Next USCCB young adult listening session to be led by Black Catholics

Nate Tinner-Williams -

Black Catholics are up next in “Journeying Together”, the USCCB’s series of intercultural (and virtual) listening sessions led by young adults.

According to Donna Grimes, assistant director of African-American affairs for the bishops, the event will address what it means to be a Black Catholic today—i.e., concerns, challenges, and hopes for the future.

The series, now in Stage 3 of its more than yearlong proceedings, featured a session led by Native American and Alaska Native young adult Catholics earlier this month.

Four more cultural “families” in the US will host sessions in the coming months, including Latinos, Asians and Pacific Islanders, Europeans, and immigrants, with each family’s event being revealed closer to the date of the session.

The Black Catholic session, to be revealed in this way soon in an email to registered participants, was announced yesterday morning in a separate email obtained by BCM.

  • Wednesday, January 13th, 8 to 10 p.m. EST (Native American and Alaska Natives Catholic family)
  • Sunday, February 21st, 3 to 5 p.m. EST (African-American Catholic family)
  • Saturday, March 6th, 3 to 5 p.m. EST
  • Wednesday, April 21st, 7 to 10 p.m. EST
  • Thursday, May 27th, 8 to 10 p.m. EST
  • Thursday, June 24th, 8 to 10 p.m. EST

Each cultural family’s session involves a presentation from a pre-selected group, as well as breakout sessions and reflections with more input from attendees.

The bishops organized Journeying Together through their Secretariat of Cultural Diversity, which houses the subcommittees dedicated to the aforementioned cultural families—the minorities, that is. (There is no subcommittee for European/White-American Catholics.)

The series is meant to be a fulfillment of Pope Francis’ vision expressed in “Christus Vivit”, his 2018 exhortation to that year’s Synod of Bishops (which focused on young adults).

Using the same synodal model, the bishops are now listening to young adults and their stories, in view of an action plan to be sent out following the completion of the series.

The upcoming session will be held over Zoom, and interested parties can register here for updates.

Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder of Black Catholic Messenger, a priesthood applicant with the Josephites, and a ThM student with the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA).