February/March 2001

Father Augustus Tolton:
leading the way so that others may follow

By Michael Wamble
Editor / Lead Reporter

Father who?

It's that time of year again.

Each February well-intentioned educators scramble to round-up "the usual suspects" to fill out the categories.

Need a writer? Check the Harlem Renaissance.

Need a scientist? Mae C. Jemison is (was) out of this world.

Need a journalist? Won't Ida B. Wells-Barnett do?

Need an entertainer/athlete? No problem. Pick a decade.

Each Black History Month when teachers, parents and young people search out those individuals often forgotten in historical pages–Web or otherwise–seldom do religious role models who haven't had their birthday made into a national holiday receive mention.

But one man, both Black and Catholic, deserves recognition for his brave attempt to changing the landscape of the Catholic Church and the attitudes in Chicago and throughout the United States.

This man was blessed to keep correspondence with St. Katherine Drexel.

And his legacy continues to inspire young Black men seeking the priesthood, along with lay Black Catholics, with designs on ministry within their communities.

Born into slavery in 1854, Augustus Tolton, would soon know some form of freedom in the U.S. outside of Missouri.

In the arms of his mother Martha, Tolton crossed the Mississippi River into Western Illinois. Martha and her three children settled in the quiet town of Quincy.

Tolton’s story, told in the seminal book, "The History of Black Catholics in the United States" by Benedictine Father Cyprian Davis, details a young man with little given his family’s poverty.

In the face of financial and societal obstacles, Tolton boldly declared his desire to become a Catholic priest. But like Mary and Joseph in search of lodging, no U.S. seminary welcomed him.

Yes, there had been "Black" priests, most notably the Healy brothers. The first of the three Healys was ordained the year Tolton was born. But like the title character in Nella Larsen's classic book, the Healys, sons of their mother's slavemaster, avoided sinking in the quicksand of racism by "passing."

Even if Tolton wanted to deny his Blackness, he couldn't. Mother Africa had embraced his skin with an indelible kiss.

Because of the racism he faced in the U.S., Tolton was forced to leave the country to pursue the priesthood.

In 1880, Tolton entered the College of Sacred Propaganda in Rome. Six years later, Tolton realized his dream when he was ordained on April 24, 1886.

Tolton and other church officials were certain that he would soon be deployed as a missionary, possibly to Africa, or might serve out his ordained life within the Vatican.

But God had other plans for him.

Church hierarchy saw in Tolton, the opportunity to press the U.S. on the issue of race. Only months after his first Mass in Rome at the tomb of St. Peter, Tolton was homeward bound.

Back in Illinois, he spent three short years in Quincy. Stories of his preaching skills quickly spread throughout the town, attracting both Black and white Catholics to hear him proclaim the Gospel.

Tolton heeded the call of Chicago’s first archbishop, Patrick Feehan, and made Chicago his sweet home in 1890. He became the shepherd of a growing congregation in the basement of Old St. Mary’s Church.

The congregation was transformed by Tolton into St. Monica Parish (now St. Elizabeth Parish), the Mother Church of Black Catholics in Chicago. Under his leadership and the financial assistance of St. Katherine Drexel, foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, Tolton established the first Black Catholic school in the Chicago Archdiocese.

On March 3, Drexel’s order and St. Elizabeth School will celebrate the saint forever joined to Tolton in the history of Black Catholic Chicago at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Hyde Park.

That we may have Black priests

Over 100 years after Tolton’s death at age 43, Black Catholics in Chicago continue to yearn for priests who share their cultural sensibilities.

According to Father David Jones, president of Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary and pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, on the near South Side, the Chicago Archdiocese is "at a deficit" in terms of the number of blacks (African and African-American) in priest formation programs.

During the Nov. 2000, Black Catholic Convocation, Jones made it clear that the amount of people following in Tolton’s footsteps could be–and should be–increased. "The number one thing we have to do is help people understand that we have to nurture vocations."

Still he acknowledged, there are reasons to be hopeful as young Black men from Chicago begin the journey of following in Tolton’s footsteps.

Said Jones, a black priest in Chicago, "We have plenty of people in our parishes, lots of people in our homes, lots of folks on our streets who could be invited to consider being a priest. The problem is that we don’t do a very good of inviting people to concern pursuing a vocation.

"And it must be pursued, a person must go through a formation program and a discernment program to make sure that is what God is calling a person toward. But that comes in response of looking at the needs of our people. That’s the best way to inspire someone to consider the priesthood."

The needs of the black community was one of the motivating factors that attracted Troy Kelley into investigating what it would take to become a priest.

The Redemptorist candidate knows who Tolton was and what he represents, yet the tall, thick-shouldered teen said he didn’t see this pioneer as a source of inspiration. Instead, Kelley looked inward and listened to the vocational call within in his soul.

