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What's the Tea with Ministry?
Welcome to What’s the Tea with Ministry!
Where we spill the tea on the Jesuit and Mercy mission at the University of Detroit Mercy! Bringing you mission-centered conversation through storytelling, reflection, and community connection all over a cup of tea.
What's the Tea with Ministry?
On the road to Sainthood: Honoring Black Catholics
Embark on a journey of discovery with us as we honor the lives and legacies of six African Americans on their path to sainthood, shining a light on their profound impact on the Catholic Church. Ever wondered what it takes to be a saint? Uncover the steps from being named a Servant of God to achieving sainthood, and learn about the vital role of living a virtuous life and the need for miracles in this sacred process.
In our special bonus episode of "What's the Tea with Ministry," and in celebration of Black History Month, we delve into the remarkable stories of Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, Julia Greeley, and Sister Thea Bowman and more. These trailblazers not only advanced education and charity but also promoted cultural awareness within the Church, all while facing racial challenges. We discuss the ongoing importance of recognizing and addressing racism, amplifying a universal message of love and equality. Listeners are encouraged to visit the Fountain Lounge hallway to admire the portraits of these inspiring figures and reflect on their teachings. Join us for a heartfelt tribute to these extraordinary individuals and their lasting influence on both the Church and society.
Welcome to what's the Tea with Ministry, where we spill the tea on the Jesuit and Mercy Mission at the University of Detroit. Mercy bringing you mission-centered conversation through storytelling, reflection and community connection, all over a cup of tea Hosted by University Ministry and typically our student co-host, kateri Sollers. But today it's just me. I am here doing a small bonus episode, sharing something special as a part of our celebration of Black History Month. So, as we get it started, today we have an opportunity to share about six African-Americans lives who are influential, particularly in the Catholic Church. In the month of November we celebrate Black Catholic History Month and now that we're in February and we're celebrating Black History Month, I thought we'd highlight some of these names of upcoming Black saints in our church. This is an opportunity just to share a bit about their lives and also to give everyone a heads up that we currently have their portraits and a little bit more about their bios hanging up as a display as a part of Black History Month in the hallway on the first floor of the Student Union, right across from the Fountain Lounge. So if you're walking through the Fountain Lounge you can't miss them. They're right along that long hallway that spans between the stairs to TDR and the admissions office. So we hope you enjoy hearing a little bit more about these six upcoming Black Catholic Saints, about their lives, their impact and just a continued celebration of Black History Month. I want to start by talking about why we decided to highlight these people in particular, other than just the fact that we are choosing to display them during this particular month, and also to know we display their portraits in the chapel, st Ignatius Chapel, every November, during Black Catholic History Month as well, so you'll have more than one opportunity to see their portraits and learn a bit more about them. But I wanted to share about why this is important and, in particular, what it means to be up-and-coming saints.
Speaker 1:If you're not a part of the Catholic tradition, you probably don't know that our process of becoming a saint is a long process called canonization, and it starts first with having the person pass away. So an important thing to know in the Catholic tradition is you can't become a saint until you've already passed away, and so it starts with the acknowledgement of this person's influential life, their story of faith, their spirituality, and so they become named a servant of God, and so a couple of the people that I'm going to read about today are labeled servants of God. That's kind of step one in the process of canonization or becoming a saint. This person is considered somebody who lived a saintly life and the church looks at their life to see if they lived in like a holy way, followed the teachings of Jesus, and therefore their cause for canonization is opened, usually a few years within their death, but sometimes it's a longer period of time. There isn't a set period of time in which that has to be named.
Speaker 1:The second step is called. You get a title, called venerable, if the person's life is found to be virtuous. They lived a good and holy life. In the research of the church there's a number of people who research the lives of people who get named servants of God in order to become venerable. Basically this means the church believes that they did live a life that is modeled in faith, and then often people hear about the aspect of miracles playing a role in saints canonization, and that is true.
