CHARLOTTE — Praise, thanksgiving, personal testimonies and choral performances that “took the audience to church” were hallmarks of a Catholic cultural event that recently brought parishioners young and old, and of many races, together in fellowship at the MACS Fine Arts Center.
Our Lady of Consolation Church, a historically Black parish in Charlotte, hosted the Nov. 19 event as a tribute to the Diocese of Charlotte’s 50th anniversary this year and to raise awareness of African Americans’ contributions to the Church during Black Catholic History Month in November.
Organizers at the event proudly wore T-shirts with the images of the six Black Catholics being honored – Venerables Mother Henriette Delille, Father Augustus Tolton and Pierre Toussaint, and Servants of God Mother Mary Lange, Julia Greeley and Sister Thea Bowman.
A trio of African drummers welcomed more than 200 attendees to the event. Highlights of the event also included separate performances by members of Charlotte Catholic High School’s choir and men from Our Lady of Consolation Parish’s award-winning choir.
Among those who turned out were Edward and Gladys Hood, parishioners of Our Lady of Consolation Church for more than 50 years. The couple are happy to see these holy men and women being recognized for their sanctity and contributions to the Church.
They had the opportunity to see Sister Thea Bowman in person when she visited North Carolina in the 1980s.
“It was amazing! To be near her, it was like God had brought her to us,” Gladys Hood recalled. “She always spoke about how she was a child of God. She was an intelligent woman. She was a teacher. She always taught about Jesus. She deserves to be a saint.”
Toni Tupponce, chair of the Black Culture Commission at Our Lady of Consolation Parish, served as the event’s emcee. She spoke about her experience growing up as a Black Catholic in a predominantly Baptist family and as a child attending Catholic school in her small community in Virginia during the time of desegregation.
She shared that her Catholic mother bought her books with saints in them to help satisfy her curiosity and assist her in picking a saint name for her confirmation. “I didn’t find a saint that looked like me...I picked St. Lucy because my grandmother’s name was Lucy,” Tupponce said.
While the Church celebrates many Black saints worldwide, this was an opportunity to learn more about six African American Catholics under consideration for sainthood, with the screening of the documentary, “A Place at the Table – African Americans on the Path to Sainthood.”
She considers many of her ancestors worthy of sainthood, “considering all we have been through in this country and we’re still here. We have to be standing on the shoulders on some extraordinarily holy people!”
Our Lady of Consolation parishioner and St. Joseph College seminarian, James Johnson, brought three of his brother seminarians to the event.
“I wanted to bring the seminarians along to see a different aspect of the Church. I thought it was important for them to see that as Black Catholics we do have ‘a place at the table,’ as the film is called,” Johnson said.
“For me, it is important to see others (saints) that look like me and who have had a similar upbringing as me. It gives me hope to continue my discernment process. I pray that I can have a great impact on the Church, too. I look to them as good examples to follow,” he added.
“I am really happy!” said Father Basile Sede, pastor of Our Lady of Consolation Parish. “It is historic to be part of this event. I see people from parishes around the diocese. This (film) gives us an opportunity to know that people like this existed and to go back and read more about their lives. It is very enriching.”
Tupponce added, “As an African American, I’ve realized that I’ve always learned to honor the ancestors and to know that they are in heaven looking down on all of us. That’s who these saints are. They are our exemplary ancestors looking down on us and interceding for us with the Father.”
— SueAnn Howell. Photos by SueAnn Howell.
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Find out more about Black Catholic History Month.
