1`' E,D2`%XX\DrE +LRZ*IF `6J5=@ 6w I am a Ethiopian American diocesan priest by the grace of God and prayers of our Lady. Some were surprised that he had chosen to be buried in the town that had shunned him. His parents were both slaves of Catholic families and had been married in the Catholic Church the same St. Peters where Augustus and his two siblings were baptized. Father Augustus Tolton is considered, along with the Healy Brothers, among the very first African American priests in the United States. 0000002471 00000 n Refused seminary training in this country because of his race, these same sympathetic priests and nuns helped him to receive a proper education and eventually seminary formation in Rome. Sign up for 6 Free IssuesTry us out with a free trial subscription. With help from an Irish Franciscan priest, Peter McGirr, he was accepted to study in Rome. New York Times, November 11, 1889, The Catholic Church deplores a double slavery that of the mind and that of the body. I was a poor slave boy but the priests of the Church did not disdain me. Fr. He lived the Gospel within adversity and he did so faithfully for his entire life in a simple and loving way. His goodness easily elicits our affection and our empathy, a goodness that attracted people of whatever background to his sermons and ministrations and counsel. He died at the age of 43 on July 9, 1897 after collapsing the previous day upon returning from a priests retreat during heat wave that swept the city that year. Saints are of human stock but have the genius to step forward and bring the gospel message to the contradictions of their time. On June 12, 2019, Tolton was declared Venerable by Pope Francis I, the second step towards canonization. That day he did. Laid to rest on that July day in 1897, and having entered into the mysterious freedom of the Children of God where there is neither Greek nor Jew, neither freed nor slave Fr. Father Tolton modeled all this in its fullness and this is why he is remembered to this day especially in the black Catholic community. He tackled it head on with sermons reminding all listening that as children of God there was but one Father and whatever you do to the least you do to Him. EIN 27-4581132 They started with the Franciscans who had a monastery in a nearby town, but they were the first to reject Augustus. As an ambulance was called, a crowd gathered around the unusual sight of a black man dressed in a faded cassock. By all accounts, his mother, having continued to work as a priests housekeeper died an equally holy death in 1911. SubscribeStart your Register subscription today. 0000004756 00000 n 262 0 obj <> endobj After many years he was eventually accepted at a Pontifical university in Rome. Around his bedside were the hospital chaplain who had administered the Last Rites, some nuns praying, and his mother. Mrs. Henderson, I am a product of Jesuit High School and Spring Hill College. At the time Bishop Healy was ordained a priest, he identified as an Irish-American; it was not obvious from his appearance that he had any African-American ancestry, and no one outside of his mentors in the seminary knew that, legally, he was black. He was born a slave in Missouri and escaped to Quincy, Illinois, through the Underground Railroad. His modeling shows us how to witness to the Gospel in midst of racial tension and instances of racial hatred that erupt still from time to time. She had colored saints Augustine, Benedict the Moor, Monica. It takes a strong person of faith to place their suffering on the paten and in the chalice of the sacrifice we offer each day. He was 43. Augustus witnessed mistreatment of his people and became a victim himself of such mistreatment. Augustine Tolton was now, at last, truly free. I'm in a perfectly happy mood, you asshole. In the end, to his surprise, he was sent back to where he had come from. 0000012723 00000 n monetization of National Catholic Register RSS feeds is strictly prohibited. He first ministered to black Catholics in Quincy, Illinois and was later transferred to Chicago. The 19th century, with its many church denominations, aligned itself with the prevailing mood of the time. The Catholic Church deplores a double slavery that of the mind and that of the body. Augustus Tolton, Black Catholic Organizations and Religious Orders, Black Catholic Blogs and Journals/Magazines, Sunday in a TweetShell for the Gospel for the 1st Sunday of Lent (Year A) [February 26, 2023] Matthew 4:1-11, Sunday in a TweetShell for the Gospel for the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A) [February 19, 2023] Matthew 5:38-48. He was always conscious that his vocation was as a result of his mothers example and the Christian home she had provided for him, in spite of everything. At night the river looked deeper than ever as the woman rowed across it with her three small children. Augustus, his mother, and three brothers and sisters escaped to the North where they could live as free The Saintly Life of Father Augustus Tolton - Catholic Exchange Tolton is a patron for BLACKCATHOLIC. Both black and white, Catholic and non-Catholic came to see the young man who had left a much-loved friend and fellow worker and who now returned in a black soutane with a red sash. In hindsight, however, looking at that days generous welcome from all quarters, it was bitter sweet. His congregation was largely poor, ill-educated