America's First Black Priest One Step Closer to Sainthood

America's First Black Priest One Step Closer to Sainthood

by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/10/02/America-s-First-Black-Priest-One-Step-Closer-to-Sainthood

Born into slavery and later ordained in Rome, the first African-American diocesan priest has just taken a big step toward being recognized as a Catholic saint.

On Monday, the Archdiocese of Chicago closed the final diocesan phase of the investigation into the life and virtues of Father Augustus Tolton (1854-1897).

The ceremony took place on the feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, with a large group of the faithful from the Dioceses of Springfield, Illinois and Jefferson City, Missouri in attendance.

Cardinal Francis George wished to preside personally over the closing ceremony of the process despite his poor health, saying he believes that promoting Fr. Tolton’s cause for sainthood was one of the most important things he did in all his years as Archbishop of Chicago.

As Cardinal George wrote in 2010: “Many Catholics might not ever have heard of Fr. Augustus Tolton, but black Catholics most probably have.”

At the ceremony, Bishop Joseph Perry, the “postulator” of Tolton’s cause for sainthood, gave a report on the progress of the four-year study and spoke of Tolton’s reputation of holiness.

                                             

Born into a family of slaves, Tolton’s baptismal record doesn’t even mention his name but simply reads: “A colored child, born April 1, 1854, son of Peter Tolton and Martha Chisley, property of Stephen Eliot; Mrs. Stephen Eliot, sponsor; May 29, 1854. (signed) Father John O'Sullivan.”

Tolton was ordained a priest on April 4, 1886 at the Pope’s cathedral—the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome. He celebrated his first Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on April 25, 1886, Easter Sunday.

Augustus Tolton entered the seminary with the intention of going as missionary to Africa, but the day before his ordination, his superior, Cardinal Simeoni, told Augustus that he was being sent back to the United States, to the Diocese of Alton, Illinois, his home diocese.

“It was said that I would be the only priest of my race in America and would not likely succeed,” Tolton once wrote. But “Cardinal Simeoni said, ‘America has been called the most enlightened nation; we’ll see if it deserves that honor. If America has never seen a black priest, it has to see one now.’”

On moving later to Chicago, “Father Gus,” as he was called, started the first officially recognized African-American Catholic parish in the country—Saint Monica’s, named after the mother of Saint Augustine, Father Tolton’s patron saint.

At that time, Father Tolton maintained a correspondence with the future saint Mother Katharine Drexel, who founded educational institutions for blacks and American Indians. Mother Drexel was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000.

Tolton died during a heat wave in Chicago in July of 1897, and his body is buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery in Quincy, where he wished to be buried.

The voluminous documentation comprising the study of Tolton’s life was bound with red ribbon and stamped with the official seal of the Archdiocese of Chicago in melted wax, to be sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican. A new process will now begin to move the priest toward beatification.

Francis George

Francis E. George is an archbishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, a cardinal at the Roman Catholic Church, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Note: Theodore E. McCarrick is a cardinal at the Roman Catholic Church, was an archbishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, and a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (think tank).

Henrietta Holsman Fore is a trustee at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (think tank), a member of the Belizean Grove, and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Belizean_Grove is the equivalent to the male-only social group, the Bohemian Club.

Henry A. Kissinger is a trustee at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (think tank), a member of the Bohemian Club, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

James S. Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.                                                                     

Lester Crown was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.                                                                                        

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Francis E. George is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, an archbishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, and a cardinal at the Roman Catholic Church.

papal knighthood is an honor conferred by pope from the Roman Catholic Church.

John J. Studzinski is a papal knighthood knight, a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and a director at the Human Rights Watch.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), the Human Rights Watch, and the Catholic Relief Services.

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and a benefactor at the Human Rights Watch.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Human Rights Watch, and the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Anne Welsh McNulty is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and was a managing director at the Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

James S. Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.        

Lester Crown was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Kathleen Brown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a senior adviser at the Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Michael Hintze was the head of equity trading, London for the Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and is a papal knighthood knight.

papal knighthood is an honor conferred by pope from the Roman Catholic Church.

Francis E. George is a cardinal at the Roman Catholic Church, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an archbishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.