The diocese’s annual prayer service commemorating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was held at noon on Monday, Jan. 16, at St. Kevin Church, located at 45-21 194th Street in Flushing.
Black Catholics
Institute for Black Catholic Studies Forms New Leaders for Today’s Challenges
As the U.S. civil rights movement unfolded, clergy, religious and lay pastoral leaders came together to explore what it means to be both Black and Catholic.
‘Blessing Is Meant To Be Shared,’ Franciscan Priest Tells Black Men
It was a time of Scripture, prayer, music and fellowship. It also was a night to honor the late co-founder of the National Black Catholic Men’s Conference.
Black Catholic Recalls Making History With Commission as Air Force Officer
Sandra Williams Ortega was stunned to see two high-ranking ROTC leaders standing on her front porch as she was coming home from classes at Morgan State College in Baltimore.
African American Sister Says Prayer, Listening Can Lead to Racial Healing
The topic of racism can be a source of conflict. But when Sister Melinda Pellerin found herself in a conversation with a woman who denied the existence of systemic racism in the U.S., she let her faith lead her response.
Catholic Church, Society Must Do More to Overcome Racism, Says Bishop
Imagining what the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., might say if he were alive today, retired Bishop Edward K. Braxton of Belleville, Illinois, delivered a homily in the voice of the slain civil rights leader to address how racism continues to impact the church and society as a whole.
Divine Nine Sororities, Fraternities Instill Pride in Black College Students
When Michaela Ivory was a freshman at Butler University, she wasn’t particularly interested in pledging to a sorority. But after meeting members of the Sigma Gamma Rho community and seeing the care and concern they had for others, she changed her mind and joined the sorority, which is one of the legendary Divine Nine.
Black Catholic History Month: Knights of St. Peter Claver’s Drive For New Members in High Gear
The nation’s largest black Catholic fraternal organization is looking for new members, and the recruitment drive is already bearing fruit here in the Diocese of Brooklyn. The Knights of St. Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary Inc., a service group founded in 1909 in Mobile, Alabama, reports about 17,000 members in the U.S.
Prayer, Love Defeats Hate and Racism
Almost one year ago, as I was watching the news on television with my parochial vicar, havoc was arising in the city of Minneapolis. Reports were coming in that an unarmed Black man had been killed by a Minneapolis police officer. I watched as protests and riots began to take place.
Msgr. Quinn: A Champion of Equality
Msgr. Quinn (1888-1940), who was an Irish-American, was known for his fight against racial injustice. He established the first parish for Black Catholics in the diocese, St. Peter Claver Church, Bedford-Stuyvesant, in 1922.