"|@i[W]utmvpsN)YtB@,=: Y.1+Xr-S*2iQ`e His was a quiet approach, a novel ministry to black and white together and he was, unfortunately, resented for it. From the time he was 14, he served Mass every morning before going to work or school. Father Tolton was not the first black (priest) in America. 0000001420 00000 n Having picked up German in Quincy, he was to leave Europe with French and Italian mastered, to say nothing of Latin. 1863: At the age of 9, Augustus Tolton begins working in a Quincy tobacco factory and his brother Charles dies at age 10. Gus was not insensitive to what that victory actually meant to many of the freed slaves whom he lived alongside, including his own family: servile work for some, lives of poverty for most. Discuss human rights as related to problems of 1861: Civil War begins with firing on Fort Sumter in South Carolina on April 14. I am so glad that I now belong to the diocese where Father Tolton was ordained and where he is buried. Racial prejudice was not confined to the South. Toltons life story inserts a dialectic into a begrudging situation of intransigence to social and moral change. WebIt was said that I would be the only priest of my race in America and would not likely succeed, Tolton once wrote. America has been called the most enlightened nation in the world. 286 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<302BB52D3863B64BA3B976C1397EBCB0><8D3543A6425E274CB40BF7885AC937E9>]/Index[262 48]/Info 261 0 R/Length 115/Prev 162616/Root 263 0 R/Size 310/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream He was born on the Hagar farm in Bush Creek, Missouri, in 1854. Augustus, his mother, and three brothers and sisters escaped to the North where they could live as free The Sacred Congregation for Causes of Saints at the Vatican grants the title Servant of God to Father Augustus Tolton and orders that the Archdiocese of Chicago proceed with the Diocesan Inquiry into his life and virtues. Augustus witnessed mistreatment of his people and became a victim himself of such mistreatment. Trusting all to Providence, the same fervour and energy that Fr. They leave us with good thoughts and smiles on our faces; each of them with a strong sense of justice pushing critically through the moral and ethical paradoxes of those times; each of them unafraid to permit their pastoral efforts to be reflective of their views and values. He wrote to every seminary in the country and all gave him the same answer: We arent ready to accept a Negro. But society could not perceive nor accept that he was a priest for both black and white. Suffering can result in strengthened faith or disbelief, agnosticism or outright atheism. Our Lady Of Sorrows help us i. His fellow students loved him too, and his professors held him in high regard. " vXp/n*%kPD\CDkAA43J~]*+a$/ :J\]cN$8NOdp4vE. Augustine Tolton: Americas First BlackPriest [], [] (. This same year, the Census of 1880 showed the U.S. population at 50 million with a Black population of 6.5 million (13%). 0 Now his canonization cause needs one miraculous healing worked through his intercession to be approved by Rome in order that he might be beatified. He was, however, the first priest whose identity as an African-American was publicly acknolwedged at the time of his ordination. Jesus experienced the worse that a man could deal out to another and, therefore, leaves us an example. Your email address will not be published. endstream endobj 263 0 obj <. document.getElementById( "ak_js_3" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Liked this post? This same year, Mary Jane Patterson graduates from Oberlin College in Ohio and becomes the first black woman to graduate from an American college. Subscriber Service CenterAlready a subscriber? On 9 July 1897, he died as a priest should worn out in the care of his flock. Mrs. Henderson, I am a product of Jesuit High School and Spring Hill College. Augustine Tolton The authorities in Rome could see no reason why he could not minister to his co-religionists there, not least those of his own race. The world is saved ultimately by our being victims. Instead, gratitude moved him through to victory. With help from an Irish Franciscan priest, Peter McGirr, he was accepted to study in Rome. WebTHEY MIGHT BE SAINTS- BISHOP ALPHONSE GALLEGOS He strolled the streets of Sacramento, saving souls by visiting families and mixing with low riders in the Latino community. Nevertheless, Mrs Tolton soon found work and, thereafter, supported her children as best she could. Tolton always showed himself refined maintained undoubtedly by a great fortitude of spirit within. Worship at the altar is always a commemoration of Jesus Christ as victim. Tolton is a model of virtue for all Catholics. He continued to pray, to give classes to his fellow parishioners, to wait, and to hope. He also found time to help start a Catholic school for Blacks. Augustus was born of the marriage union of two slaves, Peter Paul Tolton and his wife Martha Jane, in Ralls County, Missouri, April 1, 1854. 1862: Martha Jane escapes withher children to Quincy, Illinois. It is not easy reasoning to the place of suffering in the human journey. 