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Washington area hosts National Black Catholic Congress XIII

Stories and photos from the 13th National Black Catholic Congress meeting July 20-23, 2023 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, are featured in this Catholic Standard special series. In this photo, choir members sing at the gathering’s July 23 closing Mass. (Catholic Standard photo by Mihoko Owada)

In this series

National Museum of African American History & Culture hosts reception for National Black Catholic Congress participants

People attending the National Black Catholic Congress XIII in the Washington, D.C., area from July 20-23 had the chance not only to celebrate their faith, but to reflect on their...

Young black priests talk about their lives at National Black Catholic Congress

Thirteen years ago, after graduating from Harvard Law School, Robert Boxie III, was working in a D.C. law firm, making good money, living in a condo. He had a girlfriend and...

Progress, challenges seen as 40th anniversary approaches of Black Catholic bishops’ pastoral letter on evangelization

As the 40th anniversary approaches of a pastoral letter that he authored with the nine other Black U.S. bishops in September 1984, Bishop J. Terry Steib occasionally finds himself...

Spiritual gifts of Black Catholics should be shared, speakers say at National Black Catholic Congress

Twenty years into her journey as a Catholic, in 2020, Marcia Lane-McGee found out that her baptism might be invalid. An adult convert to Catholicism who was confirmed after she...

Photo Gallery : Closing Mass at National Black Catholic Congress XIII

Bishop John Ricard, the superior general of his religious order, the Josephites, who formerly served as the bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, gives his homily during...

Welcome new church members at spaces they use like TikTok or YouTube, speaker says at National Black Catholic Congress

The speaker, an expert on Black religious and spiritual life, had a message both biting and hopeful: “One of the biggest hindrances to the church is nostalgia. ‘We used to be...

Pro-life and racial justice issues are connected, speaker says at National Black Catholic Congress

Gloria Purvis believes strongly that the pro-life and racial justice issues, which both involve human dignity, are closely related. “They’re twin sisters,” she told a July 22...

At initial National Black Catholic Congress session, people encouraged to identify with saints and live holy lives

The importance of identifying with saints and trying to become saints someday formed the topic of one of the first sessions at the recent National Black Catholic Congress XIII at...

Still long and complex, the canonization process is actually simpler than it used to be, speakers say at National Black Catholic Congress

The canonization process is no longer as arduous as before Saint John Paul II amended the procedures, but it’s still a lengthy, bureaucratic system that can become mired in...

Meal packing event at National Black Catholic Congress gives participants chance to help children in need

On a Saturday evening at a conference hotel with oodles of other activities in the area, hundreds of participants in the National Black Catholic Congress donned aprons, hairnets...

Voices from the National Black Catholic Congress

As people left the July 23 closing Mass for the 13th National Black Catholic Congress, Vernon Taylor of St. Joseph’s Parish in Wilmington, Delaware said he was especially moved at...

At National Black Catholic Congress closing Mass, participants urged to keep flame of faith burning

Sending forth the participants of the 13th National Black Catholic Congress at their July 23 closing Mass in the Washington, D.C., area, Bishop John H. Ricard offered them an...

At National Black Catholic Congress opening Mass, Cardinal Gregory stresses importance of visionaries for building a better world

Celebrating the opening Mass for the National Black Catholic Congress meeting in the Washington, D.C., area on July 21, Cardinal Wilton Gregory emphasized the important role of...

In keynote at National Black Catholic Congress, Cardinal Gregory says Eucharist inspires ‘our prophetic call to love’

Addressing an estimated 3,000 African American Catholics from 80 dioceses across the United States gathered for Congress XIII of the National Black Catholic Congress in the...

At Black Catholic Congress Youth Town Hall, Cardinal Gregory and Bishop Steib discuss vocations, community and racism

At a July 20 town hall gathering with Catholic youth at the National Black Catholic Congress XIII, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory joined Bishop J. Terry Steib, the bishop...