St. Francis Xavier Church (Baltimore)

Last updated
St. Francis Xavier Church
St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church Former St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church (1902; Thomas C. Kennedy, architect) and school (1927; John Stack, builder), 1501 E. Oliver Street, Baltimore, MD 21213 (47051221322).jpg
Baltimore osm-mapnik location map.png
Red pog.svg
St. Francis Xavier Church
39°18′26″N76°35′53″W / 39.307128°N 76.597947°W / 39.307128; -76.597947
Location1501 E. Oliver Street, Baltimore, Maryland
CountryUnited States
Denomination Catholic
Religious institute Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart
Website St. Francis Xavier Church
History
Founded1863 (1863)
Founder(s)Black San Domingo refugees and the Sulpician Fathers
Dedication Francis Xavier
DedicatedFebruary 21, 1864 (1864-02-21)
Consecrated  ()
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationFor African-American Catholics
Architectural type Church
Groundbreaking  ()
Completed ()
Clergy
Archbishop Most Revd. William Lori
Pastor(s) Fr. Xavier Edet, SSJ

Historic St. Francis Xavier Church is a Black Catholic parish in Baltimore, Maryland. It is said to be the first exclusively Black parish in America, having been established in 1863 (with roots in the late 18th century). [1] [2]

Contents

History

Background

On July 11, 1791, six ships from the French fleet arrived at Fell's Point, Baltimore, bringing a large number of Black Catholic refugees from Cape Francois in the French colony of San Domingo. There were between 500 and 1,000 Black refugees, both enslaved and free. The Sulpician Fathers had fled France in 1790 as refugees of the French Revolution and were affiliated with St. Mary's Seminary, in whose basements the Haitians began to meet. Both the Sulpicians and the Haitian refugees spoke French. [3]

The majority of the free Black refugees were educated and wealthy, and the church became popular with the elite class of African-Americans in Baltimore thereafter.

In 1828, one of the parish priests, Fr James Joubert, teamed with Servant of God Mother Lange to found the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first all-Black order of Catholic nuns, and started the all-girls' St Frances Academy, the first and oldest Black Catholic school in the United States. When the Oblates moved to a new location in 1836, the parish moved with them. [3] [4]

First move

In the 1850s, local Jesuits invited the congregation to begin meeting at St. Ignatius Church, where the group again met in a basement chapel, this time under the name of Blessed Peter Claver.

Present at this time were Fr Peter Louis Miller, SJ and the retired Bishop Michael O'Connor, both of whom would later work with the country's first Black (though by then former) seminarian William Augustine Williams to minister to the Black community at St Ignatius/Peter Claver.

Independent parish

In 1863, with St. Ignatius Church under Fr Anthony Ciampi, the Jesuits helped the Black congregation purchase a building, which was dedicated the next year under the current name. [3]

In 1871, the Mill Hill Fathers arrived from England at the request of the local bishop, to minister to African-Americans. They were given charge of the parish that same year. Within the few decades, the Mill Hill operations in the US were spun off into a new religious society, the Society of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (also known as the Josephites). They administer the parish to this day. [3]

The parish would move to a new location in 1932, and again in 1968 to its present location at the intersection of Caroline and Oliver streets. [3] The (now-coeducational) Oblates school and convent are still located within walking distance.

Inculturation

During the Black Catholic Movement of the late 60s to 1990s, the parish would become the first to allow and practice shouting, a distinct form of Black Christian liturgical dance (which Black Catholics adopted from Black Protestantism).

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's Seminary and University</span> Roman Catholic seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, US

St. Mary's Seminary and University is a Catholic seminary located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland; it was the first seminary founded in the United States after the Revolution and has been run since its founding by the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josephites (Maryland)</span> Catholic religious society

The Society of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, also known as the Josephites, is a society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. Members work specifically among African Americans and take the postnominals SSJ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedict Joseph Flaget</span> Catholic bishop

Benedict Joseph Flaget was a French-born Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Bardstown from 1808 to 1839. When the see was transferred to Louisville in 1839, he became Bishop of Louisville, remaining in the post from 1839 to 1850. He was a member of the Sulpicians.

A society of apostolic life is a group of men or women within the Catholic Church who have come together for a specific purpose and live fraternally. It is regarded as a form of consecrated life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knights of Peter Claver</span> African-American Catholic fraternal order

The Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary is an international Catholic fraternal service order. Founded in 1909 by the Josephites and parishioners from Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Mobile, Alabama, it is the largest and oldest Black Catholic lay-led organization still in existence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oblate Sisters of Providence</span> Female Black Catholic religious congregation

The Oblate Sisters of Providence (OSP) is a Catholic women's religious institute founded by Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, and Father James Nicholas Joubert in 1829 in Baltimore, Maryland for the education of girls of African descent. It was the first permanent community of Black Catholic sisters in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Elizabeth Lange</span> American religious sister (c.1789–1882)

Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP was an American religious sister in Baltimore, Maryland who founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence in 1829, the first African-American religious congregation in the United States. She was also, via the Oblates, the first African-American superior general.

