CHICAGO — The life of Father Augustus Tolton already reads like a
novel and now it is immortalized on stage with the new play "Tolton: From
Slave to Priest," produced by St. Luke Productions from Battle Ground,
Wash.
Tolton, a former slave, is the first recognized American diocesan
priest of African descent. The Archdiocese of Chicago opened his cause for
sainthood in 2011, giving him the title "servant of God."
Born into slavery, he fled with his mother and siblings through
the woods of northern Missouri and across the Mississippi River while being pursued
by soldiers when he was only 9 years old. The small family made their home in
Quincy, Ill., a sanctuary for runaway slaves.
The boy's father had died earlier in St. Louis, after escaping
slavery to serve in the Union Army.
Growing up in Quincy and serving at Mass, young Augustus felt a
call to the priesthood, but, because of rampant racism, no seminary in the
United States would accept him. He headed to Rome, convinced he would become a
missionary priest serving in Africa. However, after ordination, he was sent
back to his hometown to be a missionary to the community there, again facing
rampant racism.
He was such a good preacher that many white Catholics joined his
black parishioners in the pews for his Masses. This upset white priests in the
town, so Father Tolton headed north to Chicago, at the request of Archbishop
Patrick Feehan, to minister to the black Catholic community.
Father Tolton worked to the point of exhaustion for his
congregation in Chicago, and July 9, 1897, he died of heatstroke while
returning from a priests' retreat. He was 43.
His journey is now crystallized in a 90-minute, one-person play
that premiered at Chicago's DuSable Museum of African American History. For more
than 30 years, St. Luke Productions has produced other plays about holy men and
women, including Saints Faustina, Maximilian Kolbe and John Vianney.
Leonardo Defilippis, president and founder of St. Luke
Productions, first learned of Father Tolton from a priest in the Diocese of
Springfield, Ill., which includes the town of Quincy where the priest served
and is buried.
Defilippis researched Father Tolton's life and hung a photo of
him in his office. When deciding which play he would produce next, he noticed
the photo again and started praying to Father Tolton. Defilippis said he felt
the Holy Spirit was asking him to make a play of the priest's life.
Once decided, the producer reached out to Cardinal Francis E.
George, who as Chicago's archbishop at the time had opened Father Tolton's
cause for canonization during the Year of the Priest. The cardinal directed him
to Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry, postulator of Father Tolton's
cause. Defilippis said he and his team worked closely with Bishop Perry on the
play.
"It's exciting to do something in complete conjunction with
the canonization process. It's a tool that can be used for this," he told
the Chicago Catholic, the archdiocesan newspaper.
"It's one of the most unique shows right now in theater because it's a
multimedia show, which means you have characters on a screen that are
interacting with a live actor."
Defilippis has created a "very unique art form" that
makes it easy for groups anywhere to host the play because of the simple setup.
When writing the script, Defilippis, who co-wrote the play with
his wife, pulled from themes in Father Tolton's life — perseverance, trust in
God, incredible forgiveness and his priesthood.
Defilippis believes the time Father Tolton spent studying for the
priesthood in Rome opened him up to the universality of a priest's ministry. He
studied with men from all over the world and saw the church's history in places
like the catacombs, the Coliseum and St. Peter's Basilica.
"Once he becomes a priest, he's a priest for all. This is
not a segregated situation, it's not a segregated mindset," Defilippis
said.
The play doesn't shy away from the harsh realities Father Tolton
faced, such as severe prejudice against him from fellow priests in Quincy. The
post-Reconstruction period was a troubled time for the United States, and
tensions and violence were real. Father Tolton himself often spoke of being
watched.
Defilippis believes that telling Father Tolton's story through
art is a way to bring light into today's seemingly dark world.
"The highest form of art is when you not only entertain and
inspire, but bring it to another level, of what we call evangelization of what
actually touches hearts in a deep and impactful way that actually changes
lives," he said. "That's what we've seen with these plays."
Find out more
For more about the play, go to stlukeproductions.com. For
more about Fr. Tolton's canonization process, go to toltoncanonization.org.