Mass marks centennial of founding of first seminary in U.S. for Black seminarians November 9, 2023By Terrance Dickson OSV News Filed Under: Black Catholic Ministry, Feature, News, Racial Justice, World News The first four African Americans to be ordained Catholic priests at St. Augustine Seminary in Mississippi in 1934 “stood tall in the midst of segregated times,” said retired Bishop J. Terry Steib of Memphis, Tenn.