Black Catholic History

Sister Thea Bowman
Did you know that a little Methodist girl born, Bertha Bowman, in Yazoo City, Mississippi, grew up to be a renowned Roman Catholic nun, teacher, and scholar? Sr. Thea Bowman… Read More
St. Benedict the Moor
Did you know a slave born of Christian parents at Philadelpho in Sicily in 1522 became a Franciscan monk and saint? St. Benedict the Moor was known for his mild… Read More
Saint Antonio Vieira
Antonio Vieria was an African born in Portugal. When he was fifteen years old, he became a Jesuit novice and later a professor of rhetoric and dogmatic theology. He went… Read More
James, Alexander, and Patrick Healy
Did you know that the very first African American priests in the United States were three brothers born of a slave mother and fathered by a Georgia plantation owner? The… Read More
St. Katherine Drexel
Did you know that a canonized saint who described herself as “The mother and servant of the Indian and Negro races” helped finance Holy Redeemer Parish and School in Washington… Read More
St. Peter Claver
Did you know that even though he was born into a rich, noble family of African descent in Spain, St. Peter Claver chose to spend his life serving the sick… Read More
St. Augustine
Did you know that one of the pillars of the Catholic Church, St. Augustine wrote 96 books during his lifetime? The two most famous are his biography, Confessions and City… Read More
Mother Mary Lange
Did you know that the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore is the first and older religious congregation for women of color in the United States? Haitian immigrant & educator,… Read More
Charles Randolph Uncles
Charles Randolph Uncles was the son of a B & O Railroad worker and a dressmaker mother. Fr. Uncles was an extremely bright student in high school and college. He… Read More
St. Pierre Toussaint
Did you know that a former slave who worked as a hairdresser in New York more than two centuries ago is on track to become the first African American man… Read More
St. Josephine Bakhita
Did you know that the first African woman to be canonized as a saint by the Church in the 21st century lived her entire childhood as a slave? When just… Read More