Black spirituality: an untold story

Ask any Catholic to name a black saint and chances are they couldn't. Asking about black popes would likely produce the same result. This is a sad state of affairs considering the fact that of the approximately 10,000 recognized saints, fully 20 per cent or 2,000 are black. Three of the early popes were black.

Most Catholics, including black Catholics, would be stumped to name some. Most of the saints we examined in Catholic schools were white, so it is excusable that we didn't know that there were black saints.

But today, there is a revival of appreciation for black saints and black spirituality.

A saint is a person entitled to public veneration for extreme holiness. A saint is a person whose virtues are worthy of being copied, a model, an exemplar. Also, the Catholic Church requires that the saint must be dead and known to have performed two miracles after death. A black Saint is one who has ties with Africa, whether through birth or ancestry.

One of the most notable black saints is St. Augustine. He was born in Taguiste, Africa and became a doctor of the Church. Augustine's mother, Saint Monica, is a saint with whom modern black women may be able to identify. She converted her husband with her prayer and patience. She also instructed her son, Augustine, in Christian teachings. As is known, Augustine scorned religion and lived a dissolute life only to return to the church to become one of the greatest church Fathers. Monica's youngest daughter became a nun.

Saint Martin De Porres was the first black saint in the West. He was born in Lima, Peru on December 9, 1579. He served in a Dominican priory at the age of eleven. Later, he raised a large amount of money from wealthy Peruvians. All the money went to the sick and poor of Lima. Later still, he was in charge of the infirmary where he performed spectacular cures. To this day, Saint Martin's miraculous powers are talked about in Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Some of the powers attributed to him include the raising of the dead!

Sister Josephine Bakhita was born in the Sudan in 1869. She was kidnapped and sold as a slave at least twice from the age of 9. After her conversion to Christianity, she spent many years in Schio (Vicenza) Italy, where she acquired wide appeal for her holiness. To this day, according to Vatican sources, she is still called "our Black Mother." She died in 1947 at 78 years of age. She was beatified on May 17, 1992 by Pope John II in the Catholic canon of saints. She was proclaimed a saint on October 1, 2000. She went from slavery to sainthood.

In all there were three African popes: Victor I (189-199), Melchiades or Miltiades (311-314) and Gelasius (492-496).

Pope Saint Victor I established the date for the celebration of Easter as the 14th day of the moon of March. He also dealt with the Roman Imperial household. He was said to have been martyred by Servus. Pope Saint Melchiades (Miltiades) saw all church property that was confiscated returned by the Emperor Constantine. Saint Melchiades was given the Lateran palace as the papal palace.

Pope Saint Gelasius was the first pope to be called the "Vicar of Christ." 'He was active in rooting out the last vestiges of paganism in Rome.

A growing movement

There is a detectable movement to raise the profile of black saints, particularly in the United States. In New Orleans, black Catholics recognize black saints with a joyous parade and party. This occurs every November. Also in November in Philadelphia, a Mass is celebrated by the archdiocese for the first black Dominican priest in the West, Saint Martin De Porres.

In the United States, of the 62 million Catholics, 2 to 3 million are black. And the new recognition of the rich contribution of black Saints may help the church's efforts to attract more blacks back to the faith. Currently, there are four black candidates for the papacy. They include Francis Cardinal Arinze of Nigeria.

John Paul II broke the line of papal succession--first non-Italian pope in over 400 years. Given the growth of Catholic Church in Africa and south of equator, it may be time we had another black pope.

Lionel Goulet writes from Toronto.

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