The pews of St. Augustine Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., were packed as attendees gathered for Mass to commemorate Black Catholic History Month, as well as 75 years of Catholic ministry at Howard University on Nov. 13. Cardinal Wilton Gregory celebrated the Mass along with concelebrants Father Patrick Smith, St. Augustine’s pastor, and Father Robert Boxie III, the priest chaplain at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

St. Augustine Parish with its Gothic-revival church building, is regarded as “the Mother Church of Black Catholics in the Nation’s Capital.” Founded in 1858 by free men and women of color under the patronage of Blessed Martin de Porres, the original parishioners first attended Masses in a chapel in the basement of what is now St. Matthew’s Cathedral in downtown Washington. 

In an interview after the Mass, Father Patrick Smith said it is unfortunate that Black Catholic history has to be specified as its own history, because he said it is “really the history of the Catholic Church in the United States.” He said “in earlier times, when the history was told, we were left out of it… so it (this Mass) is really an invitation for everybody to celebrate.” 

The celebration began at noon with songs of praise and worship led by the St. Augustine Gospel Choir and a performance by the St. Augustine liturgical dancers and members of the Howard University Dance Ministry. 

Attendees of the Mass included parishioners, Howard students and alumni, students from St. Augustine Catholic School, women religious from the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus, and Knights of St. Peter Claver and their Ladies Auxiliary.

During his homily at the Mass, Cardinal Gregory said the month of November should not only be a time to celebrate the historical accomplishments of Black Catholics, to honor Black saints, or to “ponder over yesterday’s tragedies, too long endured.” Rather, Cardinal Gregory said, “it is a challenging time for those of us who are now called to make Black Catholic history in our own contemporary world.”

The cardinal said Black Catholic History offers a time for “Catholics of color everywhere today to follow the excellent examples of these holy men and women of color who have lived our faith with such devotion so as to be considered saints for our God’s Church.” 

The cardinal went on to say that back when the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus gathered in 1990 to discuss choosing a month to celebrate Black Catholic history, they wanted “a specific time for us to rejoice in our proud and courageous heritage and faith.”

Cardinal Gregory ended his homily by saying that history tells the story of courageous people of faith and “it also challenges us to go and do likewise.”

In an interview, Monica Gray, the liturgy coordinator at St. Augustine Parish, served as one of the coordinators for the Mass. She explained the relationship between St. Augustine and Howard University.

“Because St. Augustine’s is a historically Black Catholic church and we’re close to Howard University, we were always a resource to them for the Catholic ministry,” Gray said. 

Gray believes it is important to reflect on the history of Black Catholics.

“The long history of Black Catholics is not well known and often ignored, so people don’t realize that African American Catholics are some of the longest practicing Catholics in this country, our history dates back hundreds of years, sadly to the times of slavery,” Gray said. 

Gray discussed her own family's history with Catholicism, since her paternal side of the family had been Catholic since they were enslaved people held by Jesuit priests on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

“I think for many of us, it’s a time to be reminded that honestly, we’ve hung in there,” Gray said. 

Father Boxie, the chaplain at Howard University for three years, said in an interview that “the Black Catholic community is a special community, it’s a very spiritual community, it’s a gifted community, it’s a faith-filled community, and it’s a community that has not always been acknowledged or recognized for the gifts and for the contributions that we give to the Church.” 

He said one of the biggest misconceptions about Black Catholics is that many people do not realize they exist. 

“It’s almost being a double minority if you will, most people think that if you’re Black and religious, you’re probably Protestant, but that’s not always the case. We have this incredible legacy of Black Catholics that goes back to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts of the Apostles, and we also claim, too, as Black Catholics, all of those early church fathers and mothers in Africa,” Father Boxie said. 

Howard University’s priest chaplain said it comes down to an important distinction when reconciling the Catholic Church’s role in slavery. 

“A lot of people question that, but this is the beauty of Black Catholics is, we were able to make a distinction between message and messenger. The messengers did bring the message of Jesus Christ and of salvation and of the faith. However, our ancestors and our elders recognize that what they were in fact preaching and teaching was not in fact what they were doing,” Father Boxie said. 

Moving forward, Father Boxie hopes events like the Mass inspire parishioners to spread their faith. 

“I love being Black and Catholic, I think it’s the best of everything that the Church has to offer, and I think this is a Black Catholic moment where hopefully we can realize the spiritual patrimony and heritage that we all have as people of faith and to be renewed in that evangelistic zeal to go out and share this incredible heritage that we have been given,” Father Boxie said. 

Ali Mumbach, a sociology graduate student at Howard University and who is a graduate campus ministry assistant working with Father Boxie, said she was very inspired by the cardinal’s homily “and just the fact that National Black Catholic History Month is not just about what has happened in the past but the history that we’re making today.” 

Mumbach said she is on her own journey of understanding what being Black and Catholic means to her.

“I’m recently learning about my Black Catholic heritage and faith,” Mumbach said. “[My own] discovery of self…I grew up in the Catholic Church, but my parish back home is majority white and Hispanic, so I’m just coming into knowing what it means to be Black and Catholic.” 

Following the Mass, attendees were invited to share in a spaghetti lunch and celebratory cake.