Black Catholics reflect on 60 years of the Voting Rights Act and challenges today

written by Kimberley Heatherington | OSV News

A little more than 60 years ago — March 7, 1965 — approximately 600 peaceful demonstrators approached the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. They had begun their procession less than a mile away at the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, intending to march a 54-mile route to Montgomery, the state capital.

Pope Leo’s message to Gen Z: ‘You are a sign that a different world is possible’

By Gerard O’Connell | America

“You are a sign that a different world is possible,” Pope Leo XIV told over a million young people from 146 countries at Mass on Sunday morning. Held in the vast open-air venue of Tor Vergata on the outskirts of Rome, the Mass followed a festive prayer vigil in the same spot on Saturday evening, part of the Jubilee of Youth.

WASHINGTON - Four dedicated pro-life advocates were honored on August 11 at the 2025 People of Life awards during the Diocesan Pro-Life Leadership Conference in Arlington, Virginia. This year's honorees are Valerie Washington, Judy Haag, and the late Rita and Mike Marker. Approximately 100 diocesan Catholic pro-life leaders and guests attended the private awards dinner, including Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington.

Photo by Andy Barbour on Pexels

4 How-Tos for Maintaining Your Faith in College

From FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students)

The fall season is much like a “new year” in many ways. We are starting new jobs or another year of school; it’s a time of transition. For a lot of us, there is renewed zeal for holiness and a new courage to step into desires you have for your relationship with Christ.

Transitional deacon Justin Farr to be ordained Catholic priest in Nashville

The young Tennessee native, a convert from the Baptist faith, will be the sixth Black American ordained in the Catholic Church so far this year.

By Nate Tinner-Williams | Black Catholic Messenger

Justin Farr, one of the nation’s African-American Catholic seminarians, will be ordained to the priesthood this weekend in Nashville, the culmination of a seven-year journey that began after his conversion in 2013.

August is National Wellness Month, and there’s no better time to focus on habits that build a healthier, happier you. While the choices that make you feel your best may look different for everyone, there are a few ways to wellness that are mostly universal.

Incorporate these healthy habits all month long and see how far you get on your way to wellness!

Drink Plenty of Water

Hydration is key to optimal health and happiness! Besides quenching your thirst, water lubricates the joints and helps your body transport the nutrients it needs for energy and healing. If your water intake is wanting, increase your intake to ensure you’re getting the fluids you need to feel your best. If you want a little wow with your water, add a flavor infuser or some old-fashioned fruit to your glass for a tasty twist.

Chronic Stress Boosts Stroke Risk In Young Women

Key Takeaways

• Chronic stress can increase a young woman’s risk of stroke
• Moderate stress increases stroke risk by 78% among women 18 to 49
• No link was found between stress and stroke in men

Chronic stress can increase young women’s risk of stroke, a new study says.

Moderate stress increases risk of stroke by 78% in women but not in men, researchers reported in the journal Neurology.

“More research is needed to understand why women who feel stressed, but not men, may have a higher risk of stroke,” said senior researcher Dr. Nicolas Martinez-Majander, a neurologist at Helsinki University Hospital in Finland.

9 Texting Habits That Come Off as Rude—Even if You Don't Mean To

By Morgan McMurrin, in Parade Magazine

Texting is something we all do—constantly, casually, without a second thought. But just because it’s second nature doesn’t mean we’re all doing it correctly. In fact, there are probably a lot of messages we text to friends, family, coworkers or partners that don’t land quite the way we think they do. A quick, “Sure,” or a missed emoji can totally change the vibe, and most of us don’t even realize it. If you’ve ever hit send and wondered why someone replied with a weird energy, you’re not alone. To help you decode your digital tone, we’ve rounded up 9 texting habits that come off as rude—even if you don’t mean them that way.

15-Year-Old Carlo Acutis Will Become First Millennial Saint in September

Inside Edition

A teenager will officially become a saint in September, the first saint from the 21st century and the first millennial saint. Carlo Acutis' body is on display in Assisi, Italy, where people can visit the young Blessed, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. He died in 2006 from leukemia at the age of 15.

Photo by Anna-Louise on Pexels

Can Catholics Be Cremated and What To Do with the Cremains?

