Ella Austin was born Catholic. Because she's black, she often has felt ignored by and isolated within a religion to which she has devoted her life.
"In some Catholic churches, it's the same issues felt by a black person in society," said Austin, a Palm Bay resident. "And I've certainly had my problems . . . like when it comes time to hold hands during the Lord's Prayer, some people don't want to hold my hand. But that's just a few people, not all."
Austin's experience as a black Catholic is not uncommon. Black Catholics comprise about only 3 percent of the 62 million U.S. Catholics, according to a 2000 poll by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, a national Catholic research organization. And although more than 1,000 parishes are predominantly black, most of the other 18,000 U.S. Catholic parishes are predominantly white.
Historically, the church has downplayed blacks' deep-rooted history in Catholicism. It also has failed to embrace blacks and their traditions, Catholic scholars say.
But the tide is turning, most recently with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' election of its first black president. Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of the Belleville diocese in southern Illinois was elected to the top post earlier this month.
The bishops' group sets religious policy for Roman Catholics in this country and is a national voice on social and political issues. Church leaders said Gregory's election is a sign of their growing diversity. Gregory, 53, has said he hopes his election will serve "as an expression of the love of the Catholic Church for people of color."
"That's a huge big deal for black Catholics," said Leo Hodges, pastor of Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Palm Bay and the only black priest in Brevard County.
"He will be a spokesman not only for Catholics, but blacks," said Hodges, one of eight black priests in Florida and one of 300 nationwide. "There is hope and anticipation for greater strides and a renewed enthusiasm toward diversity."
This year, black Catholics also found images and words about themselves in the Bible. A new African-American jubilee edition of the Good News Bible was released in January, complete with analytical articles written by 20 black Catholic scholars.
The Bible, published by the American Bible Society, is the first of its kind to specifically target an ethnic group, said Dorette Saunders, senior research editor at the American Bible Society in New York.
"It gives blacks a sense of connection to the Bible in terms of heritage," Saunders said. "These articles talk about the history of blacks in the Catholic Church, the role of Africans, and the interpretation of scriptures through the African and black experiences."
Diana Hayes, an associate theology professor at Georgetown University in Washington who is black, said she was elated to contribute to a Bible with an African-American perspective.
"We can see ourselves represented in the sacred," she said.
"If you are invisible," Hayes said, "then someone else can create that history for you. In the past, blacks were told they had no history, no culture, no past within the church. But we have managed to keep some of it alive and only now are we being recognized."
"There have been black Catholics since the religion's very beginning," Hodges said. "But although we were baptized Catholic, we were not really embraced by the church. They pushed blacks to the back and segregated us. And with that, many blacks began to ask themselves, 'Why am I here?' Many eventually left the faith, but others stayed, despite the fact that they were not welcomed."
But with a shift in attitude, welcoming arms have opened. Many Catholic parishes incorporate music written by black Catholic musicians, and African-influenced decorations hang inside many sanctuaries.
Also, Catholic churches are hosting programs that recognize February's Black History Month and November's Black Catholic History Month.
In 1990, the National Black Catholic Congress designated November as Black Catholic History Month in hopes of educating all Catholics about the contributions blacks have made to the church.
In some ways, blacks were helped by their religion. The Catholic Church integrated its schools long before the Civil Rights Bill of 1964, which banned discrimination in public schools. That allowed many black Catholics to receive an education equal to that of their white counterparts.
But the history of the Catholic Church is good and bad. There were many white Catholic organizations that would not accept blacks, and some nuns brought their slaves with them to the convent. The church affirmed blacks as human beings, but accepted slavery, Hayes said. Catholics would not speak against slavery before the Civil War because it was considered a political matter.
That resulted in many black Catholics establishing their own groups. Two women founded orders for African Americans: Elizabeth Lange formed the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore in 1829, and Henriette Delille founded the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans in 1842.
"There are many horror stories of black Catholics receiving the Holy Communion last and priests washing their hands because they had touched us," said Roderick Coates, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in McNair, Texas.
Coates, a black priest, heads one of the few predominately black Catholic parishes in the United States. He also is a Josephite, a missionary order responsible for converting many blacks to Catholicism.
"Even after the Emancipation, we were never allowed to bring our own identity and culture to the Catholic Church," said Coates, 40. "We were present but had nothing to offer. But one of the greatest things that has happened is the election of Bishop Gregory. It says that as Catholics, the church has embraced us and has recognized our abilities as leaders. And if the bishops themselves have recognized this, there is no reason to think that local churches won't."
