A Message from Dr. Chiquita T. Tuttle,
Coordinator, African American Pastoral Center
This issue will focus on the recently attended National Black Catholic Congress. Representatives from Saint Columba ( Maurice Harper, Susan Wiley, Cynthia LeBlanc, Carla Dillard Smith, Judith Brooks) and Saint Benedict (Chiquita T. Tuttle PhD, Wallita Sykes Bush (also representing St. Vincent DePaul).
This year’s Congress theme was “Write the Vision”. The last Congress was held in Orlando, Florida in 2017. The Congress convenes every 5 years. Representatives from Dioceses around the country attend sending delegations of adults and youth. During the roll call, it is amazing to see how many dioceses support and send representatives. New Orleans showed up and showed out! Kudos to Dr. Ansel Augustine and his group.
Numerous workshops were available, and we often state that we wanted to attend so many but it is impossible. With that in mind, the delegation from the Diocese of Oakland went to their workshops of interest and gathered important information to aid the African American Pastoral Center and their parishes develop programs and provide significant information for our communities.
We are providing links to various segments of the congress that you can preview/review at your leisure. Particularly of interest and notable is the keynote given by His Eminence Cardinal Wilton C. Gregory. Also, Bishop Ricard (Pensacola/Tallahassee) gave a strong message for us to “Not let the Fire go out”. Please take the time to hear these powerful messages of hope from our leadership.
The Congress left us hopeful, encouraged, and delighted to see 3000 Black Catholics worshiping and praising God in our very vibrant ways. We were authentically black and Catholic! The choir ( Susan Wiley was a participant) was magnificent. I hope you enjoy the trailers provided.
The photo gallery includes candid photos and videos of keynote speakers taken by me and members of the group capturing the essence of our African American Catholic community in unity, praise, and being present in writing the vision for us moving forward. The celebration at the Basicalla in Washington D. C. was incredible. Enjoy that clip!
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