Where do people get the idea that Black Catholics don’t exist and the church has been silent on issues of race?

[angel6288]

My mother has so many false beliefs about the Catholic Church and one is they don’t embrace or allow blacks. I’ve gone to mass of and on the last three almost four years against her wishes and I’ve never once had an issue with race or feeling like an outsider. I always felt right at home and like I belong especially, not really feeling that way anywhere else I’ve been. I told her after she finally gave up and told me I go to mass one Sunday that Black Catholics do exist and she tried me like she always does when I mention anything about the church. She refuses to anything that contradicts what she believes. The more I studied the faith and went to mass the more I started to ask questions and I couldn’t get a good answer on where she got this idea. She always tells me how she went to mass with a Jewish lady she was taking care of back in the 90s and how our of place she felt because she was the only Black person there and they all were staring at her which, prompted her to wait for the woman she was with in the car. I’ve been the only black and only person my age at mass but, never had any issues. But, then again that was a different time period. I think some times she may have exaggerated a bit or something else may have happened and she’s not telling the full story.

 

[Mrchatsworth]

Interesting. There are tons of black Catholics in a parish near me. They are refugees from Africa. And many many of our priests are from Africa as well. I think in the USA that there are disproportionally fewer “black” Catholics than Protestant , namely baptist Catholics. And that has a lot to do with geography.

 

[glencor63]

Historically in the United States, African-Americans are predominantly Protestant. Most African-Americans belong to the Baptist, Methodist, Christian Methodist Episcopal, and the African Methodist Episcopal denominations. There are many African-American Catholics in Maryland, Louisiana, etc. These states were founded by Catholic majority colonists.

The Catholic Church in America has not always been welcoming to African-Americans. Many White ethnic groups discriminated against African-Americans and actively opposed the Civil Rights Movement. Those White ethnic groups are predominantly Catholic. I’m a convert of twenty years. The response of many Catholics towards police brutality, racism, and White Supremacist ideology has left me feeling DEEPLY disappointed. Too many White Catholics support Donald Trump. They are single issue voters about abortion and ignore other issues of injustice.

The African-American community is one which embraces freedom of the individual to plot their own course in life. Personally encountering Jesus Christ is very important to African-American Christians.There’s an autocratic and authoritarian worldview underpinning much of Catholicism which is anathema to a historically disenfranchised people. Ironically, it was an encounter with a racist seminarian which dissuaded Clarence Thomas from pursuing the priesthood.

 

[Zaccheus]

To OP: People tend to notice and remember things they expect to see, and fail to notice things they don’t expect. It’s called cognitive bias. Perhaps your mother goes there expecting to be started at, so interprets anyone noticing her, even casually, as a stare.

 

[twf]

Of course there’s nothing particularly “white” about the global Catholic Church. There is a massive Catholic presence in Africa. And we have a history of black saints.

 

[Lea101]

Tbh, Catholic parishes are usually somewhat reflective of the society that they’re in. If you’re in somewhere racism is common, you would have a racist parish. And the other way around too.

One thing I like about the church is that it’s universal. Over here, there’s no American/western politics seeping in. Catholic churches exist everywhere, so one would be painting it with a broad brush unless she’s referring to the Vatican.

So her experience may have been reflective of the larger issue of racism around her (my guess).

 

[glencor63]

African-Americans and Africans diverged a long time ago. We are different peoples. We have a different history. Many Africans and African-Americans are working on strengthening our bonds. African Catholics were evangelized by missionaries during colonization. They are still a minority among African Christians. Most Africans and African descended people in the Caribbean are Anglican, due to the British. It could be argued, but for Islam, Africa would be Eastern Orthodox. The Egyptian Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox Church dates back to the book of Acts.

 

[aroosi]

Well, tell your mom that one of the most famous cardinals today is Cardinal Sarah from Guinea, the current Archbishop of Washington DC is Archbishop Wilton Gregory (ethnically African American) and one beloved saint is Martin de Porres (mixed ethnicity including black).
Of course Catholic Parishes reflect the place in which they are so, for example, in a parish in Tanzania you would expect most parishioners to be of African ancestry. In Vermont maybe very few or none.

 

[Mrchatsworth]

I think it’s uncharitable you assume people in a parish or area are racist because there are not a lot of black people there.

 

[Lea101]

I think it’s uncharitable you assume people in a parish or area are racist because there are not a lot of black people there.

experience may have been reflective of the larger issue of racism around her (my guess).

