Black Catholicism

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Black Catholicism or African-American Catholicism comprises the African-American people, beliefs, and practices in the Catholic Church.

There are currently around three million Black Catholics in the United States, making up 6% of the total population of African Americans, who are mostly Protestant, and 4% of American Catholics.[1] [2] Black Catholics in America are a heavily immigrant population, with only 68% being born in the United States, while 12% were born in Africa, 11% were born in the Caribbean and 5% born in other parts of Central or South America.[3] About a quarter of Black Catholics worship in historically black parishes,[4] most of which were established during the Jim Crow era as a means of racial segregation. Others were established in black communities and merely reflected the surrounding population, while the most recent crop came about due to population displacement (White flight) during and after the Great Migration.[5]

Prior to the Second Vatican Council, Black Catholics attended Mass in Latin, as did the rest of the Western Church, and did not display much difference in terms of liturgy or spiritual patrimony.[6] During the 1950s, however, innovators such as Clarence Rivers began to integrate Negro spirituals into settings of the Mass;[7] this trend eventually blossomed into the so-called Black Catholic Movement during the larger Black Power zeitgeist of the late 60s and 70s.[8] Some have termed this period the "Black Catholic Revolution" or the "Black Catholic Revolt".[9] As this newfound Black Consciousness swept up many black clergy, consecrated religious, and laypeople, Black Catholicism came of age.[8] Entire disciplines of Black Catholic studies emerged,[10] Gospel Mass became a staple of Black Catholic parishes,[11] Black Christian spirituality (formerly seen as Protestant) was also claimed by Black Catholics, and the Black Catholic Church emerged as a significant player in the public and ecclesial life of the larger American Church.

A large exodus of African-American Catholics (alongside other Catholics in America) during the 1970s was followed by a continually shrinking population of African Americans within the Catholic Church in the 21st century.[12][13] A 2021 Pew Research study noted that only just over half of Black American adults who were raised Catholic still remain in the Church.[14]

  1. ^ Diamant, Jeff (December 7, 2021). "African immigrants in U.S. more religious than other Black Americans, and more likely to be Catholic". Pewresearch.org.
  2. ^ Alvarado, Jeff Diamant, Besheer Mohamed and Joshua (March 15, 2022). "Black Catholics in America". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. Retrieved April 15, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Shimron, Yonat (March 15, 2022). "Study: Black Catholics in US are a tiny minority increasingly drawing on immigrants". Religion News Service.
  4. ^ "Demographics". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  5. ^ Green, Emma (November 5, 2017). "There Are More Black Catholics in the U.S. Than Members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  6. ^ Cressler, Matthew J. (November 14, 2017). Authentically Black and Truly Catholic. New York: NYU Press. p. 187. doi:10.18574/nyu/9781479841325.001.0001. ISBN 978-1-4798-4132-5.
  7. ^ "Fr. Clarence Rivers, liturgy pioneer, dead at 73". Free Online Library. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "The History of Black Catholics in America". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  9. ^ Williams, Shannen Dee (2013). Black nuns and the struggle to desegregate Catholic America after World War I (PhD dissertation). Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. p. 16. doi:10.7282/T37S7MBS.
  10. ^ "Xavier University of Louisiana". xula.edu. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  11. ^ McNeil, W. K. (2013). Encyclopedia of American gospel music. New York: Taylor & Francis. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-203-95407-2. OCLC 1082246198.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference :21 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :22 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Mitchell, Travis (February 16, 2021). "Faith Among Black Americans". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. Retrieved November 29, 2022.