The American Catholic experience for people of color has been vastly different from the experience of White American Catholics. As the church struggles to evolve into a richer and more inclusive home for all, one fact stands out: the church has never made a Black American Catholic a saint.
This absence of an African American saint leaves a gap in the spiritual lives of 3 million Black Catholics in the United States.
Saint Ann’s Catholic Church, a predominantly African American congregation in the East Baltimore Midway neighborhood, is leading the call for the canonization of six Black Catholics who have been true heroes of faith. Ralph Moore, Jr., President of the St. Ann’s Social Justice Committee offers poignant insight into why this campaign is so important.
We invite you to read through the biographies of these six individuals and pray the beatification prayer for each of them. We urge you to click on the link below to download a letter to Pope Francis to ask that he canonize these six candidates for sainthood using the santo subrito process.
Click here for the letter to Pope Francis in English
Haga clic aquí para ver la carta al Papa Francisco en español