February 25, 2024 - Venerable Leaders (continued)

During February we celebrate Black History month in the United States.  In honor of this month-long celebration, I thought that I would make use of some publications from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops who developed some resources for responding to the Sin of Racism.  Specifically, I want to talk about three U.S. Catholics who responded to Racism with Holiness.
 
Venerable Father Augustus Tolton - Father Augustus Tolton was the first recognized black Catholic priest in the U.S.  A former slave, he was baptized and raised Catholic.  He studied for the priesthood in Rome, since no American seminary would admit him owning to his skin color.  As a priest, he ministered to the black Catholic community in Quincy, Illinois.  Known for his eloquent sermons, generosity, and piety, attracted both black and white Catholics to his parish.  Later driven out of Quincy, he was welcomed by the Archdiocese of Chicago.  He died in 1897.  Despite his experiences, Father Tolton remained steadfast: “The Catholic Church deplores a double slavery—that of the mind and that of the body.  She endeavors to free us of both.  I was a poor slave boy but the priests of the Church did not disdain me.” Father Tolton’s cause of canonization was opened in 2015.  In 2019 Pope Francis advanced his cause for canonization, elevating Father Tolton to Venerable.
 
Julia Greeley, Servant of God - Julia was born a slave in Missouri, sometime between 1833 and 1848.  As a child, a slave master, when beating her mother, caught Julia’s right eye with his whip which caused her to lose it.  Once she was freed, Julia settled eventually in Denver, Colorado. Despite all that she had suffered, her forgiveness opened her heart to others.  While supporting herself through work, she would spend her earnings helping poor families, many of whom were white.  Realizing the shame people felt in being poor, Julia left her donations for them at night.  She became a Catholic in 1880, and later joined the Secular Franciscans.  When she died, hundreds of people came to pay their respects.  Her limitless charity, selflessness, and devotion to Christ made Julia a model of mercy, so much so that her cause for canonization was opened in 2016.  For more information about the cause of canonization, go to juliagreeley.org.
 
Sr. Mary Thea Bowman, F.S.P.A. - Bertha Elizabeth Bowman was the only child of Dr. Theon Bowman, a physician and Mary Esther Bowman.  She was born in 1937 in Canton, Mississippi. As a child she converted to Catholicism through the inspiration of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, who were her teachers and pastors at Holy Child Jesus Church in Canton.  As a young girl Bertha was exposed to the richness of her African American culture and spirituality, especially the history, the stories, songs, prayers, customs, and traditions.  At the age of fifteen she told her parents and friends that she wanted to join the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.  When her parents gave their consent, Bertha traveled from Mississippi to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where she would be the only African American member of the religious community.  At her religious profession she was given the name “Mary Thea” in honor of the Blessed Mother and her father, Theon.  Sr. Thea was trained to become a teacher.  She taught at all grade levels, eventually earning her doctorate and becoming a college professor of English and linguistics.
 
In 1984, Sister Thea faced a number of serious challenges.  Both of her beloved parents died, and she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Sister Thea continued her rigorous schedule of speaking engagements even when it became increasingly difficult and painful for her to travel.  She continued to witness and share her boundless love for God and the joy of the Gospel.  She believed the church had to make room for the spiritual traditions of African Americans (including the memory of slavery) but also the spirit of resistance and hope reflected in the spirituals, the importance of family, community, celebration and remembrance. She would arrive at her speaking venue in a wheelchair and with no hair (due to chemotherapy treatments) with a joyful disposition and a joyous smile. Eventually the cancer metastasized to her bones and her health continued to deteriorate.  She did not allow her weakened physical condition keep her from an opportunity to address the U.S. Bishops at their annual June meeting held in 1989 at Seton Hall University in East Orange, N.J.  Sister Thea spoke to the bishops as a sister having a “heart to heart” conversation with her brothers. She urged the U.S. bishops to continue to evangelize the African American community, to promote inclusivity and full participation of African Americans within Church leadership and to understand the necessity of Catholic schools in the African American community. She must have touched the hearts of the bishops on this occasion because of the thunderous applause and the tears flowing from their eyes at the conclusion of her talk.
 
Sister Thea died on March 30, 1990, at the age of fifty-two. On the third day of their Fall Meeting in November 2018, the U.S. Bishops voted in favor of supporting the cause for canonization of Sr. Thea Bowman. This allows for a diocesan commission to be established to investigate her life and find any evidence of extraordinary virtue. If the results are favorable, her cause will be sent to Rome where she could be declared “venerable.”
 
Until next week,
Fr. John Dillon