In fact, church parishes and leaders are embracing other cultural and ethnic backgrounds as well, particularly Hispanics. Hispanics are the fastest-growing population in the country, and their numbers within the Catholic Church is swelling. While there are no concrete numbers, researchers estimate that Hispanics make up about 26 percent of the Catholic population. Hispanics now number 35 million in the United States, and studies show 70 percent identify themselves as Roman Catholic.
"Encuentro 2000: Many Faces in God's House," was held in July 2000 in Los Angeles. The event, sponsored by the Hispanic Affairs committee of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, worked to address and support cultural diversity within the church.
Catholic dioceses and archdioceses across the nation have established offices to focus on improving racial relations.
In Brevard County, Hodges, 42, works with the Diocese of
Orlando's Office of Ethnic Affairs on behalf of black Catholics in the Orlando
area. Hodges, who grew up in Winter Park, said there is no official number of
black Catholics in Brevard County and Florida, but he guesses there are about
3,000 who are part of the Orlando diocese. The Orlando diocese includes nine
counties with a Catholic population of nearly 290,000 residents, according to
its Web page at www.orlandodiocese.org
Raised by parents who converted to Catholicism, Hodges said he wasn't ordained in 1986 without an awareness that he would become one of a few black priests.
"But God called, despite the reality of racism in the church and society," Hodges said. "And you have to realize that racism is not a Catholic issue, it's a human issue."
As racial barriers come down, more people like Austin are becoming involved in church activities to increase visibility. Austin, who attends St. Joseph Catholic Church in Palm Bay, sings with the church choir, organizes Black History Month events and sits on the Council of Catholic Women. Austin's husband, Winston, also is Catholic.
"I do feel that as a whole, the Catholic Church is changing and beginning to embrace us," said Austin, who grew up in the West Indies, where the majority of residents are Catholic.
"But some people in the church, no matter what you do, will not change," she said. "However, I've been fortunate. Ladies at St. Joseph have gone out of the way to make me feel at home, and that's one of the reasons why I'm still there."
New Bible offers historical time line
Here is a portion of selected chronology (1565-2000) published inside the new African-American jubilee edition of the Good News Bible, released in January by the American Bible Society. The chronology highlights the struggles and victories of blacks and black Catholics:
1619: The first Africans are brought to British North American colonies when a Dutch ship lands 20 black laborers in Jamestown, Va.
1639: Death of St. Martin de Porres in Lima, Peru. Centuries later, in 1962, the Catholic church made de Porres the first black American saint. He was a Dominican friar who established an orphanage and a hospital for poor children.
1738: Establishment of free black town of Santa Teresa de Mose in Florida for freed slaves converted to Catholicism.
1808: Ban on slave trade put into effect. In accordance with provisions of the Constitution, Congress outlaws the African slave trade. The slave trade continues illegally.
1827: Freedom's Journal, the first black newspaper in America is published in March in New York City.
1829: Elizabeth Lange and other women begin religious life in Baltimore as the Oblate Sisters of Providence. First black congregation of women religious in the United States.
1839: Condemnation of the slave trade by Pope Gregory XVI
1843: Formation of the Society of the Holy Family in Baltimore, first known black Catholic society of lay people.
1853: Death of Pierre Toussaint in New York. Toussaint, a slave in his native Haiti, was brought to the United States and worked as a hairdresser. He worked with orphans, the poor and the sick, black and white. The Vatican is moving forward to canonize Toussaint, a long and complex ordeal. Once that occurs, Toussaint will become the first African American saint.
1863: Lincoln signs Emancipation Proclamation.
1875: Rev. James Augustine Healy is consecrated second bishop of Portland, Maine. First black Catholic bishop in the United States.
1891: Ordination of Rev. Charles Uncles in Baltimore. First black priest ordained in the United States.
1891: Foundation of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People by Blessed Katherine Drexel. By 1931, Xavier University in New Orleans is established by the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and becomes the first black Catholic university in the United States.
1964: Congress passes, and President Johnson signs, the Civil Rights bill banning discrimination in education, employment and public accommodations.
1971: The National Office of Black Catholics is founded in Washington, D.C.
1990: National Black Catholic Congress designates November as Black Catholic History Month.
2000: Mother Josephine Bakhita becomes the first African woman to be cannonized by the Roman Catholic Church in the new millennium.
History online
Numerous Web sites address the Catholic Church and black Catholics' history. Among them are:
Black Catholic Information Mall, created by the Catholic African World Network to offer facts about black Catholics nationwide and throughout the world, www.bcimall.org
Catholic Online, a Web site with information about the Catholic faith, including black saints and popes, saints.catholic.org/black.html
Catholic Diocese of Orlando, information about the diocese and its mission, www.orlandodiocese.org
National Black Catholic Congress, created to support black Catholics, www.nbccongress.org