The Presence of Black Catholics in the Church Today and Tomorrow
As Black Catholics evangelize and address the life concerns (from their social location), online learning allows for sharing the Gospel of Joy. Pope John Paul II, thirty-five years ago, prophetically stated, “The mass media are also a great gift of God’s Providence and should be fully utilized in the service of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They can be of immense service to the millions of black people who long to hear the Good News of salvation proclaimed in ways that speak to their own heritage and traditions.” Courses that speak to Black Catholic heritage and traditions are long overdue. Therefore, online learnings with teachings filled with rich learning materials for Black Catholics, are vital. Learn more about the LMU courses to be offered in the 2023-2024 academic year.
Courses for fall 2023 Black Catholics' Spiritual Call: Using Theological Reflections - AAMX 921.01
Aug. 28 - Oct. 1, 2023 Living the Gospels with Dr. King and Dr. Sr. Thea - AAMX 922.02
Oct. 23 - Nov. 20, 2023 Black Catholics Sharing their Distinct Gifts of Blackness in the Catholic Church - AAMX 920.01
Oct. 24 - Nov. 21, 2023 Registration is open

After being ordained bishops Sept. 26, Albert M. Bahhuth will serve as Episcopal Vicar for the San Fernando Region, Matthew G. Elshoff, OFM Cap. for the Our Lady of the Angels Region, Brian Nunes for the San Gabriel Region, and Slawomir S. Szkredka for the Santa Barbara Region.

Father Joel Henson, who has served as associate Vicar for Clergy since 2022, will succeed Anguiano as Vicar for Clergy, Archbishop Gomez also announced. Born in the Philippines, Henson studied for the priesthood at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo before his ordination in 1993. He has served in a variety of parish assignments around the archdiocese and St. John’s, where he taught as a member of the seminary’s faculty from 1999 to 2015. Henson has worked in the Vicar for Clergy’s office since 2015, first as Director of Ongoing Formation for Priests and beginning in 2021, as Associate Vicar for Clergy.

It has been 13 years since Mother Henriette Delille, the free woman of color who founded the Sisters of the Holy Family in 1842 in New Orleans to teach and care for the enslaved, the poor and the elderly, was declared “venerable” by the Catholic Church. In order for Venerable Henriette to take the next step to beatification, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints would have to certify to the pope that a miraculous healing has occurred through her intercession. And, now, the Sisters of the Holy Family have enlisted an experienced Roman “procurator” – Dr. Waldery Hilgeman – to present such a case to Vatican officials.

Early on in “Gaudium et Spes,” the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, we read: “The Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. Thus, in language intelligible to each generation, she can respond to the perennial questions which men ask about this present life and the life to come, and about the relationship of the one to the other.” Two perennial questions that human beings cannot resist tend to go together: “Why is this happening and what does it all mean?” We ask them in repeated groanings in times of crisis, whether personal or experienced with the world. We ask it in whispered awe at moments of sublime, unfathomable joy.