Role of the Catholic Church in Racial Justice in the US
Bishop Joseph A. Francis, S.V.D., late Auxiliary Bishop of Newark, New Jersey was asked why there were so few African-American Catholics, his response was, "If you had seen and heard what I have seen and heard, you would not be amazed that there are so few, you would be amazed that there are so many."
Many religious communities were slave owners. Georgetown University was built (in part) by enslaved people, and in 1838, when the Jesuits needed to pay off some debts, 272 were sold, mostly to harsher conditions in the South. This included a 2-month-old baby and her mother, a 13-year-old child, field hands, and skilled laborers.
The first Black priest, Augustus Tolton, wasn't ordained until 1886.
Through the late 1950s or early 1960s, many Catholic churches were segregated, with Blacks required to sit in the back.
New Orleans Catholic schools were finally desegregated in 1962, after a 10 year battle that involved Bishop Rummel excommunicating three people for defying his orders.
And it wasn’t just the Deep South: Segregation in Baltimore Catholic institutions was not completely eliminated until 1965.
