A Portrait of Black Catholicism

This year, the Black Catholic Theological Symposium will celebrate its 40th anniversary. The conference was started in 1978 by Thaddeus Posey, O.F.M., and sponsored by the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus. The first gathering took place in Baltimore at the motherhouse of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the country's first religious order of black women. There, 33 members gathered in prayer, discernment and dialogue to discuss the topic of black theology and its reception in the Catholic Church.