About 3,000 Black Catholics from around the country attended the National Black Catholic Congress July 20-23 in the Washington D.C., area where they examined their role in the Church, how to share their unique gifts and rise above ongoing challenges.
Josephine Bakhita chose to love. She eventually reached Italy, where she won her freedom, embraced Catholicism, and became a nun. In 2000, she became Saint Josephine Bakhita.
The Roman Catholic Church often mirrors the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr., as it advocates for social justice, the sanctity of human life, and caring for immigrants and other marginalized people.
The Diocese of Brooklyn has the largest number of Black Catholics of any diocese in the country — according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — and the Vicariate of Black Catholic Concerns works to ensure that their voices are heard.
Bishop Robert Brennan and the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Vicariate of Black Catholic Concerns (VBCC) led an interfaith prayer service on Sunday, June 5, at Immaculate Conception Church for victims of the recent mass shooting around the country.
On Kujenga weekends, the groups of young boys and girls break into groups and dive deep into the foundations of their faith through a variety of activities, including small group discussions, a talent show, a Mass and praying the rosary together. They are encouraged to understand their faith so they can proudly profess how they are “authentically black and authentically Catholic.”
Ryan Edwards, 14, was born decades after Martin Luther King Jr. led the March on Washington and delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech. But the teenager said King’s message resonates with members of Gen Z like him.
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.
The Black History Month celebration is an important way of highlighting Black people’s breakthroughs as well as motivating them to keep forging ahead even in the face of daunting oppositions
Martin Luther King Jr. Day was marked locally with an interfaith prayer service at Our Lady of Victory Church, Bedford-Stuyvesant, on Jan. 20.