James Mary Hector Nicolas Joubert de la Muraille, PSS was a French Catholic priest in the United States. A teacher at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, he co-founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence along with Mary Lange. He was a member of the Sulpicians.

The Oblates of the Virgin Mary is a religious institute of priests and brothers founded by Bruno Lanteri (1759–1830) in the Kingdom of Sardinia in the early 19th century. The institute is characterized by a zeal for the work of preaching and the sacrament of confession, according to the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola and the moral theology of St. Alphonsus Liguori. It is also marked by love for Mary and fidelity to the magisterium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Eccleston</span> American archbishop

Samuel Eccleston, P.S.S. was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Baltimore from 1834 until his death in 1851. He was a member of the Sulpicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrine of St. Joseph, St. Louis</span> Historic church in Missouri, United States

The Shrine of St. Joseph is a Catholic church in St. Louis, Missouri in Columbus Square. The church began in 1843 when the Jesuits founded the parish to serve the residential community consisting mostly of German immigrants. The church is the site of the only authenticated miracle in the Midwestern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's Seminary Chapel</span> Historic church in Maryland, United States

St. Mary's Seminary Chapel, located at 600 North Paca Street in the Seton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, is the oldest Neo-Gothic style church in the United States. It was built from 1806 through 1808 by French architect J. Maximilian M. Godefroy for the French Sulpician priests of St. Mary's Seminary. Godefroy claimed that his design was the first Gothic building in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church</span> Church in Alabama, United States

Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church is a Catholic church in Mobile, Alabama administered by the Josephites. The Knights of Peter Claver, the largest and oldest Black Catholic organization in the United States, was founded by congregants and priests from the parish in 1909. Its clergy and congregation later took an active role in the Civil Rights Movement.

John Tessier S.S. was a French Sulpician priest who emigrated from France at the time of the Revolution. From 1810 to 1829 he was the Provincial Superior of the Sulpician congregation in the United States. He served as vicar-general to the Roman Catholic Bishops of Baltimore, and for a time oversaw both St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore and Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

The history of the French in Baltimore dates to the 18th century. The earliest wave of French immigration began in the mid-18th century, as many Acadian refugees from Canada's Maritime Provinces. The Acadians were expelled from Canada by the British, who were victorious in the French and Indian War, and in the Seven Years War in Europe. They took over French territory in North America east of the Mississippi River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Ignatius Church (Baltimore)</span> Church in Baltimore, Maryland, US

St. Ignatius Church is a historic Catholic church in Baltimore, Maryland within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Established and administered by the Society of Jesus, the church is dedicated to Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the order's founder. It is located at 740 N. Calvert St in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood, north of downtown Baltimore, and is considered the city’s center of history and culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Joseph Catholic Church (Alexandria, Virginia)</span> Church in Virginia, United States

Saint Joseph Catholic Church is a predominantly Black Catholic church located at 711 N. Columbus St in historic Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. It was founded in 1916 to provide African-American parishioners of the local St. Mary's Roman Catholic Parish with their own church, freed from the customary restrictions that segregation imposed on them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Francis Clarke</span> 19th-century American Jesuit educator

William Francis Clarke was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who held several senior positions at Jesuit institutions in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Born in Washington, he descended from several early colonial families of Maryland. He was educated at Gonzaga College and its successor institutions during the suppression of the Society of Jesus, followed by Georgetown College. After his entrance into the Jesuit order, he taught for several years at Georgetown, and became the pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Baltimore, where he took uncommon measures to integrate black Catholics and Italian immigrants into parish life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Catholicism</span> African-American religious group

Black Catholicism or African-American Catholicism comprises the African-American people, beliefs, and practices in the Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Augustine Williams</span>

William Augustine Williams was an African-American linguist, librarian, Catholic seminarian, and public figure. He was the first openly African-American Catholic seminarian—preceding Augustus Tolton—but was never ordained, having left Rome's Pontifical Urban University in 1862 after facing racist opposition to his prospective ministry in the United States.

References

  1. Gatewood, Willard B. (1990). Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880-1920 . Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p.  306. ISBN   1-55728-593-4 . Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  2. McNamara, Pat (2009-03-06). "Desegregating the Altar: John Slattery & the Josephites". McNamara's Blog. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "A Short History of Historic St. Francis Xavier Church". The Josephites. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  4. Smith, Jessie Carney (2006). Encyclopedia of African American Business, Volume 1. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 474. ISBN   0-313-33110-3 . Retrieved August 29, 2012.