Pope Francis endorses first Black priest for sainthood

17th June 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer

More than a century after his death and 131 years after he was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, the trailblazing the Rev. Augustus Tolton is just a few steps away from sainthood.

Tolton, who was born into slavery but escaped from bondage in Missouri with his mother when he was 7, became the first Black Catholic priest in the United States in 1886. He went on to found the first Black parish in Chicago before passing away in 1897 at only 43.

Pope Francis, last week, signed decrees that made Tolton and seven other candidates for sainthood as “venerable,” bringing them closer to earning that hallowed designation. According to Church officials, the next step toward canonization is “blessed” status, which is received after a declaration of one confirmed miracle as a result of someone’s prayer to Tolton. A second confirmed miracle healing of a sick individual in Tolton’s name allows him to earn sainthood.

“We welcome this news from the Holy Father on the advancement of Fr. Tolton’s cause for sainthood,” Cardinal Blase Cupich said in a statement. “His struggles to become a priest and his remarkable service to God’s people are admirable examples, particularly in these times of the value and dignity of every person.”

A German Franciscan priest arranged for Tolton to attend a seminary in Rome after seminaries in America slammed their doors on the hopeful African American. Tolton began his ministry in 1889, and soon after he founded St. Monica Catholic Church in the predominantly Black Chicago neighborhood known as Bronzeville.

In addition to the canonization process, Tolton and his life have been the subject of a successful play, “Tolton: From Slave to Priest,” produced in Washington state by Saint Luke Productions, a professional theater and film company that focus on religiously-themed productions.

Tolton’s name also lives on in the names of several venerable institutions. Augustus Tolton Catholic Academy, a school on the South Side of Chicago, is named after Tolton, as is the Tolton Peace Center of the Catholic Charities, a community-service center operated by the Archdiocese of Chicago.

This article originally published in the June 17, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.