Houses of Worship

African American Catholics have not had an easy time of it in the Church. Historically speaking, black folks have been Catholics since Catholics have been in the Americas, although certainly not sitting as equals in the pews. A few black Catholics have had a great deal of influence in the American Church, in spite of racism and intolerance, and in the last installment we met Pierre and Juliet Toussaint of New York, and, a century later, the Healy brothers, originally from Georgia. The 19th century ended with little progress being made in the Church to integrate black Catholics into the growing fold of American Catholicism.

In 1916, a group of African American Catholics came together as the Committee for the Advancement of Colored Catholics. They were seeking equal care by Catholic organizations such as the Knights of Columbus, for black veterans returning from World War I. The group was interested in opening a dialogue with American bishops, who administered Church policy, to urge them to denounce discrimination, and to meet with black Catholics. They stated in their appeal: “at present we are neither a part of the colored world (Protestant), nor are we generally treated as full-fledged Catholics.” It would take the actions of a few extraordinary people to bring the Church around. One of these people was here in Brooklyn, and this Walkabout is his story. He was Monsignor Bernard J. Quinn. (more…)

Yesterday’s Building of the Day was the St. Peter Claver School, located in Bedford Stuyvesant. Researching the building introduced me to Reverend Bernard Quinn, the pastor of St. Peter Claver Church, and a tireless advocate in the Catholic Church for African Americans. He lived and worked during a time when black folk of the Catholic persuasion didn’t have that many friends, not even in the church itself, and as someone who is black, and was raised as a Catholic, I found his story quite interesting and inspiring. Since he was a Brooklyn character, I thought that I would introduce him, and the church community that he founded here in Brownstone Brooklyn, to the Brownstoner audience. It doesn’t matter what you believe or don’t believe. Sometimes there are those individuals in history who are just, well….saints.

A little background first. As long as there have been Catholics in this country, there have been black Catholics, even if they were in chains. The Spanish, especially, were very zealous in converting their African slaves to Catholicism, as were, to a lesser degree, the French. Most of us are passingly familiar with the cultures of the Catholic South, especially in New Orleans, but also in Florida and elsewhere in the South, where Spain, France, Portugal and Africa met. This was true not just in America, but also in the Caribbean, Central and South America. The blending of Catholicism and African religion has given us Vodun and Santeria, a fascinating subject in of itself. (more…)