Blog post from CatholicCemeteries.com

Final disposition is a personal choice. For many, their choice is guided by their religion, with many faiths having rules and restrictions about the proper way to spend forever. For many years, final disposition meant burial for Catholics, but what’s allowed today? Can Catholics be cremated? And, if so, are there rules on how to handle a cremated loved one?

‘Father Tolton Is the Man for This Season’

Praying for the Canonization of America’s First Black Priest

By Ken Hallenius | Today's Catholic

On Monday, July 7, more than 70 people from around the nation gathered at St. Augustine Catholic Church in South Bend for a Mass celebrated by Bishop Joseph N. Perry, retired auxiliary bishop of Chicago, in honor of Venerable Father Augustus Tolton. Bishop Perry is the vice-postulator for the cause of Father Tolton’s canonization to promote the heroic sanctity of America’s first Black priest – a process that formally began in 2011 under the leadership of Cardinal Francis George, the late archbishop of Chicago.

The Feast of the Assumption of Mary

On August 15, Catholics and many other Christians celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This significant feast day recalls the spiritual and physical departure of the mother of Jesus Christ from the earth, when both her soul and her body were taken into the presence of God.

Venerable Pope Pius XII confirmed this belief about the Virgin Mary as the perennial teaching of the Church when he defined it formally as a dogma of Catholic faith in 1950, invoking papal infallibility to proclaim, “that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” Read more...

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

From Franciscan Media

A brilliant philosopher who stopped believing in God when she was 14, Edith Stein was so captivated by reading the autobiography of Teresa of Avila that she began a spiritual journey that led to her baptism in 1922. Twelve years later she imitated Saint Teresa by becoming a Carmelite, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Born into a prominent Jewish family in Breslau, Germany—now Wroclaw, Poland—Edith abandoned Judaism in her teens. As a student at the University of Göttingen, she became fascinated by phenomenology–an approach to philosophy. Excelling as a protégé of Edmund Husserl, one of the leading phenomenologists, Edith earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1916. She continued as a university teacher until 1922, when she moved to a Dominican school in Speyer; her appointment as lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich ended under pressure from the Nazis.

O Sorrowful Mother Mary given to us at the foot of the cross and protectress of all souls; you who lost your son and only child, can empathize with us, parents and others who have lost a child or loved one to the hopelessness of suicide; come to our aid. You dear Mother know perfectly the fathomless desolation left in each of our hearts, as we strive to accept this sorrow and to find the strength to continue our journey.

Unite our shattered hearts with your Immaculate Heart, and pour into them abounding graces that will lead us to aid our loved ones with our continuous prayers. Help us with unwavering hope to entrust their souls into your compassionate arms for comfort, as they are perfected for entry into their heavenly home. Loving Mother in your absolute understanding grant each of us who recites this prayer, in faith, healing and peace.

Give us the ability to cast our eyes on the things above, so we can continue on our own path to heaven and be reunited one day with our loved one.

Amen

Treasures of the Church

Treasures of the Church is a ministry of evangelization of the Catholic Church. Run by Fr. Carlos Martins of the Companions of the Cross, its purpose is to give people an experience of the living God through an encounter with the relics of his saints in the form of an exposition.

Do you want more Black Catholic news and upcoming events?

Check out the NBCC website for more information

Catechetics is a research degree. It systematically studies the history, nature, goals, principles, and process of catechesis. Catechetics is interdisciplinary because it draws on other disciplines, such as theology, liturgical studies, biblical studies, church history, etc., to establish norms and criteria for developing catechesis theories and methods. Graduate degrees in Catechesis are designed to equip students with knowledge and skills for conducting research.

Welcome to Xavier University of Louisiana

Where excellence awaits you

Whether pursuing current interests or exploring new ones, students make friends and establish their on-campus community by getting involved. Xavier University of Louisiana, founded by Saint Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, is Catholic and historically Black. The ultimate purpose of the University is to contribute to the promotion of a more just and humane society by preparing its students to assume roles of leadership and service in a global society. This preparation takes place in a diverse learning and teaching environment that incorporates all relevant educational means, including research and community service.

Oblate School of Theology Educates for the Mission

Inspired by the charism of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Oblate School of Theology (OST) educates, forms, and renews men and women to “preach the Gospel to the most abandoned.”

OST is a community of scholars and students who respect and celebrate global cultural diversity through various languages, traditions, and backgrounds firmly rooted in Christ.