A day of reflection planned to shape local guidance for next summer’s National Black Catholic Congress put on the table participants’ aspirations for dioceses, vocations programs and parishes.
At St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Largo, Maryland, on Nov. 5, parish representatives joined seminarians, priests and archdiocesan staff in discerning through prayer, reflection, discussion and brainstorming, what recommendations that The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington will offer for the XIII National Black Catholic Congress. The national event will be held at the National Harbor in Maryland, July 20-23, 2023.
Support for vocations and vocational discernment was one common theme raised. Another was the desire to have more ways for parishes to emphasize that Black Catholic history and culture are valued in the full array of activities of the Church, said Wendi Williams, Executive Director of the Office of Cultural Diversity and Outreach for Archdiocese. Feedback from the session will be forwarded to the planners of the National Black Catholic Congress to help shape the programming.
Jerilyn Payton, who was attending from St. Francis Xavier Parish in Washington, said she came away from the reflection program appreciating that the day had shown her “to embrace our heritage. It allows us to see how God has worked in us.”
Payton is coordinator of religious education for St. Francis Xavier and she said she hopes to bring to her parish, particularly the youth, the passion she saw from other participants for the gifts and challenges of being Black Catholics.
It was Payton’s first chance to participate in activities of the National Black Catholic Congress. She said it fired her up to register for the Congress next summer, fresh with enthusiasm for “what it means to be a Black Catholic and how to pass on my love of the faith.”
A participant from St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Ignatius of Loyola parishes in Charles County, Maryland, took away a call to revive the historic role of her church for Black Catholics. Patricia Williams said she’d like to see more people understand St. Catherine’s and St. Ignatius’s history with Black parishioners. As older parishioners have died or moved away, younger, non-Black families have become the majority, she said. She fears the history of her ancestors will be lost.
“I’d like to emphasize our pride in our history,” she said.
To open the program, Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy Campbell Jr., who is pastor of St. Joseph’s, wore an additional hat as president of the National Black Catholic Congress in welcoming participants and framing their afternoon’s work. “We look at what we can do as a prophetic people for our communities, families and church,” he said.
By way of an example of a Black Catholic whose life is worth recalling and retelling, Bishop Campbell summarized the story of Ed Dwight, a one-time Air Force test pilot who was a candidate for NASA’s first corps of astronaut trainees. Dwight never made it into the astronaut program, but his participation in the selection process brought him national fame.
After retiring from the Air Force when he wasn’t selected for astronaut training, he went on to a successful second career as an artist, including as sculptor of the works in the Our Mother of Africa Chapel at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Dwight, a lifelong Catholic, attended the 25th anniversary of the chapel’s dedication in September.
Williams and her team are collaborating with campus ministry staff at Howard University to hold a second event in the beginning of 2023 to hear from young adults about what they want to see included in the Congress next summer. A report from that session also will be forwarded to the planners for the Congress. To get information about that event, send email to: culturaldiversity@adw.org.
Registration is now open at the National Black Catholic Congress website.
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