“We are a community; everyone here is important,” said St. Brigid’s pastor, Josephite Father Kenneth Keke. “Whatever belongs to the parish belongs to everyone; in our parish, the success of anyone is the success of all.”

None of the saints associated with the United States are of African descent. The Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University intends to change that, and here are six possibilities for sainthood.

Williams came to write “Mary Lou’s Mass” to capture her feeling of suffering—and its apotheosis.

The naming of Washington’s archbishop “as a cardinal is huge, it’s historic.”

Wilton Gregory said he hopes Pope Francis will find him to be “supportive, encouraging and trustworthy” in his role as a cardinal, but his primary ministry is still to be the archbishop of Washington.

For Black, brown and poor students in-person schooling is an essential service.