WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Thirty-five years after her death, the witness of Sister Thea Bowman — a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, scholar, cultural advocate and joyful daughter of the church — continues to inspire a growing movement calling for her canonization.
Through keynote addresses, panel conversations, music, and moving testimony, attendees at the Sister Thea Bowman Conference March 29 at The Catholic University of America in Washington reflected on how her life calls every member of the church to live boldly, faithfully, and freely in Christ, and how her legacy challenges Catholics today to embrace a fuller, more inclusive vision of holiness.
Redemptorist Father Maurice Nutt opened the conference with a keynote titled “Servant of God, Sister Doctor Thea Bowman, FSPA: Unapologetically and Unabashedly Faithful and Free,” echoing the name of his 2019 biography of his former teacher and spiritual mother.
“This is not a conference,” he told the packed auditorium. “This is a family reunion.”
Father Nutt described Sister Thea as a woman of “holy boldness” — captivating, anointed, joyful, and radically committed to truth.
Born in Canton, Miss., Sister Thea became a Catholic as a child after being inspired by the witness of the Franciscan Sisters and the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity. At age 15, she entered religious life, becoming the only Black member of her congregation.
“Her father warned her, ‘Baby, they may not like you up there in Wisconsin,'” Father Nutt recalled. “But ever persistent, she retorted, ‘Daddy, I’m gonna make ’em like me.'”
She would go on to earn a doctorate and teach at every academic level. Her time attending The Catholic University of America and earning a doctorate in English there, he said, was transformational — both academically and spiritually. Among her students and colleagues, Sister Thea was known for her attentiveness and empathy.
Father Nutt highlighted Sister Thea’s contributions to Catholic life during and after the Second Vatican Council. She embraced liturgical reform and integrated African American culture, music, and spirituality into Catholic worship.
“She could love her friends and challenge her friends. She could love her church and challenge her church,” he said.
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984, Sister Thea continued traveling and speaking until her death in 1990.
“Donning her customary African garb, she would arrive in a wheelchair — with no hair due to chemotherapy – but always with a joyful disposition and a pleasant smile,” Father Nutt said.
He recounted her now-famous 1989 address to the U.S. Catholic bishops, where she spoke about being both Black and Catholic, and challenged the Church to greater inclusion.
“She told the bishops she was trying to find her way back home, asking them to help her find her way back home to this Catholic Church,” Father Nutt said. “And then she invited them — yes, those bishops in all their dignity – to link arms and sing: ‘We Shall Overcome.'”
In her final days, Sister Thea was surrounded by prayer and care in her childhood home. “She died where she had been born,” Father Nutt said. “She wanted her tombstone to read: ‘I tried. I tried to love the Lord, and I tried to love them. I tried to tell their story.'”
Following the keynote, Father Nutt joined Catholic University’s president, Peter K. Kilpatrick, for a moderated conversation on Sister Thea’s enduring impact and the church’s ongoing call to racial justice and reconciliation.
Father Nutt urged Catholic institutions to move beyond symbolic gestures. “We need Black faculty — not just working in the cafeteria or sweeping the floors. We have scholars. You need more Black professors. You need Black faculty in your campus ministry, a place of welcome for Black students, to allow them to use their gifts and share with the whole university.”
Audience members echoed those concerns. A theologian from Howard University called for the development of a “reparation theology” as a way to address structural injustice and promote healing. Others raised questions about parish closures and the future of Black Catholic institutions.
During the Q&A, Sister Oralisa Martin, a theologian and former student of Sister Thea, stood to address the urgency of the moment. Founder and president of the ORACLE Religious Association based in Washington, Sister Oralisa in 1995 took private vows, accepted by the late Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton.
Sister Thea, she said, “possessed a spirituality that, frankly, the church still needs to catch up to.”
Calling for collective renewal, she added, “We need a movement. A real movement. We don’t yet know our collective power. But when we do — when we gather in the power of the Holy Spirit — we will rise.”
“Why do we want her canonized?” she asked. “Because her life — before, during, and after canonization – shows us how to be the church.”
Sister Thea was given the title “Servant of God” when her sainthood cause was officially opened in November 2018. She is one of seven Black Catholics from the United States being considered for sainthood.
Father Maurice Henry Sands, a priest of the Detroit Archdiocese, who is executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office in Washington and himself a Native American, noted that his office has supported Black Catholic ministry for more than 140 years through grants, scholarships and parish support. “We want to be better known,” he said.
Among speakers on the first panel of the conference exploring the formative role of key religious communities and institutions in shaping the spirituality and leadership of Sister Thea was Sister Sue Ernster, president of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.
She reflected on Sister Thea’s entry into religious life during the 1950s and the challenges she faced as the only Black woman in a predominantly white, Midwestern community.
“She came during segregation. She wasn’t allowed to ride with the white sister taking her to Wisconsin. But the sisters made arrangements so she could,” Sister Sue said, adding that Sister Thea endured that “because she felt called to serve.”
Kathleen Dorsey Bellow, director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University, the nation’s Catholic historically Black college, described Sister Thea’s influence on generations of Black Catholic leaders.
“She helped form ministers. She loved Black children and taught them, ‘Black is good. It’s God’s gift to you,'” Bellow said. “She jumped in and did all she could. And now we have to do the work.”
Father Michael Barth, the former general custodian of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, recounted Sister Thea’s formation at Holy Child Jesus Parish in Canton. There, he said, she experienced firsthand the power of a faith community committed to justice and solidarity.
The second panel of the conference, titled “Personal Encounters: Testimony from Students and Colleagues,” reflected on Sister Thea’s impact on individuals who knew her as a teacher, mentor and friend.
“She became my unofficial seminary,” said Mgr. Raymond East, pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Washington. He was ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 1981. “She helped form many of us in what I call a beloved community.”
Ronny Lancaster, who studied under Sister Thea in 1971 at Catholic University, described her as a magnetic, fearless educator.
Sister Thea, he said, was a rare combination of joy and power, preparation and presence. She could disarm students with a smile — then break into song mid-lecture to drive a point home. “She made you feel OK. That was the power of her presence,” he said.
The final panel of the day examined how Sister Thea Bowman’s life offers a model for holiness and a call to recognize the witness of Black Catholics in the church.
“We always need more saints,” said Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr.. “Sister Thea’s life shows us this. She opened her heart, her mind, and her soul to the faith. She prayed with every fiber of her being. And she loved — with joy and boldness.”
Throughout the conversation, panelists emphasized Sister Thea’s use of the arts in evangelization.
“She used music, gesture, rhythm, storytelling — all to preach the Gospel,” said Father Robert Boxie III, the Catholic chaplain at the Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center at Howard University. “She reached hearts where words alone couldn’t.”
Panelist Jeannine Marino, secretary for pastoral ministry and social concerns for the Archdiocese of Washington, concluded with a call to action: “We can do our part by continuing to tell Sister Thea’s story, promoting her holiness, and praying for her cause. Every effort counts.”
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