicion and prejudice for being both black and Catholic in for what to many was supposed to be a white, Protestant country. In addition, black Catholics could feel secluded from the wider African American community, where Roman Catholicism was often considered foreign and a “white man’s church”. Likewise, they faced prejudice from white Catholics, many of whom had inherited racist ideas from the wider culture. That being said, many American Catholics also played historic role in promoting the rights of African Americans long before the wider culture did. A notable example of this phenomenon was when in 1924 the Knights of Columbus commissioned none other than NAACP co-founder WEB Dubois to write a book on the contributions of black people to the United States. This was part of the organization’s anti-racist crusade against the then resurgent Ku Klux Klan, who spent its time persecuting blacks, immigrants, Jews, and Catholics. This and many other examples show the importance black history should have for Catholics in general.

This history of Black Catholics in the United States is one that would require many posts and much more research to discuss at length here, but I encourage the reader to look at some of the sources below for more information.

Sr. Maria Antonia at the Selma march in 1965, one of the many civil rights demonstrations where Catholic religious and priests were active participants.

CONCLUSION

In this brief post, I hope I have at least peaked your interest on the rich, interesting and vital topic of black Catholicism. Over one hundred years ago, African American activist Daniel Rudd wrote, “[the Catholic Church] is the only place on the Continent where rich and poor, white and black, must drop prejudice at the threshold and go hand and hand to the altar.” He felt strongly that Catholicism had a vital role to play in healing the country’s race-related wounds. In today’s climate of racial tension and resurgent racism, can we say our Church communities provide this space which Rudd envisioned? Are our parish communities welcoming to people of color? Do the images in our Church’s reflect the diversity and universality of our religion? Are we attentive listeners to the needs of minority communities? Do we see black history, and in particular, black Catholic history, as important?

WHERE TO GO TO LEARN MORE

The National Black Catholic Congress – the best resource for learning more about the history of black Catholicism in general and the United States in particular. This organization was founded in 1889 and continues to be a beacon for organizing black Catholics across the country today.

The History of Black Catholics in the United States by Cyprian Davis – this seminal work by historian and Benedictine monk Cyprian Davis tells the complicated history of black Catholics in America. Starting with the origins of Christianity in Africa, he goes on to discuss the religious situation under slavery, the formation of black lay and religious organizations, and the struggle for civil rights through a Catholic lens.

The Gifts of Black Folk: Negroes and the Making of America by WEB Dubois – the book commissioned by the KofC to tell the story of African American contributions to the American character. Part of a series commissioned by the KofC to promote a diverse vision of America during a time of the resurgent KKK. Others in this series championed the benefits Jewish and German Americans brought to society.

USCCB Resources Against Racism – in light of recent events, the American Church has organized an ad hoc committee against racism. Here is a link for resources provided for said committee, including their pastoral letter against racism “Open Wide Your Hearts”.

From the Farmington Fish-Eater: Daniel Rudd – a short biography written on this site of Daniel Rudd, an African American Catholic journalist, apologist, and pioneer in the role of black Catholics in the Church.

From the Farmington Fish Eater: Bishop James Augustine Healy – a video creator by a Fish-Eater talking about the life and times of James Augustine Healy, the first bishop in the United States of African descent.

“Black Church” YouTube Playlist – an under-construction video playlist by the author with many videos on the topic of black Catholicism, ranging from history to liturgy to the state of Catholic Africa today. The name came as a refutation of the idea that “Black Church” is somehow something uniquely separate from the Catholic experience.

Thoughts on Evil, Easter, and a Damn Good Comic Book

The following post first appeared on a short lived blog of mine called the The Comic Book Catholic which I posted on early in my college career. Now nearing the end of that journey, I thought it appropriate to share this post which I was reminded of around the Easter season and while the world of Marvel comics weighs on my mind due to the  recent release of Avengers: Endgame. It itself was written at an emotional time for me, having recently dealt with the death of a beloved family member and moving towards spiritual direction. That all aside, it is mainly a review of the spiritual elements in the classic Frank Miller story Daredevil: Born Again, a brutally beautiful comic. Originally entitled “The Immensity of Evil”, it begins its story by focusing on the comics’ primary antagonist. It is adapted in some minor ways to fit the content of this blog. 