ex-slaves, with all the resultant ills of depression and violence attending those who, for varying reasons, had given up on life. With his bishops approval, the young priest set about raising funds for a church. The Toltons Catholic faith was deeply held and urged them on to action. Perhaps they had forgotten that it was there, decades earlier, that a frightened black woman had come with her three small children having fled slavery to find freedom, and where a hope for a better future was born for her and her children. She endeavors to free us of both. Sign-up for E-NewsletterGet Register Updates sent daily or weeklyto your inbox. Sponsor this show, and be inspired by Father Augustus Tolton's perseverance and faith. In the meantime, we look to the scriptures to find inspiration for our Christian lifestyle in the choices we make, solutions to problems and to simply live each days challenges. Nevertheless, Mrs Tolton soon found work and, thereafter, supported her children as best she could. A Marked Man: Should Catholics Get Tattoos? That was not an unusual sight; however, that day there was a change. We may not be He is 14 years old. 0000002077 00000 n He loved his Catholic faith. 0000001420 00000 n 2. Proudly powered by WordPress | Renew or manage your subscription here. Shockingly, as we turn the page of the sacred story we find a new chapter unguessed and unforeseen: God forgave us even after what we did to his Son. The Production Everyone was kind to me, Father Tolton recalled years later. God pulled him through a sinful situation. Having already passed the states House of Delegates, the bill has only to be signed by Republican Gov. One could even say it was Fr. He was, however, the first priest whose identity as an African-American was publicly acknolwedged at the time of his ordination. Augustine Tolton was alone on a night train in a segregated carriage heading to Chicago where he had been assigned to care for that citys growing black population. He was from Missouri and died in Chicago, but he was ordained by and for Springfield in IL., where he was buried. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Racial prejudice was not confined to the South. He was born into slavery and escaped to freedom with his mother and siblings under harrowing circumstances. The word no was spat in Toltons face more often than not because of his skin color. The Church is broad and liberal. Toltons homecoming caused a stir. Articles on the death of Father Tolton in The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Daily News. It is precisely this point where Easter faith begins. In the case of Augustus Tolton it is the long period of black slavery in this country and the nations Civil War foisting a resolution to uncompensated black servitude and the tumultuous period of Reconstruction of a nation torn to shreds over this issue. His time in Quincy, though, was short-lived. Despite his open and generous manner, his learning and piety, his hard work and dedication, and above all his priestly heart and its desire for souls, he was to be defamed, insulted and ultimately rejected. His human virtues and obvious piety did not go unremarked by the redoubtable Fr. Web1878 Augustus Tolton enrolls in St. Francis College, now Quincy University. 1854: Augustus is born to Martha Jane and Peter Paul Tolton in Missouri on April 1. In this Church we do not have to fight for our rights because we are black. America has been called the most enlightened nation in the world. Having picked up German in Quincy, he was to leave Europe with French and Italian mastered, to say nothing of Latin. Being the first black Catholic priest he was thrust as the first in a long line of black leaders who summoned the Church to embrace its black brothers and sisters. 348 0 obj <> endobj He also found time to help start a Catholic school for Blacks. We have seen over the many years a variety of ways to confront the evil of racism, social protest violent and non-violent, academically through oratory, literature, prose and story-telling. Banners announcing the Servant of God Father Augustus Tolton as the first African American diocesan priest were displayed in locations around the City of Chicago that had special significance for Father Tolton's life and legacy. This same year, the Civil War ends on April 26. Their efforts were remarkable in face of those odds and likely those odds could have proven too high to overcome. And we each participate in this unfortunate victimization in varying degrees. Rome wrote to Bishop Ryan for an explanation. His idealism was not political though; it was religious. The Faith is more than bricks and mortar, however, and, in 2011, after an initial investigation at the behest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Fr. Exorcist Responds to Sensationalized Russell Crowe Exorcism Film on Father Amorth, Ash Wednesday Breaks All the Rules of Modern ChurchThink, and More Great Links! Augustine Tolton was born 1 April, 1854. The authorities in Rome could see no reason why he could not minister to his co-religionists there, not least those of his own race. He wanted nothing less than for Father Gus to leave. Toltons earliest schooling was interrupted by the protests of his peers and adults or while having to work as a laborer in bottling and saddle making factories and as a church janitor to help his mother support their