1859: Martha Jane and Peter Paul are given permission to marry by their respective masters at St. Peter log-cabin Church,Brush Creek, MO. They knew the odds that stood against them and the Church. Augustine Tolton was born 1 April, 1854. Augustine Tolton was alone on a night train in a segregated carriage heading to Chicago where he had been assigned to care for that citys growing black population. 0000004840 00000 n He was more than a fundraiser though. His human virtues and obvious piety did not go unremarked by the redoubtable Fr. He never was to study at a seminary in the United States. Around his bedside were the hospital chaplain who had administered the Last Rites, some nuns praying, and his mother. His idealism was not political though; it was religious. Exorcist Responds to Sensationalized Russell Crowe Exorcism Film on Father Amorth, Ash Wednesday Breaks All the Rules of Modern ChurchThink, and More Great Links! Here they joined the closest Catholic church, the German parish of St. Boniface. They ran through several nights to the Mississippi River and Hannibal, Missouri, where they were about to be apprehended by Confederate soldiers before two Union soldiers stepped in to defend them. I must now give praise to that son of the Emerald Isle, Father Peter McGirr, pastor of St. Peters Church in Quincy, who promised me that I would be educated and who kept his word. My father was actually in the Jesuit seminary for a number of years. His books include Exploring the Miraculous, 365 Days with Mary and 20 Answers: Apparitions and Revelations. We presented to the Church Tolton as a model Christian and priest during a time of paradox, an era of social deficits that attempted to derail his priestly ministry. 0000000756 00000 n His time in Quincy, though, was short-lived. In this Church we do not have to fight for our rights because we are black. Unexpectedly, when aged only 43, having at last been able to attend a retreat for priests, on returning by train, Fr. A bright and intelligent boy, with a good heart, aged nine, he was helping support his family by working at a local tobacco factory. Died July 9, 1897 He first ministered to black Catholics in Quincy, Illinois and was later transferred to Chicago. 372 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[]/Index[348 51]/Info 347 0 R/Length 117/Prev 154762/Root 349 0 R/Size 399/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream His journey of deliverance from slavery and discrimination offers potent imagery for anyone who finds inspiration from his life when suffering persecution because of ones faith or ones race. Rev. We cannot know the Christ unless we know him crucified, says St. Paul. He died of complications from heat stroke on July 9, 1897. Gratitude to a few priests and religious who tutored him and advocated to have him recognized for his goodness; gratitude that moved him to declare the Catholic Church the principle instrument of improvement of the plight of the black race. In July 1886, Fr. His goodness easily elicits our affection and our empathy, a goodness that attracted people of whatever background to his sermons and ministrations and counsel. Getting the Order of Treatment Right in the Field Hospital of the Catholic Church, Bishop Paprocki Pens Essay Imagining Heretical Cardinals, Quoting San Diegos McElroy, Heres How Half of US Abortions Could Be Stopped This Week, Catholic Bookstore Sues Jacksonville Over Law it Says is a Trans Pronoun Mandate. In that social inequities remain apparent in our times Tolton offers strident Christians a model of deportment that is useful in what it can mean for the reconciliation of the races. His congregation was largely poor, ill-educated ex-slaves, with all the resultant ills of depression and violence attending those who, for varying reasons, had given up on life. He was born a slave in Missouri and escaped to Quincy, Illinois, through the Underground Railroad. Peter Tolton then headed north and joined the Union Army. Father Tolton modeled all this in its fullness and this is why he is remembered to this day especially in the black Catholic community. Among the best known of these six is Father Augustus Tolton (1854-1897), the first recognized American Black priest. It worked. The Cause is registered with the Congregation under the case-file number: Prot. I will pray for your grandson Ignatius in his discernment of his call to the priesthood. He maintained above all fortitude of spirit harboring no resentment for any of the insults and offenses receive from others. If America has never seen a black priest it has to see one now! With these prophetic words the assignment orders for Father Tolton changed from some place in Africa back to Quincy, Illinois in the Diocese of Alton. Among the best known of these six is Father Augustus Tolton (1854-1897), the first recognized American Black priest. 