After Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle was installed as the first resident archbishop of Washington in 1948, one of the first initiatives he tackled was integrating all the churches and schools in the city of Washington. Segregation of parish churches and their activities was a practice that went back to the beginnings of Catholicism in America. Even before the Civil War and the rise of Jim Crow in the late 19th century, Catholic parishes were divided by race.
African American Catholics were required to sit in the back pews of the church or in the upper gallery. At Mass, White parishioners would receive Holy Communion first and would all be back in their seats before the African American parishioners would be allowed to leave their seats and approach the Communion rail.
In addition, there are reports of some priests using separate vessels to distribute the Eucharist to Black and White parishioners. After all the White parishioners had received, the priest would go to the tabernacle and openly change vessels before beginning to distribute to the Black parishioners.
Other sacraments like Confirmation were also administered by race with the White parishioners receiving the sacrament one day and the Black parishioners the next day. This also allowed for the festivities and parties that normally follow children and adults becoming fully initiated into the Church to be separated by race.
The Sodalities, pious associations within a parish, were divided along gender and racial lines. The Sodalities for Black parishioners were placed under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saints Benedict and Philip. Finally, in death Catholics were also separated by race as Black Catholics were only allowed to be buried in specific areas of Catholic cemeteries.
Pastors would also deal with these two separate groups within their parishes differently. Some pastors would go out of their way to minister to both halves of their congregations. Others would neglect Black parishioners in favor of the Whites. Some pastors would even declare from the pulpit that they did not want to see African Americans in their churches and if any approached the Communion rail would deny them the Body and Blood of Christ based solely on race. Many Black Catholics left the Church because of such racist and inequitable treatment.
This is a sampling of the ingrained culture of segregation that Archbishop O’Boyle encountered when he came to Washington in 1948. St. Augustine’s, the mother church of Black Catholics, had, interestingly, always been integrated and welcoming of all. They had an award winning choir that drew people from all over the city to their liturgies and concerts. But the city itself was not integrated and the culture of segregation was everywhere.
Pope Pius XII declared the year 1954 to be dedicated to Mary, and in this photo, then-Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle is shown praying the rosary with Black Catholics at a church in the Archdiocese of Washington. (Photo from the Archives of the Archdiocese of Washington)
When Archbishop O’Boyle first mandated that all activities, like those for the fraternal and pious associations, should be integrated, the parishes had a difficult time finding venues. The hotels and restaurants that normally were the settings for dinners, luncheons and evening gatherings were segregated and did not allow people of color to enter their facilities. To continue to hold these events, Church leaders had to get creative.
St. Augustine’s had been known for many decades to hold their activities in public parks or on federally-owned land. This is likely the reason why because their activities, which had always been integrated, could be held in those spaces when society at large did not allow Blacks and Whites to mix.
We must also understand that what is described above were not isolated incidents. The Catholic Church in America existed for 200 years in the midst of a culture that condoned buying and selling other people based on the color of their skin. This dehumanization of Black people was enshrined not only in the civil law but also in the everyday practice and attitudes. Though the enslavement of African Americans was outlawed after the American Civil War, new laws were created that ensured segregation and systematic racism.
Sadly, many of these practices have not gone away and are still with us today. We as Catholic Christians must work for our own conversion and the conversion of our society so that all people are treated equally and their God-given dignity is recognized and honored.
The U.S. bishops’ articulated this teaching in their 2018 pastoral letter on racism, Open Wide Our Hearts:
“What is needed, and what we are calling for, is a genuine conversion of heart, a conversion that will compel change, and the reform of our institutions and society. Conversion is a long road to travel for the individual. Moving our nation to a full realization of the promise of liberty, equality, and justice for all is even more challenging. However, in Christ we can find the strength and the grace necessary to make that journey. All of us are in need of personal, ongoing conversion. Our churches and our civic and social institutions are in need of ongoing reform. If racism is confronted by addressing its causes and the injustice it produces, then healing can occur.”
(Dr. Jacobe serves as the director of the Archives for the Archdiocese of Washington.)