Think you’re just finding excuses to be offended, to be honest. The above quote doesn’t reflect what you assumed about me…now that’s uncharitable lol.

Anyway, if her mom was stared at, and felt like an outsider (in the past, might I add, when racism was more explicit, or at least not as taboo as it is now), it’s not a stretch to say it’s because of the society she’s in, and not the church in itself.

 

[adamhovey1988]

I need to text my friend Howard and tell him he doesn’t exist! (Howard is black).

She always tells me how she went to mass with a Jewish lady she was taking care of back in the 90s and how our of place she felt because she was the only Black person there and they all were staring at her which, prompted her to wait for the woman she was with in the car. I’ve been the only black and only person

I know at least three black priests (all African) and one black deacon (African American). I go to the Spanish Mass sometimes (in spite of not knowing Spanish), there are black people there, I promise.
By the way, just because not all the bishops are on board with BLM (neither am I, for that fact) does not mean the Church has not addressed racial issues. There is a reason mixed race people are more common in Latin America than they are in Protestant countries.
The Church HAD to address racial issues during the age of exploration

 

[Lea101]

My mother has so many false beliefs about the Catholic Church and one is they don’t embrace or allow blacks

May I recommend Fr Josh Johnson. He’s a black priest and he touches on issues like racism and diversity from a Catholic perspective.

 

[twf]

It could be argued, but for Islam, Africa would be Eastern Orthodox. The Egyptian Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox Church dates back to the book of Acts.

Well, Africans are not a “people” either…they are many peoples (and there is far more genetic diversity in Africa than there is between other peoples around the world). I just meant Catholicism is not “white” globally speaking.
The Coptic, Ethiopian, and Eritrean Orthodox Churches are actually Oriental Orthodox, which is a separate communion from the Eastern Orthodox. There are also Coptic, Ethiopian, and Eritrean Catholic Churches that worship with the same ancient Alexandrian Rite.

 

[RhodesianSon]

Most Americans aren’t aware there exists a world outside the US. They have no concept of history before 1776, and even then they just harp on about “winning” two world wars and saving Europe.

 

[glencor63]

I am well aware that Africa is a continent and not a country. I’m also well aware that Africans comprise diverse ethnic groups, not unlike Native Americans. I love Eastern Christianity. The greatest tragedy in Christendom was the rise of Islam. I strongly believe that the ancient churches in the Acts of the Apostles would have evangelized all of Africa within 1,000 years. The entire course of African history would be different. I don’t think there would have been a Transatlantic Slave Trade. The history of the “New World” and colonization would be completely different.

*Thanks for correcting me about the difference in the religious Identity of my Eastern brothers and sisters. :+1:t6:

 

[Mrchatsworth]

I’m not offended. There just strait up isn’t a lot of blacks where I live or in my parish. That doesn’t reflect a racist community around us!
Another reason could be Catholics have all but abandoned the idea of outward evangelization. So don’t be surprised that someone didn’t invest 8 months in RCIA when the evangelical Church down the street will sign you up as soon as you walk through the doors!

 

[goout]

It’s called “prejudice”. Prejudice is fueled by ignorance, which is fueled in turn by deceit.

 

[Nepperhan]

Actually, not many. I can think of St. Martin de Porres and St. Benedict the African. St. Augustine was from Africa but was a Caucasian, to my recollection.

Blacks in America were converted to the religions of their slave owners. Since relatively few of those slave owners were Catholic, most blacks adopted the Protestant faiths. When it was shown that the bondsmen needed religion, an order of priests, the Josephites, had as their calling to mission to slaves, primarily in Louisiana. That is why most black Catholics are in Louisiana, also that is why the only Catholic black college is in New Orleans.

In the past 40 years or so, many black Catholics have left the faith, for various reasons.

 

[twf]

Actually, not many. I can think of St. Martin de Porres and St. Benedict the African. St. Augustine was from Africa but was a Caucasian, to my recollection.

St. Moses the Black would be another…
As would the Ethiopian Eunuch (a New Testament saint if you will!).
More recently St Josephine Bakhita.
I’m sure there are others. Also…any Ethiopian Orthodox saints from pre-Chalcedon would be “Catholic” saints by definition…and I’m sure Ethiopian Catholics venerate various pre-schism Ethiopian saints.

 

[aroosi]

@Nepperhan Look up Saint Josephine Bakhita, Charles Lwanga and Ugandan martyrs. Sr Thea Bowman and Father Augustine Tolton (both process of canonization ongoing), Venerable Pierre Toussaint. They all lived in the last couple of centuries.