0000051295 00000 n }eL1@H32e`x 20 +/M That night, the woman evaded her pursuers. https://www.ncregister.com/blog/father-augustus-tolton-america-s-first-black-priest, The Hope-Filled Legacy of the First Black Priest in the United States, EWTN Spotlight: The Story of Venerable Father Augustus Tolton Comes to TV. The slaveholders, the Elliots, had all their slaves 1870: Augustus Tolton was confirmed in St. Peter Church at age 16 and likely received his First Communion. With all this said and for the fact that this apostolate was started on April 1, 2018, the 132nd anniversary of his birth, it is only right that Fr. 0000003727 00000 n 0000001964 00000 n This victimization is placed on the altar of worship daily through the lives of people all over. Among the best known of these six is Fr Augustus Tolton (1854-1897), the first recognized American Black priest. Catholic Excalibur: The True Story Behind St. Galganos Sword, US Bishops Urge Senators to Oppose Revival of the Equal Rights Amendment, A Lasting Trail of Light: The Witness of Pedro Ballester, Servant of God Mother Mary Lange and the Rich History of Black Catholic Religious Orders. His family escaped when he was a child and ran away to Illinois, a free state. I'm in a perfectly happy mood, you asshole. Web1882: The lower level of St. Marys Church in Chicago becomes Chicagos first Negro parish. Toltons Palm Sunday. Saints arise from the exigencies of the eras within which they live. print and digital media outlets, dedicated to reporting the truth in light of the Gospel and the 348 0 obj <> endobj He knew the human heart was weak; he knew too that the Church was unimpeachable in its treatment of all as brothers and sisters in Christ but that she was made up of sinners, and so human frailty was never far away. If I say Ignatius wants to be a priest there are no exciting remarks. Augustus Tolton was the first recognized African American Catholic priest. The funeral was at St. Monica Church, 36th and Dearborn Street on July 12. In June 2019, Pope Francis advanced the cause when he issued a decree declaring him venerable.. No one understood how impossible that was. It was the priests of the Church who taught me to pray and to forgive my persecutors it was through the direction of a Sister of Notre Dame, Sister Herlinde, that I learned to interpret the Ten Commandments; and then I also beheld for the first time the glimmering light of truth and the majesty of the Church. What Tolton experienced in that time of social ambivalence is stuff we read about in history books or view in certain documentaries. On this grave stone which later replaced the original reads: In his first year, he took over the school he had founded and also created a flourishing parish at St. Josephs, attended by both blacks and whites. That was not an unusual sight; however, that day there was a change. Before anything else, however, the nearest Catholic Church, St. Peters, was identified and the family started to worship there. 1872: Augustus Tolton graduated from St. Peter School at age 18. Father Tolton could find joy under trial and be himself simultaneously an encourager of others with their trials. 1880: Augustus Tolton departs for Rome on February 15 to enter the seminary at the Collegium Urbanum de Propaganda Fide. McGirr was keen to progress this proposition. They settled in Quincy, Illinois, a major stop on the Underground Railroad. After some time in Chicago he led the establishment of an ethnically black Catholic parish, St. Monicas, which still survives to this day as St. Elizabeths. hb```f`` AX,3>71-``^ 9o&fR%'0Htt0pt40 )d]@ LV@ZF20g,p,9L3]fp$yW The young white boy the same age group gets all the attention because he wants to be a priest. %PDF-1.5 % In reply to his letters, excuses were made as to why he could not be accommodated. Ordained in Rome, Italy, April 24, 1886 Cause website: https://tolton.archchicago.org. WebU.S. His life story embodies the seminal verse from Isaiah 53:3 that points to the Messiah, He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. St. Monicas, the church for which her son had expended so much energy and time, was abandoned in 1924 and later raised to the ground. Big family! If the United States has never before seen a black priest, it must see one now. Cardinal Giovanni Simeoni announcing to the committee deciding where Tolton would be sent in the world after He was from Missouri and died in Chicago, but he was ordained by and for Springfield in IL., where he was buried. His canonization we hope will elicit an appreciation by the wider Catholic community for the contributions that Catholics of African descent offer the Church. Augustus Tolton, Black Catholic Organizations and Religious Orders, Black Catholic Blogs and Journals/Magazines, Sunday in a TweetShell for the Gospel for the 1st Sunday of Lent (Year A) [February 26, 2023] Matthew 4:1-11, Sunday in a TweetShell for the Gospel for the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A) [February 19, 2023] Matthew 5:38-48. Site Map ; Contact Us ; Privacy Policy But I was hoping to hear something about his cause for Sainthood. He was buried in Quincy at his request. He was called some pretty nasty names. 0000003561 00000 n Funds were raised and the basis of a great and beautiful church, St. Monicas, dedicated to the service of the citys black population was started. Their efforts were remarkable in face of those odds and likely those odds could have proven too high to overcome. 