Fresh off of Martin Luther King Day celebrations in dioceses around the country, Black History Month is upon us, bringing even more Black Catholicism and Black history. We have compiled here a list of such events throughout the nation, both in-person and virtual.
(This list may not be exhaustive. Please contact your local diocese, Black Catholic office, or a Black parish in your area for more info. We will also be updating this page and the BCM calendar as more events are announced.)
National
- 2/1: Birthday of Langston Hughes, preeminent Black poet and longtime Massgoer.
- 2/3: Feast of Servant of God Mary Lange, founder of the nation’s first order of Black women religious (the Oblate Sisters of Providence).
- 2/6: National Day of Prayer for the African American and African Family
- 2/7: “Black Catholics and the Millennial Gap” webinar on Black Catholic liturgy and the late Kenneth W. Louis at 7pm ET with John Barnes II, LaRyssa Herrington, Chanelle Robinson, Byron Wratee, and the National Black Catholic Congress.
- 2/8: Feast of St Josephine Bakhita, the first Black woman canonized in the modern era.
- 2/11: Birthday of the late Mother Mary Theodore Williams, FHM, founder of the Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary.
- 2/19: “Racism in America: Systemic Obstacles” webinar at 1pm CT with the Knights of Peter Claver.
- 2/26: “Dignity of Black Lives” webinar at 1pm CT with the Knights of Peter Claver.
- 2/27: Birthday of the late Fr Patrick Healy, SJ, one of the earliest Black priests in America and the “second founder” of Georgetown University.
Archdiocese of Atlanta
- 2/20: First Annual “Thea Bowman Celebration of Spirituals” at 5pm ET at the Lyke House Catholic Center for the Atlanta University Center.
Diocese of Austin
- 2/27: “Motherland Sunday” at 10am CT at Holy Cross Catholic Church with Fr Vernon Huguley of St Peter the Apostle Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
Archdiocese of Baltimore
- 2/5: (Virtual) Servant of God Mother Mary Lange feast day celebration and guild member recommitment ceremony at 2pm ET with the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Livestream on Facebook.
- 2/12: Virtual presentation at 10am ET with Dr. Shannen Dee Williams of Dayton University. Hosted by the Baltimore Racial Justice Circle and Call To Action Maryland.
Dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Center
- 2/20: Diocesan BHM Mass of Thanksgiving at 4pm ET with Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Queens.
Diocese of Camden
- 2/27: Diocesan BHM Mass at 2pm ET with Bishop Dennis Sullivan and homilist Msgr Leonard Scott at St Bridget University Parish in Glassboro.
Diocese of Charleston
- 2/4: (Virtual) First Friday Table Talk at 10am ET with Yvonne Pygatt; Charlotte House; Kathleen Merritt; Sr Pam Smith, SSCM; and Fr Michael Okere.
Archdiocese of Chicago
- 2/4, 6: African-American speaker series at 7pm and 10am CT, respectively, with Jesse Williams and Dr. Cornel West at St Sabina Catholic Church.
Archdiocese of Detroit
- 2/25: "Songs of Freedom" concert at 7pm ET, featuring women composers narrating in song the lives African-American women on the path to sainthood, at St Moses the Black Catholic Church.
Diocese of Green Bay
- 2/16: “Black Lives Matter: A Theology” at 7pm CT with Dr. Craig Ford, Jr at St. Norbert College’s Fort Howard Theater.
Archdiocese of Los Angeles
- 2/19: Archdiocesan BHM Mass at 4pm PT in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
Archdiocese of Milwaukee
- 2/5, 12, 19, 26: Archdiocesan BHM discussion series from 8:30am-12:30pm CT at All Saints Catholic Church.
Archdiocese of Newark
- 2/6, 13, 20, 27: Archdiocesan BHM Masses and 2023 Synod listening sessions at different parishes each Sunday throughout the archdiocese, celebrated by the respective auxiliary bishops of the region. Meals to follow each Mass.
Archdiocese of New York:
- 2/6: Archdiocesan BHM Mass and National Day of Prayer for the African-American and African Family at 2pm ET with Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Fr Wesbee Victor, and homilist Fr Kareem Smith at St Patrick’s Cathedral.
