During the final days of August, the ninth National Black Catholic Congress will take place in Chicago. I plan to be there with 12 representatives from our African-American community here in the Archdiocese of Portland. The theme for this year’s Congress is “Black Catholic Leadership in the 21st Century: Solidarity in Action.”
The founder of the National Black Catholic Congress was Daniel Rudd, whose father was a slave on the Rudd Estate near Bardstown, Ky. He was born in 1854 ,and both of his parents were Catholic. In 1886 Rudd began a black newspaper called the Ohio State Tribune. Then in 1889 he called together the first National Black Catholic Congress, which was held at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. President Grover Cleveland invited the participants to the White House for a meeting.
The first five Congresses took place between 1889 and 1894. The next one did not occur until 1987. Since then the NBCC has convened every five years. The most recent gathering took place in Baltimore, shortly before my own appointment here as archbishop of Portland.
Over the years, the Congress has offered opportunities for black Catholics to speak for themselves on such issues as evangelization, spirituality, education and the plight of our African-American sisters and brothers. The Congress is composed of member organizations, and it works in collaboration with other national Roman Catholic organizations. Approximately 3,500 participants attended the Congress five years ago, including cardinals, bishops, clergy, religious and lay leaders of the African-American Catholic communities. During that Congress, “Our Mother of Africa Chapel,” located at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., was dedicated. An important document that addressed the call to evangelization was published by NBBC following that congress.
Our own archdiocesan affiliate member of the National Black Catholic Congress is the African-American Catholic Community of Oregon. Our coordinator for African-American affairs in the archdiocese is Sam Jackson Jr. He has been of great assistance to me over the past few years. Together with the AACCO, Sam works hard to promote effective communication among all our black Catholics and the other members of our faith community who are interested in the Church’s evangelizing efforts among our African-American sisters and brothers.
Although black Catholics are present in many of our parishes across the archdiocese, significant numbers of them have found a spiritual home in one of three Portland parishes: Immaculate Heart, St. Andrew, and Holy Redeemer. They share their gifts wisely and widely in their parishes and in the community.
There are some 2 million African-American Catholics in the United States. Among the African-American Catholics, 13 are bishops, 250 priests, 300 religious women and 380 deacons. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has a Secretariat for African-American Catholics. Its mission is “to articulate the social-cultural dimension of the African-American Catholic community and identify or create resources that would allow for an authentic integration of the richness of the African-American Catholic culture in the Catholic Church in the United States.”
One of the more recent efforts of the secretariat is focused on the reconciliation and greater collaboration between Hispanic-American Catholics and African-American Catholics. Both communities share similar challenges. They often share neighborhoods and face limited socio-economic resources. Presently the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is one of our African-American bishops, The Most Rev. Wilton Gregory, Bishop of Belleville, Ill., a brother priest with whom it was my privilege to be ordained bishop on the same day in Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral back in 1983.
Black Catholics, like all Catholics, share in the common evangelizing mission of the Church, namely, building God’s kingdom here on earth, starting with our own communities. Daniel Rudd, founder of the NBCC, would be greatly pleased to see the progress African-American Catholics have made in their growth and in the significant contributions they continue to make to church life.
Here in the archdiocese, we recall fondly their significant presence and participation at our own jubilee celebration in Portland’s Coliseum back in the year 2000. In fact, Bishop Gregory, now the USCCB president, was our keynote speaker on that occasion. Their numbers may not be so large here in Portland as in other American urban centers, but their vitality and missionary zeal are outstanding. Their presence will be felt next week in Chicago. They go with the support of our prayers and family pride. With African-American Catholics across this great land, they, by their own admission, are committed to evangelize themselves, the whole church and the many unchurched African-Americans, thereby enriching the church.