0000001549 00000 n Another miracle has been recently attributed to his intercession. Augustus Tolton is a pioneer African American Catholic who was not only the first priest of acknowledged African descent to serve anywhere in the United States but one who navigated the choppy waters of racial acceptance endemic to 19th century America and modeled for us how to be Christians amidst the social inconsistencies of that former time with his faith, hope and love found in the end to be intact. As an ambulance was called, a crowd gathered around the unusual sight of a black man dressed in a faded cassock. Small sins lead to big sins, and big sins bring about a terrible spiritual darkness. Still, he went to Holy Mass as often as he could; he prayed daily. ,M The young man looked embarrassed. Next, the Irish priest wrote to the bishop of the diocese in Alton about Augustus becoming a diocesan priest. Several months later, his mother, Martha, decided it was time for her and the children to also seek freedom. Perhaps they had forgotten that it was there, decades earlier, that a frightened black woman had come with her three small children having fled slavery to find freedom, and where a hope for a better future was born for her and her children. Tolton is the first African American ordained for the priesthood in the United States. This has become, unfortunately, an indelible stigma in the American psyche. Required fields are marked *. Without a national program to assist the assimilation of freed slaves into the fabric of the country, its schools, social and educational institutions and politics were found generally off limits to blacks especially where whites were invested. She is the Church for our people. K. V. Turley is a London based freelance writer and filmmaker with a degree in theology from the Maryvale Institute. SubscribeStart your Register subscription today. I must now give praise to that son of the Emerald Isle, Father Peter McGirr, pastor of St. Peters Church in Quincy, who promised me that I would be educated and who kept his word. 0000003050 00000 n The crucifixion of Jesus reminds us that black suffering is a means through which God has loved his dark children. Bishop Baltes then appealed to the Urban College in Rome, but this international seminary also suggested that Augustus attend seminary in the United States. Seven years after Augustine, or Gus as he was known, was born, war broke out between the States. Father Tolton was declared venerable in 2019. Miracle Hunter Michael ONeill profiles the Bishop of the Barrios, Alphonse Gallegos. We desperately need more priests from the US. Order Bulk SubscriptionsGet a discount on 6 or more copies sent to your parish, organization All Father McGirr had to do was find a seminary. In the 1880s, a black man becoming a priest was thought to be impossible and, in fact, might never have been set in motion were there not a few priests and religious of courageous, visionary and unselfish choices made by them; Fathers Peter McGirr and Theodore Wegmann, School Sister of Notre Dame Herlinde Sick, Franciscan Fathers Michael Richardt and Francis Ostrop who were some of the best representatives of Catholics in action for their time. The good Lord allowed his witness only a short stay here. 63 0 obj <> endobj xref 63 23 0000000016 00000 n He had his moments of self-doubt and stark loneliness that in retrospect took their toll on his emotional and physical well-being. 1878: Augustus Tolton enrolls in St. Francis College, now Quincy University. ZeS6N ;'pw! His temperament allowed him to rejoice in the Lord while under trial. The record of his life is absent any show of retaliation toward anyone or anything. The Tolton family had remained regular worshippers at St. Peters. Tolton, rather, shows us how to wrestle through fear, hurt and disappointment and see these experiences through the prism of the Lords own suffering to redeem a people. And somehow and in some way our historic suffering must benefit or have benefited some body, some cause, only God knows. Objectives . He died at the age of 43 on July 9, 1897 after collapsing the previous day upon returning from a priests retreat during heat wave that swept the city that year. The First Colored Priest in the United States He abuses me in many ways and has told the bishop to send me out of this place. A Marked Man: Should Catholics Get Tattoos? Learning From Father Toltons Example: Cultivating Racial Reconciliation in the Body of Christ, Merrick Garland Grilled on Anti-Catholic, Pro-Abortion Bias During Senate Hearing, Memento Mori: Remember You Are Going to Die, In the Beginning Are the Words: Logos, Language and Liberty, West Virginia Passes Religious Freedom Restoration Act, The Thorn Brings Christs Passion to the Big Screen in a New Way. After he finished his basic education at 18, Tolton received the help of Father McGirr, who began to help him find a seminary. Augustine Tolton: Americas First BlackPriest | Solutio Problematis Omnes (aka "The Catholic Linker"), . : | .. Give a Gift SubscriptionBless friends, family or clergy with a gift of the Register. Shockingly, as we turn the page of the sacred story we find a new chapter unguessed and unforeseen: God