In 1915, a group of black Catholics met at a home on Pacific Street in Prospect Heights, across from what is today the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph. The Spanish Colonial-style church with two bell towers was completed just three years earlier to replace the previous parish church, which was built in 1861, the same year the American Civil War began.
Reflecting on Black History Month, Cardinal Wilton Gregory recalled how young people in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C., would often climb on the bronze statue of Carter G. Woodson, rub his head, and try to figure out why he got a statue in their neighborhood.
Bishop Robert Brennan described the Black History Month Mass at St. Thérèse Lisieux Church as an “uplifting” opportunity to be together, noting the Church symbolizes family, and, therefore, Catholics must stand together in solidarity when a member is discriminated against.
Thomas Downing — a freeman born to formerly enslaved people in Virginia — became one of the city’s wealthiest citizens as the proprietor of his world-famous oyster restaurant in Lower Manhattan.
In 1878, yellow fever swept the lower Mississippi Valley, bringing chaos and killing an estimated 5,000 people in Memphis, Tennessee.
During Black History Month in February, Catholics are being invited to register to attend this summer’s National Black Catholic Congress, which over the years has made history of its own.
Ten years ago, Sophie Nsougan had just immigrated to the United States from Togo in West Africa. While looking to find work, Nsougan took the opportunity to help introduce and integrate the unique sounds of her native country into the Mass at St. Joseph’s Church in Jamaica, Queens.
Celebrating a Feb. 5 Mass in honor of Black History Month, Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory urged “ordinary people of color” to “vastly improve our world with an understanding of the strength of character that resides within the souls of our people.”
At Brooklyn Jesuit Prep, the portraits of Sister Thea Bowman and Mother Mary Lange that grace the school’s walls aren’t just there for Black History Month. Their portraits, as well as depictions of historical figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., are on display throughout the year.
Bishop Robert Brennan (above) celebrated the 11:30 a.m. Mass at St. Peter Claver Church, Bedford-Stuyvesant, on Sunday, February 27.