Speaker 1:The third step comes with the title blessed, and so in that next step the church looks for miracles attributed to this person's intercession, meaning somebody was praying to these particular people and they received some sort of miracle. If one miracle is confirmed, the person is beatified and then given the title blessed. And beatification usually requires a confirmed miracle, which is seen as a sign of God's approval of this person's saintly hood, of this person's deep faith, and then a canonized saint, which is the last step. That's when you're officially canonized, you're named as a saint in the church. That comes after beatification, and the church continues to examine the life of this person and if there are any other miracles that are attributed to them, if a second miracle is confirmed, the person may be canonized. So there has to always be two miracles confirmed in order for someone to reach the level of canonization and sainthood. And canonization is that final step and it means that the person is officially recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. Their life is now considered a model of holiness and they can be publicly venerated by the church, and so that's just a short form. It is far more detailed the process and it can take many, many, many years. But just to give you a little insight into that, as we read about some of these people, they're at different stages in that whole canonization process.
Speaker 1:So, like I said, we really just wanted to take the time to name, honor and celebrate these six African Americans' lives during the midst of our Black History Month and also give you an opportunity to hear a little bit more about them, know their names and learn a little bit more about their histories. Go through and basically just read the biographies. They're short, little paragraphs highlighting the lives of these six individuals, and afterwards I'll probably just share a few thoughts. It's been a wonderful tradition of our church and also a wonderful tradition in university ministry, to share these names during the month of November and often again during February, when we're celebrating all of Black history, not just Black Catholic history, and I am sure we'll have other opportunities on the podcast to highlight more things that we want to celebrate and more people we want to celebrate during Black History Month. But I'll start by just sharing these six individuals' stories.
Speaker 1:So the first person we're going to talk about is Henriette DeLille. She was a nurse, teacher and caregiver for the impoverished of New Orleans, louisiana, many of whom were Black, enslaved women and children. Ms DeLille foundeda religious order of consecrated women in 1837. The Sisters of the Holy Family welcomed senior women into their home, caring for them through serious sickness and death, especially during the Yellow Fever epidemic in 1853, when 8,000 people died At a time when educating them was forbidden by law, she opened schools for enslaved children of color. In 2010, pope Benedict XVI recognized her holiness and moved her one step closer to official sainthood, thereby confirming what was said in her obituary For the love of Jesus Christ, she had become the humble and devout servant of the slaves.
Speaker 1:Our next individual is Augustus Tolton. The first publicly acknowledged Black diocesan priest was denied entry into any of the country's seminaries and forced to pursue studies for the priesthood in Rome. After ordination in 1886, father Tolton asked to serve as a missionary in Africa, hoping to escape the racism in his native land. Instead, he was told to return to Quincy, illinois, to which he and his mother had fled after being released from enslavement in Missouri. As a pastor there, he endured the racist attitudes and actions of the local white Catholic clergy. In 1889, archbishop Patrick Feehan of Chicago invited him to minister to the city's Black Catholics. By 1894, father Tolton had built and developed St Monica, a Black Catholic parish of about 600 people that became a national beacon for Black ministry.
Speaker 1:Our next individual is Pierre Toussaint. Mr Toussaint came to New York in 1787 with the family that held him as an enslaved person. Seeking to escape the violence of political revolution in Haiti, he worked as a hairdresser. He later became a formidable fundraiser for Catholic charities throughout the United States, especially in support of Black Catholics. He opened the first Black Catholic school in New York and raised funds to start the first Catholic orphanage in the city. When yellow fever broke out, many in power fled the city for the countryside to escape infection, but Mr Toussaint remained in the city to help the sick and dying.
Speaker 1:Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange. After fleeing the revolution in her native Haiti with her family to Cuba, mother Lange moved to Baltimore, maryland, in 1813 with money she received from her merchant father. There she used her wealth to provide free schooling to Caribbean migrant children at a time when it was illegal for enslaved people to receive an education Following emancipation. She opened a school for girls of color in 1828 and asked permission to establish a religious congregation for Black Catholic women. When the Oblate Sisters of Providence were founded in 1829, mother Lange served as its first provincial superior. The sisters educated Black children and illiterate adults, cared for widows and children and orphans as well, and offered succor to many people during the cholera epidemic of the 1830s and 1840s.
Speaker 1:The next individual we have is Julia Greeley. Born into enslavement in Hannibal, missouri, she moved to Denver around 1878 after gaining her freedom and worked as a housekeeper. The little money she earned is said to have been spent entirely on care for the disenfranchised, to spare white families the embarrassment of receiving charity from a black woman. She often carried out her charitable service at night. Mrs Greeley was baptized and received in the Catholic Church at the Jesuit Parish of the Sacred Heart. In 1901, the Angel of Denver, as she became known, professed vows in the secular Franciscan order. Known professed vows in the secular Franciscan order, remaining faithful to her promises until her death in her 80s.