There are few Marvel villains who match the enormous presence of Wilson Fisk. A massive block of muscle in a white tuxedo, Fisk is a criminal mastermind and mob boss known as the Kingpin . According to Frank Miller, that means he is “the boss of everything bad that makes money in what must be most of the free world.” Sure, he isn’t a Nazi super-soldier like Red Skull or a costumed madman like Green Goblin; he has no powers, no costume, no army of robots or aliens at his disposal. But that makes him all the more terrifying. He operates “on the ground”, so to speak, or perhaps under it. He doesn’t dream up plans to conquer the world but rather runs it from behind the scenes. He’s not just another criminal. He is the criminal. The Kingpin of crime.

Though a long-running adversary of both Spiderman and the Punisher, Kingpin is best known as the arch-nemesis of Matt Murdock – aka Daredevil. Lawyer by day and vigilante by night, Daredevil is also one of the most visibly Catholic characters in Marvel comics and his stories on print and screen are often tinged with spiritual themes.

It is in facing Daredevil where Kingpin’s evil genius is most on display – matched against a single enemy who proves his opposite in almost every way. Take, for instance, one of the best story arcs to come out of Marvel comics, Daredevil: Born Again. In this story by acclaimed writer Frank Miller, Kingpin finally learns the true identity of the man who has been giving his operations so much trouble. He uses this information to systematically and sadistically dismantle Murdock peace by peace. He freezes his assets, strips him of his law practice, destroys his home and threatens all those close to him. Ultimately, this leads him to a confrontation with Murdock, who he beats into a pulp and sends careening of a peer in a damaged vehicle, making it look like a drunken accident. This is why the Kingpin is such a sinister character. He doesn’t merely want to kill the hero – he wants to annihilate him, to devour him, to destroy him and corrupt his reputation. He enjoys the torture, the sadism, the feeling of being in control of a whole city while crushing the one man that will fight for it.

Kingpin’s overbearing presence haunts the entire run. Everybody seems to be in his pocket- hitmen, assassins, corporations, and even government agents all run to his aid as an endless arsenal of assets to use against Daredevil and his allies.

This is what makes Kingpin a unique and memorable villain. He seems to have his fingers in everything – the police, hospitals, the press. His power is frighteningly close to our everyday lives – of the real evil that grows just beneath the surface of human society. Fisk’s enormous facade is that of a legitimate businessman – civilized, dignified, and attached to the finer things in life. This is all to hide the sadistic interior, the lust for power, and the animal-like fury and rage which is captured by his brutal physical presence. This strength of body is bested only by his horrifying omnipresence in the city – the way he fills up space with all the men and women and institutions who he has paid off.

We often feel this way about evil. Like the Kingpin, it appears to lurk everywhere we look – overlaying all reality like a fog. Human trafficking thrives even in the smallest of cities. Heroin and meth claim lives in our backyards. Cops gun down innocent youth in the streets. Priests molest children and bishops cover it up. The list goes on and the bodies pile up. The fight continues but evil still sits behind the scenes, fat and bloated with the blood of countless victims.

Christ’s passion alone gives us comfort in this time. As Christians, we believe that God’s answer to the problem of evil was answered in the sorrowful passion of Christ. In that act upon the cross, he let all the toxins and corruption of the world cling to him. He bore our sins and suffered through mockery and blasphemy. The cross is the answer to evil, but even there the elusiveness remains. Even Jesus felt betrayed and alone as the sky grew dark: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” We can only take comfort in this cry for help. Even God knows what it feels like when all hope is lost. He knows what it feels like to think that evil has won. In the words of G.K. Chesterton, God had been forsaken of God. The devil had won the day.

Daredevil: Born Again presents Kingpin in this way. Like the devil, he thought he had finally got the best of his enemy. After all, the hero had come to his doorstep and invited his own destruction. He had dug his own grave. All the devil had to do was give him a tiny push.

But like the devil, he was wrong.

For Matthew Murdock had his own resurrection. He escaped from the drowning vehicle like someone emerging from baptism. It is here where the title of the overall work hits home. The symbolism is ingrained in the story, but far from subtle. In historic Christian belief, to be born again is to be baptized – to be born of water and spirit. As St. Paul proclaims: “Do you not know that all we who have been baptized into his death? For we were buried in him by means of Baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ has arisen from the dead through glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.” (Romans 4:3-4)

The Catholic Church teaches us in baptism we undergo “regeneration”. That is, we are given the divine life capable of blotting out original sin, though a tendency to sin remains to be battled throughout life. There is a reason that we as Catholics each year at Easter we recommit ourselves to our baptismal vows and reject the devil and all his empty show. In the time between, we cross ourselves with holy water, reminding ourselves of our sacramental defense against the darkness which hangs overhead.

