Baltimore group meets with Vatican officials to urge canonization of U.S. Black Catholics
The activists have long called for an exception to the notably unwieldy canonization process—which has yet to produce a single Black American saint.
Longform
A call for intercession: the need for healing from persisting racism
Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenburg recounts a racist incident this year involving a Philadelphia Catholic school, chronicles the response, and urges the Church to act.
On Diddy and Keke: the Catholic Church and domestic violence
Efran Menny on how recent high-profile allegations of partner abuse reveal a need for deeper conversations in the Black Catholic community.
Ending the death sentence: Black maternal health and the Catholic Church
Efran Menny breaks down the ongoing crisis of medical racism and the Catholic call to support Black mothers in need.
Shifts, silence, and synodality: a so-called sleepy U.S. bishops gathering in Baltimore
Nate Tinner-Williams recaps what was ultimately a perfunctory episcopal affair, with a few notable exceptions that might raise eyebrows.
Joseph Strickland was my bishop. Here's why he had to go.
Briana Jansky of Tyler, Texas, explains how her erstwhile shepherd—removed this month by the Vatican—led her flock astray and nearly sabotaged her faith.
Identity, faith, and belonging: my journey as an adoptee
Joseph Peach shares his discovery of identity in Christ while exploring life as an adopted child of God—and of White Americans.
Three Black Catholic parishes in New Orleans to close in 2024
The announcement comes amid ongoing financial challenges related to clergy sex abuse, though the archdiocese says its bankruptcy is unrelated to the closures.
Why the new synod report gives me hope.
Fr John McKenzie on how the new synthesis document from the Synod on Synodality speaks to his experience as a Black Catholic priest.
The world needs African-American saints. We're going to Rome to get them.
As the synod rolls on in Rome, African Americans plan to make their voices heard in the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. Ralph Moore Jr. explains.
The National Catholic Conference on Restorative Justice: A synodal moment in Minnesota
Hundreds gathered in downtown Minneapolis to discuss how Catholics can help heal harm in the modern world, though the conference speakers brought most of the diversity.
A saint in 60 minutes: Sr Thea and the beauty of Blackness
Efran Menny on the significance of Servant of God Thea Bowman's landmark interview on "60 Minutes", which cemented her profile on the national stage.
'The Church without a church': Why St. Louis parish closures hit home for me.
A parishioner of a recently closed parish in Missouri explains her perspective on diocesan reorganization in the post-White Flight era.
After the National Black Catholic Congress, attendees turn to action
In the wake of the latest National Black Catholic Congress, practitioners are making moves to keep the fire burning—and bring it back home.
Can Catholic social teaching change the world? I think so.
Dr. Ronald E. Smith says it's high time that the faithful—especially politicians—take up the radical call to solidarity from Pope Francis and his predecessors.
Jesuit slavery descendants foundation announces $27M in new donations
Criticism has emerged, however, from some descendants of the Maryland Jesuits' slaveholding—and an infamous 1838 sale to save Georgetown University.