family. Our Lady Of Sorrows help us i. Not till Judgment Day will we have an answer to the why of black suffering and black ignominy, or dare we say, Black Holocaust? He receives special instruction because he was far advanced than other students. He is the creator and host of the EWTN television series They Might Be Saints and author of the book They Might Be Saints (EWTN Publishing 2021) about Americans on the path to sainthood and the search for canonization miracles. They leave us with good thoughts and smiles on our faces; each of them with a strong sense of justice pushing critically through the moral and ethical paradoxes of those times; each of them unafraid to permit their pastoral efforts to be reflective of their views and values. The next day Father Tolton said his first Mass, with thousands left standing outside since there was no more room in the church. His father, Peter, was an honest and good man well liked by his slave owner for whom he worked hard. Finally, a second appeal to the Urban College through the Franciscans lead to Augustus acceptance. At times you were publicly exposed to insult and trial; at other times you associated yourselves with those who were being so dealt with do not, then surrender your confidence; it will have great reward. Discuss human rights as related to problems of He abuses me in many ways and has told the bishop to send me out of this place. She is the Church for our people. Toltons legacy says to us that transformation is possible through suffering. Bishop Baltes was willing to have him and the diocese would cover his seminary expenses. His solemn Requiem Mass was attended by more than 100 brother priests and a crowd that overflowed the church. He suffered genuinely in that these priestly things were administered from a black face, black hands and a black heart. He was more than a fundraiser though. In that social inequities remain apparent in our times Tolton offers strident Christians a model of deportment that is useful in what it can mean for the reconciliation of the races. 19th century America placed dark skin at the bottom of the color pyramid. 0000005833 00000 n He could smile to the world while suffering; his gentle spirit essentially emanating from an inner disposition of goodness. fQn_PzAdx%Q~b , 73G':rl4=@ Order Bulk SubscriptionsGet a discount on 6 or more copies sent to your parish, organization We also find inspiration in the lives of those who live that gospel with heroic seriousness and who model for us Christ like disposition and behavior. K. V. Turley is a London based freelance writer and filmmaker with a degree in theology from the Maryvale Institute. In Chicago this year, the Haymarket Riot occurred on May 4 on Des Plaines Street north of Randolph Street. He expects to become a missionary priest in Africa. hb```b``^ @167}beP,`~ F Ordained in Rome, Italy, April 24, 1886 document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The building was later razed to the ground, unless it was in a pit! This post originally appeared at Catholic Exchange and is reprinted with permission. Tolton is the first African American ordained for the priesthood in the United States. Mass is celebrated there until 1889. ZeS6N ;'pw! Mrs Henderson, please know that your grandson will be in my prayers. Only one person Virginia,who volunteers for the Jesuits she is praying for his priesthood daily with me. Toltons Palm Sunday. Fr. Gus participated as much as he could in parish activities: learning to serve Holy Mass, and then going on to be a lay catechist. EWTN News, Inc. is the worlds largest Catholic news organization, comprised of television, radio, Peter talked to his wife, Martha, of his desire to escape and enlist in the Union army. He refused to be discouraged or to blame anyone. Standing at the altar the priest talks to God in conversation about his only begotten Sons victimization so that sins may be forgiven. Father Tolton is a good priest, but he wants to create a kind of society which is not feasible in this place, was the bishops explanation. WebFather Augustus Tolton was a priest who, for the love of souls, tore down a racial barrier, reluctantly and single-handedly, on direct orders from Rome. THEY MIGHT BE SAINTS-VEN. After some time in Chicago he led the establishment of an ethnically black Catholic parish, St. Monicas, which still survives to this day as St. Elizabeths. And, with that, one of her children, Augustine Tolton, later to become the first African-American to be ordained priest, was freed. endstream endobj startxref McGirr. hb```w@(cy]F `y5m\,?pc, @410i1 ap$SS?A70Ma*|lq?3f 020EiF r0 ,. trailer <]/Prev 469030>> startxref 0 %%EOF 85 0 obj <>stream 1865: Augustus Tolton entered St. Boniface School and left a month later because parish and staff were being threatened and harassed by his presence. I am praying for the smooth cause of his sainthood. In todays Catholic Church the same problems exist. He also learned to serve Mass. My grandson Ignatius wants to become a Jesuit Priest. Just over three years after his triumphal return, Fr. %PDF-1.5 % But society could not perceive nor accept that he was a priest for both black and white. Jesus saved the world precisely as a victim not as a celebrity or military general. Is remembered to this day especially in the town that had shunned him is possible through.. 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