Martin de Porres Ward

Servant of God Martin Maria de Porres Ward O.F.M. Conv.
Orders
Ordination	June 4, 1955 by William Scully
Personal details
Born	Matthias DeWitte Ward (1918-03-20)March 20, 1918 Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States
Died	June 22, 1999(1999-06-22) (aged 81) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Buried	Andrelândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Parents	William Henry Ward & Clara Irby
Alma mater	St. Anthony-on-Hudson Seminary

Part of a series on
Black Catholicism
1892 Colored Catholic Congress
Overview
Pope: Francis History Black Catholic Movement National Black Catholic Congress
Background African Christianity African Catholicism Kongo Catholicism Black Christianity Catholicism and race Age of Discovery Catholic Slavery U.S. Catholicism Haitian Revolution Stono Rebellion San Miguel de Gualdape Fort Mose
People Saints Moses the Black Augustine Monica Benedict the Moor Martin de Porres Peter Claver Katharine Drexel On the way to sainthood Pierre and Juliette Toussaint Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP Henriette Delille, SSF Augustus Tolton Samuel Henderson Julia Greeley Mary Theodore Williams, FHM Thea Bowman, FSPA Martin de Porres Ward, OFMConv Cardinals Wilton D. Gregory Archbishops Eugene A. Marino, SSJ James P. Lyke, OFM Bishops James Healy Joseph O. Bowers, SVD Harold R. Perry, SVD Joseph L. Howze Priests Patrick Healy, SJ John R. Slattery, SSJ Charles F. Uncles, SSJ Cyprian Davis, OSB Clarence Rivers Paschal Salisbury, OP Seminarians William Augustine Williams Families Healy family
Institutions Churches Basilicas Basilica of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception (Norfolk, Virginia) Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica Other St Augustine (New Orleans) St Augustine (D.C.) St Francis Xavier (Baltimore) St Benedict the Moor (NYC) Most Pure Heart of Mary (Mobile) Religious communities Oblate Sisters of Providence Sisters of the Holy Family Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary The Josephites Society of African Missions Fraternal orders Knights of Peter Claver Schools Xavier University of Louisiana Claver College St. Augustine High School (New Orleans) St. Augustine Seminary (Bay St. Louis) St. Anthony's Mission House Organizations Colored Catholic Congress Federated Colored Catholics National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus National Black Sisters' Conference National Black Catholic Seminarians' Association National Black Catholic Lay Caucus The National Office for Black Catholics National Association of Black Catholic Administrators National Black Catholic Congress Black Catholic Theological Symposium Institute for Black Catholic Studies National Association of Black Catholic Deacons
Literature History of Black Catholics in the United States (Davis)
Worship Gospel Mass Black Unity Mass Prayer Sacraments
Rites Roman Ordinary Form Zaire Use
Controversies Jesuit Bend Incident George Stallings (Imani Temple)
Miscellaneous Anti-Catholicism Ecumenism Relations with: Protestantism Islam
Societal issues U.S. Catholic politics
Links and resources Index Outline Glossary Category Media Templates WikiProject Vatican City portal
Catholic Church portal
v t e

Martin Maria de Porres Ward, O.F.M. Conv. (born Matthias DeWitte Ward; March 20, 1918 – June 22, 1999) was an African-American Catholic priest and Franciscan friar who served as a missionary in Brazil for more than forty years.^[1][2] He was the first African American to join the Conventual Friars Minor.

Ward has been proposed as a candidate for canonization by the Diocese of São João del Rei.^[3][4][5] In recognition of this, he now has the title Servant of God.