forgave us even after what we did to his Son. Proudly powered by WordPress | Nevertheless the priesthood is a deep mystery and as deep as the holy Eucharist. Tolton lived in reduced circumstances. By BLACKCATHOLIC: My Writings Featured On Other Catholic Platforms, BLACKCATHOLIC Fervorinos: Brief Faith Talks to Get Your Faith Going videos Links and Transcripts, To The Questions You Might Have About BLACKCATHOLIC, Holy Brothers: Black Catholic Men Saints and Holy Ones, Saintly Sistas: Black Catholic Women Saints and Holy Ones, Patron Saint of BLACKCATHOLIC: Ven. Facets of the Church coopted what society legislated by norm and practiced by lawless custom as regards the races. At the end of the evening, when dinner had finished, the visitor observed how the younger priest took a set of Rosary beads hanging from a nail on a wall nearby and, with his mother beside him, knelt on the stone floor to recite that ancient prayer just as they always had done, not least when they had arrived frightened and anxious having fled slavery those years previously. Augustus and his mother both worked at the Harris Cigar Factory. He lies in an unmarked grave near the scene of a battle, having fought and died that his children would one day be free. WebTolton is a powerful multi-media live production, filled with music, drama and inspiring performances. As a teenager he taught religion classes to black children of Quincy, Illinois. The 19th century, with its many church denominations, aligned itself with the prevailing mood of the time. His parents were slaves, so he too became one. A religious figure like Tolton arises with unique inspiration amidst the chasms that remain apparent between black and white races in this country. The formality of applying to a seminary proved, however, more complicated for the young recently freed slave, especially as there had never been a man of his race at any seminary in America. The Augustus Tolton cause for canonization is announced by Cardinal Francis George. Venerable Augustus Tolton. Reproduction of material from this website without written permission, or unlicensed commercial use or The Toltons Catholic faith was deeply held and urged them on to action. Fr. 1882: The lower level of St. Marys Church in Chicago becomes Chicagos first Negro parish. O God, we give you thanks for your servant and priest, Fr. I am a Ethiopian American diocesan priest by the grace of God and prayers of our Lady. Mild mannered and self-effacing as he was, Father Tolton survived enormous odds during that particularly difficult period of US history that viewed him an anomaly as an achieving black man, former slave and Catholic priest. On the other hand, Christians worship a suffering Messiah and so have theologized about this conundrum over the course of two thousand years and counting. He suffered genuinely in that these priestly things were administered from a black face, black hands and a black heart. A blog for Catholic men that seeks to encourage virtue, the pursuit of holiness and the art of true masculinity. Just outside the train station he had been seen to stumble and then collapse on the city street. One account, in Wikipedia, says Stephen Elliot freed his slaves at the outbreak of the Civil War. Just as with his father before him, Gus was an idealist. But Father McGirr and the sisters who ran the school knew they needed to prepare both parents and students for the schools first black student. There is a German priest here who is jealous and contemptuous, Augustus wrote in his second report to the Propaganda. I will pray for your grandson and I know the Jesuits will welcome him with open arms if that is his calling. The stone rejected had become a living stone, one upon which now future generations would build. The Church is broad and liberal. He was first and foremost a priest. By all accounts, his mother, having continued to work as a priests housekeeper died an equally holy death in 1911. In hindsight, however, looking at that days generous welcome from all quarters, it was bitter sweet. He ordained on April 24, 1886, and sent back to the United States. Forces attempted to derail his priestly service in a creeping milieu of diversity that cried out for social and legal recognition but for which society and church could not respond at that time. We need good priests. Web835 North Rush Street Chicago, IL 60611-2030 . They embraced. Many others thought so: Following the required six years of study, Augustus was ordained a priest with his class Easter Vigil 24 April 1886 at St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome. If the United States has never before seen a black priest, it must see one now. As he looked at the face of the young man he noticed somethingLater he asked Gus what he had been praying about. 2. We shall see whether it deserves that honor. His body was returned there and interred in a simple grave by St. Peters Church. On February 24, 2011 his cause was opened by the Archdiocese of Chicago making him a Servant of God, the first step towards canonization. Country and all gave him the same answer: we arent ready to accept Negro... 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