Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Ashley McKinlessJune 22, 2018
An undated photo of the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans is seen at the National Museum of African American in Washington Jan. 5, 2017. February is African American history month. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)  An undated photo of the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans is seen at the National Museum of African American in Washington Jan. 5, 2017. February is African American history month. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)

Ask most people what they know about black Catholic sisters, and they will probably murmur something about “Sister Act.” Dr. Shannen Dee Williams did, too, until she began digging into communities’ archives and uncovering the previously hidden lives of African-American women religious. Now she’s telling those stories in a forthcoming book (with an amazing title), Subversive Habits.

Shannen tells us about the incredible resilience and deep faith of black Catholic women in the face of racism, discrimination and exclusion. We ask her how these stories affected her own faith and what racial reconciliation in the church looks like today.

In Signs of the Times, we’ve got fun Catholic World Cup facts, an update on the synod on young adults and Pope Francis’ controversial comments on abortion and Nazis. Finally, we discuss the Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the border—and what you can do to help.

Have you checked out our Facebook page yet? Starting today, we’ll be asking for your consolations and desolations there. You can also find us on Twitter @jesuiticalshow, support us on Patreon and send us an email at jesuitical@americamedia.org.

Links from the show

Faith and the 2018 World Cup: little-known Christian details about soccer (football!) stars
Meet the nuns helping save a sacred species from extinction
Synod working document: Young Catholics need a church that listens to them
Pope Francis says abortion is ‘same thing’ as Nazi eugenics
Catholic leaders denounce Sessions’s asylum decision: ‘We have truly lost our moral compass.
Father James Martin: Five things you can do to help immigrants at the border

What’s on tap?

Celebrating our Catholic Press Association awards with Champagne! Well, technically, prosecco.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

President Donald Trump, center, surrounded by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., speaks to reporters before a House Republican conference meeting, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“These proposed changes threaten access to care for millions of Americans, particularly those in underserved areas, where our member systems work every day to provide quality, compassionate care.”
Kevin ClarkeMay 20, 2025
The Archdiocese of Chicago has scheduled a Mass and a special program to celebrate the election and inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, a native son of the Windy City.
The genre of the crime-solving priest or religious might be a niche one, but it's been around on the page and the screen for more than a century.
James T. KeaneMay 20, 2025
“I would suspect that people are very proud that Chicago produced a pope, and it testifies to the fact that there’s a lot of good here in the city that recommends itself to the church.”
Delaney CoyneMay 20, 2025