Archdiocese of New Orleans
- 2/8: Presentation on Black Catholic sisters at 7pm CT with Dr. Shannen Dee Williams at Loyola University’s Ignatius Chapel.
- 2/14: Black History Convocation at Xavier University of Louisiana.
Diocese of Oakland
- 1/16, 2/6, 13, 20, 27: (Virtual/TBD) BHM Masses at 10:30 am PT featuring, respectively, Bishop Emeritus Gordon Bennett, SJ of Mandeville; Karen Permillion; Fr Kwame Assenyoh; Julie Hadnot; and Ron Bazile at St Columba Catholic Church.
- 1/24, 31, 2/7: “Seeking Racial Justice” conservation series with Fr Steven Bell, CSP at Newman Hall/Holy Spirit Parish in Berkeley.
- 2/6, 13, 20, 27: BHM Masses each Sunday at 8:30 and 11am PT featuring, respectively, Fr Ken Hamilton, SVD; Sr Eva Marie Lumas, SSS; Ms. Dionna Cola; and the Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Thompson at St Benedict Catholic Church.
Diocese of Owensboro
- World Day of Prayer, Reflection and Action Against Human Trafficking Diocesan Mass for the feast of St Josephine Bakhita at 6pm CT at St Stephen Cathedral.
Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee
- 1/30: (Passed) Diocesan BHM Mass at 2pm ET with Bishop Emeritus Martin Holley of Memphis at Christ Our Redeemer Catholic Church in Niceville.
Archdiocese of Philadelphia
- 2/26: BHM Mass at 10am ET at St Martin de Porres Catholic Church with Fr Anthony Bozeman, SSJ of Transfiguration Church in Los Angeles.
- 2/8, 15: “The Bible in Black” study series with the Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart at Villanova University’s Falvey Memorial Library.
Diocese of Phoenix
- 2/20: Monthly Gospel Unity Mass at 12pm MT at St Piux X Catholic Church.
Diocese of Richmond
- 2/6, 13, 20, 27: BHM Mass speakers series each Sunday at 9am ET featuring, respectively, Sr Cora Marie Billings, RSM; Cathay Woodson; Sr.Tiberh Hagos; and Vivian Sullivan at St Elizabeth Catholi Church.
Diocese of San Diego
- 2/5: “A History of Racism in the Catholic Church” webinar at 10am PT with Sr Irma Dillard, RCSJ at Mary Magdalene Apostle (Independent) Catholic Community.
Archdiocese of San Francisco
- 2/6: National Day of Prayer for the African-American and African Family at the 10:45am Gospel Mass with Fr Rey Culaba, CSsR at St Paul of the Shipwreck Catholic Church.
Diocese of San Jose
- 2/26: Diocesan BHM Mass at 7pm PT at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.
Archdiocese of Santa Fe
- 2/7: “Move When the Spirit Say Move: Black Spirituality of Resistance and Resilience” webinar at 6pm MT with Dr. C. Vanessa White of the Catholic Theological Union and the Institute for Black Catholic Studies.
Diocese of Savannah
- 2/8: Mass against Human Trafficking for the feast day of St Josephine Bakhita at 9am ET at St Benedict the Moor Catholic Church. Refreshments to follow.
Diocese of Springfield (Illinois)
- 2/27: Diocesan BHM Mass at 11am ET at St Aloysius Catholic Church. $5 lunch to follow (RSVP requested).
Diocese of St Augustine
- 2/7: (Virtual) Racial reconciliation event with Sr Cora Marie Billings, RSM and the Jacksonville Urban League at 7pm ET.
Archdiocese of St Louis
- 2/7, 9, 16: "Faith and Racial Justice: A Call to Conversion" speaker series at 7:30pm CT with St Francis Xavier College Church, the Office of Ignatian Spirituality, and the Jesuits' Central and Southern Province.
Diocese of Trenton
- “On the Margins of Intersectionality” lecture at 7pm ET with Olga M. Segura at the Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart.
Archdiocese of Washington
- 2/6: Archdiocesan BHM Mass at 11am ET with Bishop Roy Campbell at the Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger, a seminarian with the Josephites, and a ThM student with the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA).
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