As a country, we recently celebrated Independence Day on July 4, which commemorates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. Through the Declaration of Independence, the 12 British colonies resolved that “these United colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent States” from the rule of Great Britain.
The document asserted that “all Men are created equal,” but it would take nearly a century before that refrain could begin the process of actualization.
The U.S. would battle with an identity crisis, seesawing between what it professed on paper and what it proclaimed through its actions. On Sept. 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, pronouncing that all enslaved individuals “henceforward shall be free.” It would take three more years for word to travel to Texas.
On June 19, 1865, nearly 2,000 Union Troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced that enslaved Black were free. This day became known as “Juneteenth” by African Americans in Texas and Louisiana, our country’s second Independence Day, which was recognized as a Federal Holiday in 2021.
Institutionalized racism against African Americans extended beyond the founding fathers and into Mother Church. Not only did some priestly orders participate in the enslavement of free human beings, but Black Catholics were also rejected by fellow Catholics and not permitted to worship alongside White Catholics. When Black Catholics were allowed to attend Mass with White Catholics, they were denied access to the precious Body and Blood or were required to sit in the back of the Church and receive communion last.
This painful history prompts the question: What does a Black Catholic know of freedom? The Catechism of the Catholic Church, citing Scripture, teaches: “For Christ has set us free.” In Him, we have communion with the “truth that makes us free.” The Holy Spirit has been given to us and, as the apostle teaches, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (CCC 1741).
As Catholics, we embody this teaching every time we gather for the Mass. In Catholic parishes established to serve African Americans, the unbridled movement of the Holy Spirit is on full display every Sunday. The Spirit presents itself in harmonious choirs signing selections from the Lead Me, Guide Me hymnal, in the clapping of hands and tapping of feet, and in the shouts of “Amen,” and “Preach.”
The words of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman encapsulate these liberative faith expressions: “While the world is full of hate, strife, vengeance, we sing songs of love, laughter, worship, wisdom, justice and peace because we are free… no man can enslave us.”
From the margins, Black Catholics have cultivated an unshakable, though tested, fidelity to the Catholic faith. To paraphrase the late Nobel Peace Prize awardee, Toni Morrison, Black Catholics “stood at the margins of Catholicism… and claimed it as central.” Catholics of African Descent rejoice in an unbound freedom not given by man but bestowed upon us by God.
The beauty of freedom is that it cannot be contained. In fact, freedom offers an opportunity to liberate not just the oppressed but also the oppressor. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, freedom challenges the status quo and grants us the opportunity to reimagine what is possible or even necessary.
We can expand what is considered normative by including historically marginalized Catholic expressions of faith in our liturgical routines.
Consider attending Mass once a quarter at a parish that centers a cultural community unlike your own, attend events sponsored by the Young Adult Catholics of African-Descent, the Catholic Youth of African Descent and other organizations in the Black apostolate, utilize images of Black Saints in your parish spaces and curriculums, incorporate hymns by Black Catholic composers into the liturgy, and even consider occasionally utilizing The Sound of My People by M. Roger Holland II as a Mass setting.
“Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.” (CCC 1731).
May we experience true freedom offered through the love of God and neighbor.
Stacy Allen Barrow is a member of Young Adult Catholics of African Descent.
(Photo by OSV News)