Diocesan News

Only in Print: ‘No Color Line In Churches’

Once a year at St. Peter Claver, it was custom for various parish groups to take a group photo for record purposes. The women societies in this photo (taken in the 1920s) are composed of The Altar Society, The Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Women’s Club. (Photo: Courtesy of “Quintessential Priest”/Msgr. Jervis)

WINDSOR TERRACE — From humble beginnings in the parlors of dedicated laypeople, the diocese’s outreach to Black Catholics has become one of the largest and most vibrant ethnic ministries in the United States.

Ministry to African American Catholics in the Diocese of Brooklyn has its roots in 1915 when Jules DeWeever formed the “Colored Catholic Club” in Bedford-Stuyvesant for the purpose of establishing a “Church for Colored Catholics … in this diocese …”


The rest of this article can be found exclusively in the Feb.27 printed version of The Tablet. You can buy it at church for $1, or you can receive future editions of the paper in your mailbox at a discounted rate by subscribing hereThank you for supporting Catholic journalism.