Pope St. Victor I
St. Miltiades
Pope St. Gelasius I
St. Benedict the Black
St. Moses the Black
St. Peter Claver
Blessed Josephine Bakhita
St. Antonio Vieira
St. Martin de Porres
Father Patrick Healy, SJ
Bishop James Healy
Alexander Healy
Sister Emma Healy
Three black men have been pope, and all are saints. The first was Pope St. Victor I, who reigned from 189 - 199 AD. He decreed the celebration of Easter on Sunday, and convinced Emperor Commodus to stop persecuting Christians. Victor died a martyr, and was buried on Vatican Hill near the tomb of St. Peter.
The next was St. Miltiades, who reigned from 311 to 314 during the time Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity. Miltiades presided over the Lateran Council that condemned a group of African schismatics, later known as the Donatists. He was the last pope buried in a catacomb.
The last was Pope St. Gelasius I, who reigned from 492 - 496. He decreed the canon of Scripture, meaning he affirmed which books belonged in the Bible and which did not. Scholars still refer to Gelasius' writings on the relation between Church and State. He rid Rome of the last vestiges of paganism and was known as a great holiness.
St. Benedict the Black was born a slave in Sicily in 1526, gaining his freedom during adolescence. In his early twenties, someone made a racial slur about him, but he bore the insult as Jesus bore the Cross. A group of Franciscan hermits who witnessed the event invited him to join them. In 1564, he joined the Franciscan Friary in Palermo, Sicily, working in the kitchen for 22 years until he was elected superior of the group. While superior, he enacted a stricter interpretation of the Franciscan rule.
St. Moses the Black, born around 330, was a physically strong Ethiopian with a bed temper who made his living as a thief. He eventually became a Christian, however, and joined the monks in the Sketis desert. He was chosen for the priesthood and ordained. Berber nomads killed him during a raid on his monastery, which he refused to defend. He decided he would rather die than go against the admonishment of Jesus to turn the other cheek.
St. Peter Claver was a black man born in Spain. Ordained a priest in 1604, he dedicated his life to the spiritual welfare of slaves. He is known for healing illnesses such as leprosy. Pope Leo XIII canonized him in 1887.
The Blessed Josephine Bakhita was born in Sudan. As a young girl, she was kidnapped by Arabs and sold into slavery. She ended up in Italy, where she received baptism and gained her freedom, joining a Canossian order of nuns. For the next 50 years, she practiced such Christian virtue that people loved her very much. She worked miraculous cures and was known as a friend to the poor and weak. She died in 1947.
St. Antonio Vieira was born in Portugal. At 15, he entered the seminary, and eventually became a professor of rhetoric and dogmatic theology. He emigrated to Brazil, where he worked to abolish racial discrimination and slavery, and to alleviate deplorable conditions among the poor. He was canonized in 1897 on the two-hundredth anniversary of his death.
St. Martin de Porres (1579 - 1639) performed many miracles in the name of Christ including miraculous cures and the raising of the dead. This Peruvian friar was a holy and devout man who did much for the sick and poor. For instance, he raised $2,000 a week for the poor from Lima's wealthy (a princely sum back then) and founded the city's first orphanage. Because of him, the Dominican friars dropped the stipulation that "no black person may receive the holy habit or take the profession of our order." His love of Christ compelled him to live a life of self-imposed austerity. He fasted continuously, never ate meat, and spent most of his time in prayer. He was venerated from the day of his death. People throughout the world still credit his intercession for miracles.
There have also been some black American Catholics who, while not yet declared saints, were instrumental in the history of the Church in the United States. Many came from one family. Father Patrick Healy, SJ, was named head of Georgetown University in 1873, making him the first black American college president. His brother James became the first black Catholic bishop when ordained for the Dioceses of Portland, Maine. Bishop Healy founded 18 parochial schools and 50 parishes. Another brother, Alexander, was the chancellor for the Archdioceses of Boston. His sister Emma founded the Sisters of the Holy Family with Henriette Delille. Another sister was also a nun.
(Source: Modern Saints, Tan Books, Rockford, Illinois, 1983)
Franciscan University of Steubenville in honor of Black History Month