Speaker 1:And the last person we have is Sister Thea Bowman. Sister Thea Bowman was born in Yazoo City, mississippi, where she was a practicing Protestant until the age of nine when she told her parents that she wanted to convert to Catholicism. At the age of 15, bowman left home and adopted the name Sister Mary Thea, as she became the first and only African American of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse, wisconsin. In addition to having taught 16 years at all education levels, sister Mary Thea earned a doctorate degree in English language, literature and linguistics from the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. Through storytelling, singing, reading the gospel and ceaseless prayer, sister Thea introduced intercultural awareness and directed programs to break down racial and cultural barriers. In 1984, sister Mary Thea suffered the loss of both of her parents and was diagnosed with breast cancer, but this only made her more determined to spread her faith, as well as her rich cultural background. In 1989, sister Mary Thea addressed the entirety of the US bishops at their annual conference, where she reflected upon her experience as an African American Catholic and urged the clergy to promote inclusivity. Sister Mary Thea died a peaceful death in the morning of March 30, 1990, in Canton Mississippi and Canton Mississippi. So those were the bios and profiles of six really amazing US Black Catholic individuals who are on the road to sainthood.
Speaker 1:I think it's really powerful to hear the ways in which these individuals were working in the midst of a church that really was not very welcoming to them. Obviously, we recognize that racism is a persistent issue that greatly impacts our society, even today. But I think it's particularly important to look back into our history as a church and recognize our shortcomings and our continued shortcomings when it comes to addressing the issue of racism in our church. It is still a prevalent issue. There's still not enough, I think. Talk about how do we dismantle racism in our church, but also systemically within our society. There's a deep need, I think, for us as individuals.
Speaker 1:Whether you identify as Catholic, christian, whatever your faith background is, I think there is a universal message of caring for and recognizing the dignity of each human being, regardless of their background, regardless of any identifier that we might think of them or that they hold as an identity for themselves. Our purpose is to love and to share these stories, and to highlight not only work that has been done by these six amazing individuals them breaking barriers, being the first person to step into some spaces, often being in a minority within the church spaces they were operating in and ministering in but also recognizing that none of that stopped them from pursuing the ministry that they felt called to do. None of that stopped them from looking at every human being as equal, and so I think, in the midst of a celebration of Black History Month, remembering our history is the purpose of this month, and also recognizing that, as we progress through the years, the years ahead of us will become history at some point, and it'd be nice to know that we've put our efforts in trying to dismantle systemic racism in our country systems, within maybe, our own higher ed space. That isn't always fair or isn't always equitable. And then for those of us who are working within the church, the Catholic Church specifically, you know, recognizing, what can we do to honor these lives and honor the lives of all individuals who pass through our doors? All of that to be said, we just really wanted to take a moment to highlight these individuals, their stories, the gifts that they've brought to the communities that they were a part of, the communities that they formed Many of them formed religious communities or they formed church communities in different places and just the impact that they had in those spaces and on the world. All of that to be said, we've really enjoyed getting a moment to share these six bios with you around, these six wonderful people. We wanted to just take this time to honor their lives and highlight that you can go and see their portraits all throughout the rest of February up in the Found Lounge hallway. Take a moment to look at their pictures. The bios that I read today will also be up there, so if you don't know who is who or you can't remember whose story went with what name, you'll be able to read them there and I highly encourage you to go and look at their portraits displayed.
Speaker 1:For this month You've been listening to what's the Tea with Ministry. If you enjoyed listening to us today, be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Also, be sure to follow us on social media at UDM underscore ministry or check us out on the what's the Tea with Ministry podcast webpage on the Detroit Mercy website. Thank you for listening today, for listening to me talk for the last few minutes. Thank you also to all those who make this podcast possible, especially the Communication Studies Department, our sound engineer, michael Jason, our music composer, dan Gregg, marketing and Communications and the whole Detroit Mercy community. We look forward to sharing more of the mission with you next time. See you later.