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.

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.