Just north of New Orleans’ French Quarter — on soil once worked by slaves — stands a Catholic church believed to be the oldest black parish in the U.S. St. Augustine Church, established in 1841, has been a sanctuary in the turbulence of emancipation, Jim Crow laws, the civil rights movement, and Hurricane Katrina.
To commemorate Black Catholic History Month, an honorary Mass was celebrated at the Basilica of Old St. Patrick Cathedral on Saturday, Nov. 18, in recognition of the impact and future of Black Catholics in the Church.
African American Catholics plan to visit the Vatican in November to promote the cause for Mother Mary Lange, one of six African American Catholics who are candidates for sainthood.
The canonization cause of Mother Mary Lange, founder of the world’s first sustained women’s religious community for Black women, has taken a step forward.
There are six African-Americans currently on the path to sainthood in the Catholic Church, and 18-year-old Jaden Ellis is excited by the prospect of their canonization.
