African American Catholics in America

Introduction

This brief discussion will shed light on African American Catholics in the US along with the role and relevance of their presence and the history that merits highlighting. In order to do so adequately, the discussion will begin by elaborating on the origin of African American Catholics and proceed to explore the whole social, political and economical struggle encountered. Undoubtedly, African American history is a subject that is a large part of American history. Therefore, the discussion will attempt to utilize an approach that is essentially driven by a desire to present a comprehensive and concrete elaboration.

Discussion

There was once a time when black men were refused ordinance in US Seminaries. All of that has changed now and African American Catholics stand shoulder to shoulder with Americans belonging to all ancestries (Brimeyer). There are now 3 million African American Catholics residing in the United States with twenty African American Catholic bishops and 250 African American Catholic priests in the United States (Edgell & Docka). Furthermore, there are 74 African American Catholic seminaries functioning in the United States with the help of countless African American Catholic brothers and sisters. In addition, there are currently 798 Catholic parishes in the United States that record a majority of African American members in their congregations (Fleischer). The change from complete ostricization to complete amalgamation began as early as the 1565 when the Spanish colonists came to Florida's outskirts and established the city of St. Augustine (Gilkes).

With Spanish colonists came many Africans - but not all of these Africans were slaves. These were Catholic Africans who were fortunate because the Spanish colonial society was significantly more accepting towards Africans than the societies populating the North American region (Green). From 1965 to the late 1700s, the Spanish colonial society continued to give refuge to the Africans who managed to escape from the British colonies. The Spanish authorities operating the town of St. Augustine did not discriminate like the North American rulers and therefore it was only natural that a trend initiated in which slaves from as far as Maryland risked their lives to make their way to Florida (McDannell). If these escapees accepted Catholicism, they were set free. Around the same time, French colonies in the Americas reached a state in which free as well as enslaved Africans began to constitute a large part of the populace in Louisiana and in the upper regions alongside the Mississippi river (Miller, Caponigro, and Tyson). These mixed colonies were essentially Catholic and it was as a result of growth in the same trend that the 1840s saw the formation of some of the first communities of sisters so that the growing number of free Africans could be served. This era also saw some of the first black-only schools forming to give free education to black and Creole orphans (Brimeyer). Furthermore, slaves bought around the same time were educated in Catholicism - a factor that had a far-reaching influence.

1781 saw the foundation of the city of Los ...