A Brief Comment on the Church in Africa
In light of the recent consistory and election of new cardinals, of which two were from Africa, the page below has some good figures of the number of cardinals from Africa and, in particular, Nigeria. 27 African cardinals in total, the 3rd largest bloc of cardinals of all the regions of the world. One of…
Black Catholic Saint Feast Day: St. Benedict the Moor, O.F.M., “The Holy Black” (April 4) – Brief Personal Reflection on His Feast Day
Today the Church celebrates the feast day of Black Catholic saint Benedict the Moor (1526-1589), a Sicilian Franciscan friar of slave origin. In his early life Benedict was often ridiculed by others for his humble background and for his skin color, but he bore this suffering patiently in a truly dignified and Christian way. Benedict,…
A Chance Encounter
Yesterday during a break in the part of our program with interfaith chaplains, I met a Black Protestant military chaplain of who told me I was the first African American dude studying for the Catholic priesthood he’s ever met! Glad God arranged things to let this encounter happen.I don’t mind being a unicorn for the…
Hail Mary
“O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin prepared a worthy dwelling for your Son, grant, we pray, that, as you preserved her from every stain by virtue of the Death of your Son, which you foresaw, so, through her intercession, we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to your presence. Through…
Tonight Black Catholics and I Come Together to Talk On Black Saints and Representation. Also “Black Version of Catholicism?”
Several weeks ago I participated in a live stream discussion entitled “Is There A Black Version of Catholicism?” hosted by David L. Gray and the Traditional Black Catholic Forum Facebook group. In addition to the main question that gave our discussion its title and direction, we also talked about many aspects of Black Catholic faith,…
National Black Catholic History Month Novena Heads Up!
Big news! We have welcomed in October the past few days, but that only means that we are only one more month away from National Black Catholic History Month in November! And you know my apostolate with celebrate. So, consider this is a heads up. And leading into NBCHM, later this month you can begin…
A Black Catholic Parish’s Feast Day – St. Vincent de Paul’s in My Home Town
Happy Feast Day to the only surviving historically Black Catholic parish in my home diocese of Nashville, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church! Today is the feast day of 17th century priest, St. Vincent de Paul, which the universal Church celebrates as a memorial, but for St. Vincent’s it’s a full-on solemnity. Check out these…
Black Catholic Saint Feast Day: St. Moses the Black (Aug 28) – Brief Personal Reflection on His Feast Day
Today the Church in the West (Latin Rite) celebrates the sainthood of a Black Catholic saint – St. Moses the Black, also called St. Moses the Ethiopian (330-405), a fourth century Desert Father and ascetic monk who lived a life of notable sanctity after a life of crime. He was once a robber in a…
ARTICLE SHARE: “Black Catholics See Continued Progress on the Road to Canonization for ‘Saintly Six’” (National Catholic Register)
While there are in fact a number of Black Catholic saints (individuals of African heritage/descent that have lived holy Catholic lives and have been canonized) there are no African American Catholic saints as of yet. However, there are currently six Black American holy ones who are on the path to being canonized as saints with…
Brief Word On Matrimony and Black Marriage
A couple of weeks I saw a picture of Black Catholic newlyweds on my FB social media extension and it inspired me to say this then with a small edit and addition. There are often calls for prayers to vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Those are well and good. Keep praying for these…