Featured
Sean 'Diddy' Combs arrested on federal RICO, sex trafficking charges in New York
The rap mogul is due to appear in federal court Tuesday morning to be arraigned on charges carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Ohio symposium to celebrate Black Catholic bishops' 1984 pastoral letter
The event celebrates "What We Have Seen and Heard" coincides with the 20th death anniversary of Black Catholic liturgy pioneer Fr Clarence Rivers.
Plaque honoring Bishop Joseph Howze, first openly Black U.S. ordinary, to be dedicated in Biloxi
The ceremony will follow a Mass celebrated by Bishop Louis Kihneman III at Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church, a historically Black parish.
'We are Black and Catholic': 2024 Joint Conference gathers clergy, religious in Louisville for synodal action
The annual event brings together organizations comprising U.S. Black Catholic clergy, religious brothers, women religious, deacons, and seminarians.
Joint Conference to celebrate Black Catholic clergy, religious, and seminarians in Louisville
The annual gathering comes just weeks after the passing of National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus president Fr Norman Fischer.
Now more than ever, we need the pope to see and hear Black Catholics.
Ralph Moore, a year after petitioning Rome for Black saints, sees a crisis of good faith in Baltimore as it downsizes its Black Catholic footprint.
How to vote with Catholic social teaching—and Pope Francis
Dr. Ronald E. Smith on how the Church's guidance can help American voters make divinely informed decisions at the poll this fall and always.
Interview: Gloria Purvis talks racism, resistance at the 10th National Eucharistic Congress
She spoke with Briana Jansky following her keynote address on Saturday night in Indianapolis.
'The Bishop of Rome': What the new Vatican document tells us about the pope
Fr John McKenzie explains a new Vatican document that encourages Christian unity and takes a fresh look at the meaning of papal primacy.
Garvaundo Hamilton, award-winning singer and former Jesuit, dead at 36
The Jamaica native, who collapsed after a performance in early August, studied stateside as a seminarian and won the 2020 Karaoke World Championship.
Podcast: Dr. Mario Dance on the fight for Catholic campus missionaries of color
A Black Catholic retired veterinarian is working to diversify campus outreach in the U.S. Catholic Church. Long story short: The work ain't easy.
What I learned from a Perpetual Pilgrim on his way to the National Eucharistic Congress
Dr. Alice Prince recounts her experience meeting Patrick Fayad during his stop in St. Louis on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.
ESSENCE Festival panels cover health equity at future XULA medical school campus
The event was hosted by the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine (XOCOM), announced two years ago and currently seeking accreditation.
Review: 'The Deliverance' brings fresh Black faith to horror genre
Briana Jansky says the new Lee Daniels flick integrates the African-American experience with a positive view of Christianity that's all too rare.
Investigation: Mother Wilhelmina Lancaster's lack of decomposition 'atypical'
The Black Benedictine nun was exhumed in 2023 to international fanfare when her body was found to be undecayed after four years of entombment.
Celia Cruz honored with U.S. quarter—a first for an Afro-Latin American
The Cuban-American singer, born 99 years ago this fall, is the second musician ever to appear on a U.S. coin.
Jackson councilwoman Angelique Lee resigns ahead of bribery guilty plea
The Mississippi Black Catholic was indicted Wednesday after accepting benefits from undercover FBI agents in exchange for political favors.
S.C. court ruling on vouchers will hurt low-income families, Charleston Diocese says
South Carolina's high court ruled this week that a program allowing parents to use public funding for private schools is unconstitutional.
Podcast: Dr. Mario Dance on the fight for Catholic campus missionaries of color
A Black Catholic retired veterinarian is working to diversify campus outreach in the U.S. Catholic Church. Long story short: The work ain't easy.
Institute for Black Catholic Studies honors Eucharistic Revival on its own terms in New Orleans
Adoration infused with Black Catholic spirituality punctuated the three-week session of graduate studies at Xavier University of Louisiana.
ESSENCE Festival panels cover health equity at future XULA medical school campus
The event was hosted by the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine (XOCOM), announced two years ago and currently seeking accreditation.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs arrested on federal RICO, sex trafficking charges in New York
The rap mogul is due to appear in federal court Tuesday morning to be arraigned on charges carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison.
James Earl Jones, legendary voice and theater actor, dead at 93
The famed stage and film actor was the voice behind Darth Vader and Mufasa, among other iconic roles in his nearly seven-decade career.
Another perspective on 'The Forge', an inspiring film for all Christians
Sr Stephanie Henry responds to a critical review of the new evangelical film, which promotes prayer, peer mentorship, and personal development.
Review: 'The Forge' is a Black Christian film with a conservative White ethos
The new Kendrick Brothers film aims to inspire with the theme of discipleship but lands awkwardly with an undercurrent of respectability politics.
Fr Louis J. Twomey: Jesuit, activist, and ally to Dr. Martin Luther King
In a newly discovered 1974 interview, a New Orleans activist calls the Jesuit priest an unsung hero of the Civil Rights Movement.
'We are Black and Catholic': 2024 Joint Conference gathers clergy, religious in Louisville for synodal action
The annual event brings together organizations comprising U.S. Black Catholic clergy, religious brothers, women religious, deacons, and seminarians.
From a funeral to a wedding: The joy-filled homegoing of Fr Norman Fischer
Ali Mumbach reflects on a powerful display of love and remembrance for a Black Catholic priest gone long too soon.
Farewell to Sacred Heart Church: A unique community of faith in Joliet
Andrew Lyke on the impact of a recently closed Black Catholic parish in Northern Illinois.
Poem: ALTAR CALL
You call her down to the altar to pray for her while placing an A on her wardrobe. You see a sin that needs rectifying. An error in her ways and a light that is dying since she's alone, clutching a womb. She's in a room
Poem: PEACE ON EARTH, LET THE ROOSTER CROW
Oh Lord, let us repent from sin. We are plagued by temptation every single day. Some days are bright, and some are dark and dreary. It seems like fog settles over the land. As the rooster crows. Because even the rooster knows the time is not right. When the time
Poem: 'NEW BEGINNINGS, PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND.'
The world is a tinder box of matches. The fire is burning strong. As you watch it crackle and burn. You must pause and wonder. When did the fire begin? It seems that there is a new beginning. But there is no peace for all mankind. Listen to the distant
Poem: DISBELIEF NO MORE
I declare that Thou, Who thy can thinly see Is illogically the source of my belief And not my DISBELIEF. My eyes fool me so Because it is in your full vision that I desire to go. Thank You that you are good and forgiving Despite my misgivings. Inexpressible are
Editors' Picks
Bishop Joseph Perry of Chicago retires, widening Black episcopal void
With the retirement of the 75-year-old prelate, there remain only four active African-American Catholic bishops, three of whom were born in the U.S.
I left the monastery—but I'm still discerning.
A letter from a young Black Catholic seminarian in Seattle explains his discernment of the priesthood, call to religious life, and how he's figuring it all out.
Remembering Mother Wilhelmina, the teacher
Ralph Moore Jr. reflects on his time as a student of a late Black nun currently making waves in rural Missouri.