Our share in the resurrection of Christ through baptism gives us an experience not unlike that of Matthew Murdock. With the image of Christ imprinted on our soul, we have the power of resurrection, even when we seem most destroyed and broken. We can surprise the devil by leaping from the grave again and again. We drive him mad as he repeats the threefold despair of Kingpin in Born Again when he discovers Matt has escaped from drowning: “There is no corpse, there is no corpse, there is no corpse.” That dauntingly massive and smug figure of evil can be defeated, even when death and despair appear to rule supreme. With a drop of holy water and a simple sign of the cross, we acknowledge the power of the resurrection even when pitted against the foreboding shadow that is the immensity of evil.

A Review of the Victory App

Image of The Victory App

 

    “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”- Saint John Paul II.

 

The darkness can be all consuming. You can hide away in the darkness for so long that you forget what the light looks like. That’s how my addiction to porn felt.

 

I started watching some time around 12 or 13. I didn’t know how much it would damage my soul and take over me physically, emotionally, and psychologically. I saw some horrifying things, my cravings became stronger and stronger. Like I said, the darkness overtook me, I felt so far from God.

 

Here’s the thing though, we can run away from God all we want but he is always present to us, so willing to forgive and wrap us in His loving arms. 

 

The ironic part was that as far as I felt from God, I still went to Mass every week and frequently confessed my sins. It was ugly, I felt like a monster. Society tells us to feed all of our desires, but that just brought me a sense of brokenness and pain. “The opposite of love is not hate, but use. God never created his children to use one another.“ – St. John Paul II. 

“The opposite of love is not hate, but use. God never created his children to use one another.“ – St. John Paul II. 

This is a story of pain, but it’s also a story of recovery. Each time I fell I became more resolute to break free of vice and live up to my calling as a son of God. In November, I had a pretty bad relapse. One night I stayed up until the early morning hours watching porn. It wasn’t just the quantity of what I was watching but the content itself that horrified me. I couldn’t go on justifying my hideous objectification of women. I had used the Victory App previously but I decided to be more dedicated this time. I enlisted my campus minister as my accountability partner. The job of the accountability partner is not only to lead us away from vice but towards our greater calling, namely my identity as a son of God. I felt it from the beginning, this time was going to be different. It wasn’t just about avoiding the shame, it became about surrendering my heart to God. There have been a lot of difficult days but I kept on asking for my accountability partner’s prayers and going to Confession. As I got further from the temptation of lust, it was often replaced by despair. Would I ever be able to view sex the way God intended it to be, would I ever have healthy relationships with women?

You have to understand that this is not magic, it took a lot of fervent prayer, fasting, and of course God’s grace. But it’s really working! I am now about 5 months clean, and I have new hope thanks to the book Restored. Multiple people tell true stories of how they found healing in relationships damaged by porn.

The Victory App is simple to use and free of charge. Available in the app store. Features include a calendar to track setbacks, confessions, and clean days. The app also tracks your streak. Also included are a book that I found reading one reflection a day helpful (the reflections are really short), powerful prayers, and pastoral, Biblical and saint inspiration for giving up porn. Perhaps the foundation of the app is the ability to ask for prayers from your accountability partner(s). You literally just press a button and it sends a notification to your partner, no explanation needed. You also have the ability to journal by clicking on that day on the calendar and then choosing journal.

If you or someone close to you is struggling with porn, know that there is hope and people out there willing to help. This is not an easy process, but it is well worth it. Saint Paul says it so beautifully, “when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” (Romans 7:21). So often when we feel attacked by the devil, it’s not because we have failed but because we are on the right path. Satan has no need to tempt those who have already given themselves over to him. Just remember to draw near to God in times of temptation and he will give you the grace needed to overcome (cf. James 4:8; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10). The Victory App has helped to saved my faith and is well on its way to vanquishing my addiction.

Saint Paul says it so beautifully, “when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” (Romans 7:21). So often when we feel attacked by the devil, it’s not because we have failed but because we are on the right path. Satan has no need to tempt those who have already given themselves over to him. Just remember to draw near to God in times of temptation and he will give you the grace needed to overcome (James 4:8; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

I will leave you with this beautiful prayer: Prayer of Protection and Healing of Wounds

O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, please be with (insert name(s) here) especially during times of intense pain caused by inordinate attractions to sin. Reveal root causes to these unhealthy attractions that wound our soul so deeply and let just one drop of Your Most Precious Blood touch these wounds to heal them. Open our heart that we may receive your grace to surrender to Your Most Holy Will and accept the cross you ask we carry.


