BALTIMORE — The joint conference of the national organizations for
black Catholic clergy, women religious, seminarians and deacons finally made
its first stop in Baltimore, a city noted for several firsts on the road to
equality in the faith.
The annual conference brings together members of the National
Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, the National Black Sisters' Conference, the
National Black Catholic Seminarians Association and the National Association of
Black Catholic Deacons. The NBCCC was founded in 1968, followed in turn by the
other groups. They began meeting jointly because of their commonalities.
One of this year's attendees, Sister Beulah Martin, a Sister of
the Blessed Sacrament, didn't wait for the formal opening of the July 20-24
gathering to soak up some of that Baltimore history.
Sister Beulah was among the more than 100 priests, deacons,
seminarians and religious women from around the nation at a July 22 Mass at
Historic St. Francis Xavier, the first black Catholic church in the United
States.
It was her 10th day in town, as Sister Beulah had spent her
annual retreat at the motherhouse of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, who in
1829 were founded by Mother Mary Lange, a candidate for sainthood, as the first
community for sisters of African descent in the U.S.
Sister Beulah's retreat included learning about Mother Lange from
Oblate Sister Magdala Marie Gilbert, who is advocating for her cause, and
stifling heat reminiscent of her youth in Crowley, Louisiana, during her daily
hourlong walk on property that adjoins Patapsco Valley State Park.
"It's only hot if you think about it," said Sister
Beulah, who at the 2017 joint conference received the Harriett Tubman Award
from the National Black Sisters' Conference. It is given to the sister who has
demonstrated service and dedication "as a liberator of African-Americans
and/or peoples of the African Diaspora."
As her teaching ministry took her to Birmingham, Alabama, Chicago
and now Powhatan, Virginia, where she is launching a pre-school, Sister Beulah
has been a regular attendee of the joint conference since making her final vows
in 1984.
"I come for the support," she said, "and to gather
information about how I can go back to my community and share the good
news."
Her kindred spirits at the Mass, which acknowledged jubilarians,
included Washington Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, who presided and made women
religious the focus of his closing remarks.
"Our jubilarians had the courage to enter religious life
when there were few (minorities in those ranks)," Archbishop Gregory said.
"Sisters, you have carried the church on your shoulders."
Concelebrants included Bishop John H. Ricard, the retired bishop
of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, and the newly elected superior general of
his religious order, the Josephite Fathers, whose roots include serving freed
slaves in Baltimore in the 1870s; and Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy E.
Campbell, the president of the NBCCC, who was raised in southern Maryland.
Among others, the National Association of Black Catholic Deacons
was represented by its president, Deacon Melvin Tardy, of the Diocese of Fort
Wayne-South Bend, Indiana.
Jubilarians were recognized by Sister Roberta Fulton, a Sister of
St. Mary of Namur, who is president of the National Black Sisters' Conference.
Those honored for 60 years of service were Sister Callista Robinson, of the
Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Minnesota, and Baltimore's Sister Gloria
Rubio, of the Sisters of Christian Community.
Those recognized for 50 years of service included Sister Rita
Michelle Proctor, superior general of the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Her
cousin, Sister Gwynette Proctor, organized the conference along with Sister
Josita Colbert, a fellow Sister of Notre Dame de Namur.
Sister Josita estimates that 80 percent of the women religious at
the conference included teaching among their ministries. Sister Gwynette,
director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of
Baltimore, noted the impact the jubilarian liturgy had on her discernment.
"When I entered (her order) 39 years ago and attended my
first (jubilarian liturgy)," Sister Gwynette said, "I saw our elders,
jubilarians, all the members of the organizations, and I experienced God's
touch, a shiver went through me. It was at that moment that all uncertainty and
doubt left me."
"When I saw faithful women and men, who looked like me, that
had been living the call of Jesus for 25 years, 50, 60, 70, some 80 years, I
knew I could do it," she told the Catholic Review, the news outlet of the
Baltimore Archdiocese.
The homily, in contrast, was delivered by Father Kareem Smith,
who was ordained for the Archdiocese of New York in 2018.
"My story is your story," he said. "How many times
have you been told, 'You hang in there, you keep pushing.' ... Brothers and
sisters, this thing is not about what we have done, but what God is
doing."
He addressed the "carnal" nature of the modern world,
and the call to live "radically different lives."
"I'm standing on the shoulders of those who have come before
us," Father Smith said. "In this troubled world, we have to show up
... ready for the fight.
"They may not like you. They may say you're not smart
enough. They may have threatened you. They may try to intimidate you, but show
up for the fight. God can't bless you, if you're not there."
While Father Smith took the train back to Yonkers, N.Y., to
celebrate 6:45 a.m. Mass July 23 for the Annunciation-Our Lady of Fatima
community he serves, most joint congress attendees spent the day furthering
their knowledge of Baltimore's black history with a bus tour.
That day included a gospel festival, with song from the St.
Ambrose Gospel Choir, New All Saints Men's Chorus and the Cardinal Shehan
School Choir, which went viral in 2017 with its rendition of "Rise
Up." The Shehan choir is led by Kenyatta Hardison, who doubles as choir
director at Historic St. Francis Xavier.
The joint congress — organized under the theme "This Work Is
Ours to Do: Send Us" — concluded with business meetings and an awards
dinner July 24.
McMullen is managing editor of the Catholic Review, the
news outlet of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.