Still one of the patients Kelley visits as part of his volunteer service at Holy Cross Hospital often reminds him he is preparing to follow in courageous footsteps.

Mario Borha, an almost 15-year-old senior of Nigerian heritage at Quigley, is also following in Tolton’s footsteps.

Given his height nearing 6’1" Borha’s age isn’t always apparent, but looking at his chocolate skin and tight-knit hair, their is no confusion about his ethnicity.

"We have so many different races here at Quigley. The school is completely diversified. I’ve always been raised to see and be comfortable around everybody," said Borha.

"That’s not to say that I’m not proud of my heritage. I know that I’m African-American and I’m very proud of that. And I will never deny that. It’s just that I try not to make distinctions between people."

Borha said while the accomplishments of Tolton seem to have taken place in another world, the life of the historic priest is a source of strength on the teen’s spiritual journey.

"When you think of Father Tolton: the first African-American priest, the first pastor of the first African-American parish, it’s…He paved the way for people like me who want to become priests. Without him opening the door, I wouldn’t be able to be here today," the senior said.

Should Borha continue in his quest to become a priest, he would become one of the youngest priests in Chicago Archdiocesan history.

One of the forgotten facts about Tolton is that both his parishes in Quincy and St. Monica’s in Chicago, were for many years "integrated."

Just as in movie houses and other public spaces, churches also kept Blacks separated from whites. But in areas designated as "Black places," whites often could be found.

The case was true at St. Monica’s, where Blacks, whites and children of interracial marriages were welcomed by Tolton.

Black men, said Jones, after the convocation, can follow in the footsteps of Tolton by ministering to both white and Black Catholics.

"White parishes need to know the experience of having pastors who are culturally different than they are," he said. "That would be a wonderful gift, to be able to share, but that only happens if we get more Black priests."

"I am because We are"

But the priesthood isn’t the only area of ministry in which Tolton’s sacrifice and success continues to inspire persons of the African Diaspora to lead by example.

At Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park, a unique adult ministry formation program keeps Tolton’s name alive in the minds and hearts of Black Catholic Chicago.

Founded by Adrian Dominican Sister Jamie T. Phelps in 1989, the Augustus Tolton Pastoral Ministry Program at CTU, has been instrumental in developing Black Catholic leadership–both lay and religious.

For Vanessa White, director of the Tolton program, the pioneering priest is "an inspiring reminder of what Black Catholics can accomplish in Chicago and throughout the country."

Across from her desk a CTU, stands a small table where two items rest: a small dark, wooden cross and a framed black-and-white photo of Tolton.

"As Black Catholics, we must be about honoring the legacies of those who have gone before us to make contributions within the universal Church," said White. "I am because we are."

White, a vibrant and engaging lay minister, is herself a reminder that men and women draw inspiration from Tolton’s life. In fact, the majority of participants in the Tolton program have been women.

Last year White, a graduate of the Tolton program, began the first of a series of lectures to be held each year at CTU to celebrated the contributions of African-Americans in the Catholic Church.

Davis, author of "The History of Black Catholics," delivered the inaugural Tolton lecture at CTU.

The lecture can be found on the Web at http://www.ctu.edu./tolton.html

This year, Dr. Diana Hayes, associate professor of theology at Georgetown University, will be the featured lecturer 4 p.m. Feb. 27 at CTU.

Hayes, author of "And Still We Rise: An Introduction to Black Liberation Theology" and co-author of "Taking Down Our Harps: Black Catholics in the U.S." (with Davis).

The address by Hayes is but one event planned for the enrichment of Black Catholics.

On Feb. 24, the program will begin a week of events with "Harambee!" an evening of prayer, food and music. The duo, "In the Spirit," will provide musical entertainment through Afrocentric tales and rhythms. A book fair is planned for later in the week.

Beyond his desire to succeed, Tolton was aided by a personality which gave this pioneer "a quiet strength."

During his visit last year to CTU, Davis credited Tolton’s temperament, using phrases often heard by baseball historians in relation to Jackie Robinson.

"I certainly think from the letters he wrote–though we don’t have a diary–you could say he personalized his letters to Katherine Drexel," said Davis.

"Here is a man, who was extremely lonely. He had no peers. His mother was a housekeeper. The family was poor. The people of his parish were poor. There never seemed to be much camaraderie in his life.

Said Davis, "In his letters to Mother Katherine Drexel, he wrote to her that ‘They watch me.’ He knew that at the first misstep he made, everyone would jump on him. He was under a terrible amount of pressure because he was the first."

But he is not the only historical figure forgotten during Black History.

This February, March and throughout 2001, take time to learn more about Father Augustus Tolton and other religious pioneers who have impacted both Black History and Black Catholic History.

For a biography of Father Tolton online check out http://quincy.edu/tolton/bio.html

For more information about the Tolton program and upcoming events at CTU contact Vanessa White at (773) 753-7478.