Symposium on black Catholics sheds light

The awareness that ordinary people can do extraordinary things through perseverance was the theme that reverberated March 14-16 at  “Walking with the Saints: A symposium on Black Catholics, their Concerns and the Journey to Sainthood” presented by the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana.
 
Through examination of the lives of black individuals who are in the process of canonization in the Catholic Church, one realizes the depth of faith possible.

Keynote speaker M. Shawn Copeland, Ph.D., a Boston College professor, delved into “Holiness and the Cultural Production of Evil.” She summarized how four individuals found ways to retain their faith amid obstacles.
➤ Pierre Toussaint, a former slave who gained freedom at age 45, was a hairdresser,  a religious lay person who performed charitable works, is buried at St. Patrick’s in New York and is now venerable in the process;
➤ Mother Mary Lange, founder of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, who educated immigrant and African-American children in Baltimore and whose cause for canonization was opened in 1991 and is now a Servant of God;
➤ Sister of the Holy Family founder Venerable Mother Henriette Delille, who made a difference in New Orleans;
➤ And Father Augustus Tolton. 

They might not have been martyrs who endured “torture and death in refusal to betray their relationship with God or repudiate their faith,” Copeland said, but their lives of “practical charity, audacious hope, bold confidence and subversive love” caused them to endure a “bloodless martyrdom carried out under the auspices of the society in which they lived and even the very Church they love.”

She hoped the Catholic Church would, one day, recognize them as saints, explaining how saints are holy men or women who first serve God, abide by his rule and live in righteousness and love everyone. All four did that – they held steadfast to their faith amidst the evils of slavery and segregation.

Common bond
The black Catholics mentioned all seemed to believe that education was the answer to help poor children.

“Education was one of the best ways to eradicate poverty,” Sister of the Holy Family founder Mother Henriette Delille said, according to Sister of St. Mary of Namur Roberta Fulton, whose talk “A Generous Heart for God” March 15 centered on her. Sister Roberta has been an educator for 42 years and is currently principal at St. Martin de Porres School in Columbia, S.C.

She said Mother Henriette prayed for her enemies and had a “heart big enough to let love explode.” Sister Fulton said “having a loving heart is like having a bountiful eye.” Those, like Mother Henriette, who give bread to the poor and show kindness, are merciful. And, those with a generous heart are “blessed” and “committed to teaching the Word of God.”

“She was courageous in her stance to be with the poor and she shows us how to live among the poor and be dedicated to the poor,” Sister Roberta said. “Even rejection didn’t deter her.”

Through prayer and her experiences teaching poor children, Sister Roberta said she carries on much in the spirit of Henriette Delille whose canonization has been underway for several years. She said that’s the ministry of Catholic schools today – educating children to change communities.

“It is with the young people that we plant the seeds … and you help, and that’s what I know Henriette did.”

Catholic education panel moderator Dr. Donna Porche-Frilot emphasized how free black people were both a bridge and a boundary. The Catholic Church worked with Mother Henriette and other free black women who were active in the church. She said being faithful to God gave them power.

“It changed this church,” Porche-Frilot said. “That is the solution of our future  – to make sure we are active Catholics who raise our children to be active participants in our church.”

Father Augustus Tolton
Brother Gerard Jordan, special assistant to Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry and diocesan postulator for the Cause for Sainthood of Father Augustus Tolton, detailed Tolton’s life. A son of slaves, Father Tolton was encouraged by the Sisters of Notre Dame and priests in his hometown of Quincy, Ill., to continue his education. Brother Jordan said his journey was “filled with the dance of love,” and gave the example of how the Sisters of Notre Dame, who taught him, showed him how to love those against him.

He used that skill after being rejected by several religious orders due to the color of his skin. Brother Jordan said the Franciscans helped Tolton gain admittance to the seminary in Rome where he sat alongside white men to learn to be a priest. “I was not less than or greater than them. I was their brother,” Brother Jordan quoted Tolton as saying.

Father Augustus was ordained a priest in Rome in 1886. He is considered the first African-American black to be ordained to the priesthood and served poor Catholics in his hometown of Quincy and in Chicago. His canonization has been underway since 2010, and he is now a Servant of God.

Dr. Pamela Franco, interim director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana, said she wanted to create a symposium detailing the path to canonization, what a miracle is and highlighting black individuals whose lives demonstrate what it takes to be a saint.

“My hope is they will learn more about the individuals, the challenges they had and how they dealt with them,” Franco said. “They are good examples for us to follow.”

She also hopes that those who attended will want to be advocates for the candidates to be canonized.    

“We have to be advocates for the candidates and pray for a miracle,” she said.

Christine Bordelon can be reached at [email protected].