On Saturday, November 2, 2024, Dr. Shannen Dee Williams preached at The Center at Mariandale’s annual Saint Martin de Porres celebration. Dr. Williams talk, titled The Many Afterlives of Martin de Porres in U.S. Catholic Life, detailed the history of Black Catholic Sisters in the U.S.
Bullying, discrimination, and exclusion was central to the experience of Black Catholic Sisters in the United States. Yet, as much as Black women faced indignity, they exuded perseverance and a fierce commitment to the saints of the Church. These very women, who were often denied entry to white communities, pioneered desegregation in Catholic spaces.
“Long before there were Black priests in the us there were Black sisters,” Dr. Williams shared. “The Catholicism that [they] embraced was one that was inclusive. They didn’t let that racism deter them. But it hurt them. And it hurt too many of them.”
Dr. Williams’ presentation was in honor of both Black Catholic History Month and Saint Martin de Porres feast day. Saint Martin de Porres was a Peruvian Dominican brother who endured racism in his time, in sixteenth and seventeenth century. Saint Martin de Porres was not canonized until 323 years after his death: some have speculated that unaddressed racism within the church was the cause of the long delay.
Years later, Catholic Sisters faced the same racism as Saint Martin de Porres. In sharing these beautiful stories of Black Catholicism, Dr. Williams shared a powerful testimony in spite of hatred. The beauty of Black Catholicism, she said, is the peace that Black Catholics were able to find within themselves and within the Black community. Despite cruelty, they developed and preached a rich faith life.
“The sin of racism remains a reality,” Dr. Williams said. “How many vocations did we lose because of it? What does that mean for a church that needed them then and needed them years later?”
Dr. Williams was joined by the Sinai’s Radiant Praise Dancers from Saint John’s University.
The research that Dr. Williams shared at Mariandale is just a sliver of her expertise. Her book Subversive Habits: Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle details the long struggle of Black Catholic Sisters.
Sinai’s Radiant Praise Dancers from Saint John’s University
Sinai’s Radiant Praise Dancers from Saint John’s University