February is Black History Month, making it the perfect time to get to know the “Saintly Seven”: seven Black American Catholics on the road to canonization.
While the Church honors many Black saints from other nations — including St. Josephine Bakhita, St. Martin de Porres, St. Monica of Hippo, St. Augustine of Hippo, and St. Charles Lwanga — there are no canonized African American saints at this point.
But there is the Saintly Seven, who give a powerful witness to the Church and the world. The US bishops' web page about them states:
Each has demonstrated a life of virtue and deep faith, and their causes have been officially opened. Their lives stand as powerful testimonies to the pursuit of racial justice and reconciliation — both within the Church and in the broader society.
As Servants of God and Venerables, these holy men and women are poised to pray for your intentions in a special way, as any miracles worked through their intercession will further their causes for sainthood. They are the perfect people to ask to pray for a miracle.
Here are the people included in the Saintly Seven:
- Venerable Pierre Toussaint (1766–1853): A former slave who became a renowned New York City hairdresser, philanthropist, and founder of Catholic charitable works
- Venerable Mother Mary Lange (c. 1784–1882): Founder of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first religious congregation of women of color
- Venerable Mother Henriette Delille (1812–1862): Founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans, dedicated to helping the poor and enslaved
- Venerable Father Augustus Tolton (1854–1897): The first publicly known Black Catholic priest ordained in the United States
- Servant of God Julia Greeley (c. 1833–1918): Known as Denver’s “Angel of Charity,” she was a former slave who devoted her life to helping the poor
- Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman (1937–1990): A Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and a powerful evangelist who advocated for cultural awareness in the Church
- Servant of God Friar Martin De Porres Maria Ward (1918–1999): A Franciscan friar and priest who dedicated his life to serving the sick and poor
USCCB social media pages featured the Saintly Seven this month. Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell, of Washington, shared why their stories are a witness to the whole Church in a video reel shared on Facebook and Instagram:
The culture that Black people brought to this country was one of deep faith, one of perseverance, and, quite honestly, one of treating everyone the way they should be treated. Because we're all human. We're all made in the image and likeness of God, and we're all brothers and sisters in that respect.
And we have seven black Catholics on the road to sainthood who exhibited that in their lives. All of these Catholics on the way to sainthood — even though they were oppressed in their lifetime — when they had the opportunity, worked for Black people, of course, but they worked for everyone.
And that is what we're called to do, and that is why they are on the road to canonized sainthood, so that the whole Church can have an example and someone to imitate as each of us goes through our lives, so that we can see what it means to be Catholic, what it means to be Black and Catholic, what it means to give yourself in service and love to the faith that we believe in, the faith we are called to live, and the faith we are called to share with everyone around us.
Bishop Campbell also addressed the topic of racism directly in a short video, also shared on social media. He said:
Why is it important for the USCCB to take a lead in addressing the original sin of racism for this country? It’s because, not that this is part of just history, this is part of life today, as it was for 400 years prior.
And in that, we see that people judge the worth of other people by the way they look, by the color of their skin, by the language they speak, by how they talk and comport themselves with whatever education or economic resources they have. But that is not what we're called to do.
To address the sin of racism, we have to know where we started from. It's not to just dredge up what happened. This is what we have to overcome, and this is why the sin of racism still festers, maybe because—not so much those who live today have done anything of that nature—but sometimes we can feel that to admit it means that, “Our forebears, our ancestors, did something wrong, and I benefited from it.”
Well, that we can't change. But what we can change is what we do going forward, and that is what this Committee Against Racism is trying to foster—a response out of love, out of respect, out of human dignity, that includes everyone and allows us to be the people that God created us to be.
It might feel difficult to talk about racism. But these conversations have to happen. Catholics recognize that racism is a grave sin — and like all sins, we have to acknowledge it and talk about it so we can fight it.
To that end, the USCCB recently created a permanent Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation, which Campbell referred to in the video.
When the subcommittee was created, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB at the time, said:
As we call for a genuine conversion of heart that will compel change at both individual and institutional levels, I invite all Catholics to join us as we carry forward this work to recognize and uphold the inherent dignity of every person made in the image and likeness of God.
The Saintly Seven offer role models for all Catholics, and this February is a great time to call on their prayers and get to know these extraordinary brothers and sisters in Christ.
