Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Anna J. MarcheseJuly 28, 2017
Retired Bishop Gordon D. Bennett of Mandeville, Jamaica, poses for a photo with an attendees of the 12th National Black Catholic Congress on July 9 in Orlando. (CNS/courtesy Nancy Jo Davis, National Black Catholic Congress)Retired Bishop Gordon D. Bennett of Mandeville, Jamaica, poses for a photo with an attendees of the 12th National Black Catholic Congress on July 9 in Orlando. (CNS/courtesy Nancy Jo Davis, National Black Catholic Congress)

The Catholic Church in the United States boasts 71 million members, 2.9 million of whom are black. Representatives from that vibrant community met in Orlando in July for the National Black Catholic Congress. The series of talks, workshops and liturgical celebrations examining issues facing black Catholics has been held every five years since 1987. The event concluded with the prophet Micah’s call to “act justly, love goodness and walk humbly with your God.”

Surveys indicate that black Catholics have high degrees of involvement with their parishes.

“We have to work together to get closer to God and to get closer to each other,” says Tonya Dorsey, a speaker at the Congress and the minister of music at St. Martin de Porres in Philadelphia. “Once we treat each other with respect and dignity, people will be drawn to us.”

One “pastoral priority” that emerged from the Congress was to “dismantle racism in all forms.” That appeal followed discussion of the Black Lives Matter campaign, which prompted Auxiliary Bishop Fernand Cheri III of New Orleans to apologize to young black Catholics for abandoning the movement. “Partly, I didn’t understand it, and by the time I did understand it, it was too late,” Bishop Cheri said, responding to a frank dialogue on dissatisfaction with the church’s handling of racial issues.

Part of the solution, suggests Ms. Dorsey, involves listening more to younger voices. “We’ve got to be open to our youth....They really want to be a part of the whole life of the church.”

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

So many mourners lined up to see Pope Francis lying in state in a simple wooden coffin inside St. Peter’s Basilica that the Vatican kept the doors open all night.
Gerard O’ConnellApril 24, 2025
A church that dialogues is “much more interesting than a church where things fall from up high,” Jesuit Father Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Jesuits, said.
Pope Francis releases a dove outside the Basilica of St. Nicholas after meeting with the leaders of Christian churches in Bari, Italy, July 7. The pope met Christian leaders for an ecumenical day of prayer for peace in the Middle East. Pope Francis, formerly Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, died April 21, 2025, at age 88. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
The pope’s attention to migration and climate change were well known, but the pope was also attentive to a number of other global issues and challenges like nuclear disarmament, tax justice, development, and the rise of autonomous (A.I.) weapons systems.
Kevin ClarkeApril 24, 2025
The canonization Mass for the first “millennial saint,” originally scheduled for this Sunday, has been delayed indefinitely.
Connor HartiganApril 24, 2025