African-themed motifs highlight St. Mary Magdalene Parish’s church, which opened nearly seven years ago to replace one destroyed by an electrical fire.
Black History Month 2023
Only in Print: Martin Maria de Porres Ward Considered for Sainthood
Father Martin Maria de Porres Ward’s devotion as a missionary in Brazil has inspired Catholics from that country and admirers back in his native U.S. to promote him for sainthood. He is the seventh African American person to be advocated for sainthood.
Only in Print: Three African Popes Made Major Contributions to the Church
By the end of the 5th century, there had already been three popes who were considered African because they were born in — or had ethnic ties to — the Roman province of North Africa, with its capital at Carthage in modern-day Tunisia.
NYC Woman’s Mid-19th Century Letter Asks Pope for ‘Salvation of Blacks’
On Oct. 29, 1853, Harriet Thompson took pen to paper, wrote a letter to the pope, and started a fight for equality for blacks in the Catholic Church. Thompson was unhappy with the treatment she and her fellow African Americans were receiving not only from society but from the Church as well.
