A memorial plaque in New Orleans for the late Auxiliary Bishop Fernand Cheri III, OFM has been unveiled at the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis King of France, the church has announced.
The installation comes roughly two years after Cheri’s death at 71 from complications of blood and kidney diseases. He was buried at the cathedral in April 2023.
“Bishop Cheri was a sought-after speaker and revivalist, known for his love of music,” the cathedral announced on social media this month.
“He contributed to various Catholic organizations, including the Institute of Black Catholic Studies and the Knights and Ladies of St. Peter Claver, and was deeply involved in Black Catholic leadership in the United States.”
During his more than 45 years of ministry as a diocesan priest and later as a Franciscan, Cheri pastored churches around the United States and became a noted preacher and liturgist in the African-American tradition.
He also served as a campus minister at Quincy University in Illinois and the nation’s Catholic HBCU, Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, where a special collection was established in Cheri’s memory following his death.
An archivist of Black gospel music, Cheri contributed to the 2006 book “Sweet, Sweet Spirit: Prayer Services from the Black Catholic Church” and also wrote his own text, “Songs of the Soul and the Soil: the History of Black Religious Music.”
On the national scene, Cheri served in leadership for the Lyke Foundation, which organizes the annual Lyke Conference; the National Black Catholic Congress; the Black Catholic Joint Conference; the Catholic Campus Ministry Association; and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on Black Catholic Worship.
Named a bishop in 2015 at the age of 62, Cheri served as Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans for the better part of a decade before medical issues took their toll. He had suffered a heart attack in 2016 and was born with only one kidney, which played a role in his final illness. He was repeatedly hospitalized in the months before his death on March 21, 2023.
The new memorial plaque in New Orleans describes Cheri as a “humble priest and bishop” whose life was “centered on the word of God.”
“He upheld the dignity, the worth, and the value of everyone and called all to embrace diversity as a gift from God. Gifted with a talent and love for music, songs flowed from a heart grateful for God’s love and mercy in both the sorrows and joys of his life.”
According to the cathedral, Cheri’s plaque can be found in the apse of the church near the St. Joseph shrine to the right of the altar. Located in the city’s French Quarter, the church is open for prayer and tours daily from 9am to 4pm CT.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
