St. Augustine Church in New Orleans returns to in-building worship after nearly five years
Damage from Hurricane Ida rendered the edifice unsafe in 2021, leading to an extended fundraising campaign and a historic preservation grant.
Architecture
Charlotte's Black Catholic church to receive $4 million grant for repairs
Additional matching funds for the historic parish will be unlocked pending the success of a $1.5M capital campaign set to launch next year.
Black Catholic church in Puerto Rico gets $500k grant for Hurricane Maria repairs
The 194-year-old Iglesia San Mateo de Cangrejos in San Juan, founded by the formerly enslaved, suffered damage during Hurricane Maria in 2017.
The fetters and the font: How slavery complicates Black history at Belmont Abbey College
Matt Memrick recounts how a Benedictine college in North Carolina has interpreted a unique baptismal font—and how the community has responded.
Pope Leo XIV's childhood home in Dolton, Illinois, named historic landmark
The brick home near Chicago's South Side has been a site of intrigue since the conclave and will soon be a publicly accessible historic site.
St. Patrick Catholic Church in Charleston gets $500k preservation grant
The matching funds will support the historic Black parish's capital campaign, with the end goal of an onsite African-American Heritage Center
Historic Black Catholic school complex in Acadiana will be site of new library
The Holy Rosary Institute property in Lafayette will house the Northeast Regional Library, which faced repeated delays and several site changes.
Fire damages historic Detroit church complex connected to Black Catholics
The abandoned St. Agnes Church, most recently known as Martyr of Uganda Parish, was largely saved from a fire that is still under investigation.
Reconstructed Fort Mose, first free Black settlement in America, opening May 9
The $3M project is the fruit of decades of advocacy promoting the Spanish Black Catholic site in St. Augustine, Florida—the nation's oldest city.
Drexel Village affordable housing plan in Black Boston receives city approval
The project partners a Black-owned architecture firm, a Black Catholic parish, and the Archdiocese of Boston's Planning Office for Urban Affairs.
Fort Mose concert series celebrates Black history in the nation's oldest city
The annual event features two weekends of music, with part of the proceeds helping preserve the history of America's first free Black settlement.
Charleston parish plans renovation, African-American cultural center
The 186-year-old congregation is central to the history of Charleston Black Catholics, and is the only Black parish left in the city limits.
Washington School for Girls breaks ground on $25M expansion
The 25-year-old Black Catholic institution, currently split between two campuses in Southeast D.C., hopes to complete the new build by November 2025.
New Orleans' St. Augustine Catholic Church nets part of $4M preservation grants
The 183-year-old Catholic parish, home to major figures of Black history, is one of 31 Black churches awarded funding in the new round of grants.
Construction begins on Fort Mose rebuild in St. Augustine, Florida
The historic Catholic settlement was the first Black town in what would become the United States, built just north of the nation's oldest city.
2024 Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Series to help fund rebuild of Black Catholic settlement
The annual Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Series, now in its third year, will be held over two weekends at the ruins of Fort Mose in St. Augustine, Florida.