Catholics prepare for National Black Catholic Congress XIII

RANDALLSTOWN – More than two dozen people from across the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond gathered Nov. 12 at Holy Family in Randallstown to contribute their thoughts toward visioning next year’s National Black Catholic Congress XIII.

The upcoming congress, which will be held in July at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., will convene to establish and enact pastoral priorities in serving Black Catholics across the country. The congress meets every five years.

Father Raymond Harris, pastor of Holy Family, noted that there are more than 3 million African American Catholics in the nation. Up to 3,000 usually attend the congress, he said.

Attendees at the Randallstown event said growing the number of people active in their parish communities is a high priority. Alicia Champlin of St. Wenceslaus in East Baltimore and Patricia Waddel of St. Teresa of Avila in Washington, D.C., believe their predominantly African American faith communities need to be more open to newcomers of all ethnicities. They were also concerned about meeting young people where they are as they invite them to engage their faith.

“‘You make us feel welcome and we’re here to stay.’ That’s what we want people to say,” Champlin said. 

Waddel added that “you don’t have to lose who you are if you invite other people.”

Sister Brenda Cherry has been an Oblate Sister of Providence for 65 years, and is the current director of child development programming at her religious community’s motherhouse in Arbutus. The 83-year-old Oblate said she has seen the Archdiocese of Baltimore come a long way since her days growing up across the street from St. Mark in Catonsville in the 1950s. But there is plenty of work to be done, she said. 

“My interest would be to see how far the church has come as far as being all-inclusive,” she said.

Sister Brenda remembered her childhood parish as a “typical all-white” one. When her family got the rare opportunity to attend the church, they were forced to sit in the last row of the balcony.

“At the time, I didn’t know about racism because our parents shielded us,” she said. “Something positive came out of it for me. Since we couldn’t attend, one of the pastors there saw to it that we got to St. Francis Xavier in Baltimore.”

St. Francis Xavier, staffed by the Baltimore-based Josephites who minister to the African-American community, was the first parish in the country established for the Black community. Today, it is part of a pastorate that also includes St. Wenceslaus and St. Ann.

Though inequity remains, Sister Brenda said, things have gotten better.

“You still find people who might not want to greet you,” she said. “But it’s individuals, not the church. Back in the day, no one would want to greet you. So I think it’s made progress.”

Adrienne Curry, director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, has been to every modern National Black Congress since it restarted in its modern form in 1987. They tend to bring on emotion as well as discernment, she said.

“People were crying,” Curry recalled of a congress that took place in Florida.

Curry was excited that there will be an African American cardinal at next year’s Congress: Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory. 

Organizers of the day of reflection in Randallstown will compile a report that will be sent to the National Black Congress’ national headquarters in Baltimore. The office is gathering input from sources around the country to help in preparing the way for next year’s congress.

The very first Black Catholic Congress was led by Daniel Rudd in 1889 in Washington, D.C. Baltimore hosted the gathering in 1894 and 1997.

For more information, visit nbccongress.org

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