O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, may the tears for your Son as he hung upon the cross anoint our wounds to sooth the breath taking pain that robs the very life from us. May this welcoming oasis allow us to surrender to the purifying love of your Son that we may heal. May your Immaculate Heart inspire hope within us, that the distasteful odor of despair seeping repugnantly from these wounds be conquered. May your Immaculate Heart ignite love within us, that the hideous use and objectification of others oozing repulsively from these wounds be incinerated. And may your Immaculate Heart deepen within us a faith as beautiful and most pure as yours that we may completely trust in and totally abandon ourselves to your Son.  


Amen.

 

 

It’s Always Thomas Merton

A couple years ago I was getting out of the car and I handed my book, black and plainly bound, to my 11 year old. He said, “Is this a Bible?” I said, “No, Seven Storey Mountain.”

He replied, “Thomas Merton. It’s always Thomas Merton with you.”

Being A Tree

The first time I loved Thomas Merton was when I was contemplating my way into the Church. I was discovering my identity as a child of God in a new and exciting way. And then I read this quote, “A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying [God]. It “consents,” so to speak, to [God’s] creative love. It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree.” (Seeds of Contemplation)

This idea of being was transformative, because it looked at essence and not accomplishment. As a semi-pro people pleaser, it rocked my world to consider that I didn’t have to earn my status before God as His daughter and that His presence–that True Presence in the Blessed Sacrament–was not only offered to me, it was the very reason for my existence. Merton further wrote, “Indeed we exist solely for this, to be in the place he has chosen for his Presence.”

Crooked Ways, Straight Writing

As I meandered my way into the Church, it seemed like the scenic route for sure. There was nothing easy about leaving my Protestant roots and becoming Catholic. It all seemed a little like the Hebrew children wandering in the desert for 40 years, walking around Mt. Sinai.

Merton comforted me in writing, “God writes straight on crooked lines anyway, all the time, all the time.”

This trusting that God would write my story, that I need only follow, be faithful, steadfastly keep my eyes on Jesus.

“…looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

You Cannot Overstate The Goodness of God

Merton had a complex spirituality, that came from years of pain and confusion. But he found himself before the Blessed Sacrament and firmly rooted in the goodness of God. He didn’t adjust his theology to match his pain. Rather he brought his pain into the light of God’s goodness. As author Christa Black Gifford writes, “If our hearts are not anchored to the goodness of God when tragedy strikes, we lower our theology to match our pain.”

For Merton the fact that mankind hasn’t yet destroyed ourselves or lost ourselves completely in our own selfishness is because God is good and merciful. He writes in Seven Storey Mountain, “It is only the infinite mercy and love of God that has prevented us from tearing ourselves to pieces and destroying His entire creation long ago. People seem to think that it is in some way a proof that no merciful God exists, if we have so many wars. On the contrary cruelty and hatred and avarice and oppression and injustice, spawned and bred by the free wills of men, the human race can still recover each time, and can still produce men and women who overcome evil with good, hatred with love, greed with charity, lust and cruelty with sanctity. How could all this be possible without the merciful love of God, pouring out His grace upon us? Can there be any doubt where wars come from and where peace comes from, when the children of this world, excluding God from their peace conferences, only manage to bring about greater and greater wars the more they talk about peace?…There is not a flower that opens, not a seed that falls into the ground, and not an ear of wheat that nods on the end of its stalk in the wind that does not preach and proclaim the greatness and the mercy of God to the whole world.”

“How does it happen that in the thousands of generations of murderers since Cain, our dark bloodthirsty ancestor, that some of us can still be saints? The quietness and hiddenness and placidity of the truly good people in the world all proclaim the glory of God.”

No matter the means by which we try to express the goodness of God, He remains inexpressible. Our songs, prayers, stories, sermons, and essays, will always fall short of what we could (or should) say about God. Perhaps the best we can do is what Jesus Himself told us. “Consider the lilies…Consider the ravens…” (Luke 12:22-34) The natural world preaches the most profound sermons. And the fact that we are still here striving for sanctity itself confirms that all is not lost–despite our falls from grace.

It is this, perhaps the theme of my life, that finds me on common ground with Merton and why “It’s always Thomas Merton” with me. My brokenness, my sin, tragedy and injustice in my life, cannot erase the mercy and goodness of God. It is God’s infinite goodness that allows me to be. To live. To find and live in truth.

For further exploration of Catholicism, visit our Explore Catholicism page and feel free to ask us questions!