Negroes and the Catholic Church
By M. C. Strachan
It is reported upon good authority that more than two hundred thousand colored people in the United States profess the Catholic religion. Rome is proud of these black sons and daughters, and she wishes to win to her ranks the remaining portion of the Negro race in the United States. Rome boasts of her intimate knowledge of the race, and declares that she has the confidence of the Negro in a far greater measure than any other body of religionists. She has set out in a most remarkable manner to make the colored man and the colored woman feel that within her fold alone lies the spiritual and intellectual redemption of the race. In order to court and hold the confidence of the Negro, she is making great capital out of the apparent mistakes and prejudices of other religious bodies. There is no mission work in the United States of greater importance to the Catholic Church than the salvation of the unbaptized millions of Negroes. In order to carry this work forward effectually, the bishops and the archbishops of that church with the approval of Cardinal Gibbons, took Father Burke away from his church for colored people in New York City, and imposed upon him the burden of directing this great Catholic missionary movement. A national headquarters was opened in 1907, at 1 Madison Ave., New York City. Father Burke has had over twenty years' experience in practical missionary work among colored people, and it is hoped that as director-general of the Catholic board for mission work among the Negroes, the gathering of that race to the fold of the mother church will be assured. Says Rome: “The colored people are at our doors. We alone can uplift them. These are our cherished sons and daughters, and we must prosecute this work with earnestness and faithfulness, because the work is a part of our life.” It is proposed to raise one hundred thousand dollars every year for this movement; large gifts and legacies are solicited, and the widow's mite is also encouraged. Schools and churches will be built; priests, members of religious orders, and men and women who give their lives to this work, will be supported. Pope Pius X is particularly solicitous about this matter. He wishes his church in America to leave nothing undone that this work may be successfully prosecuted. Indeed, he seems to put this branch of missionary endeavor above all others of the present day. Here is an excerpt from a letter addressed to Bishop Byrne by the Pope's secretary:— “His Holiness most earnestly wishes that this work of the apostolate to the colored people, worthy of being encouraged and applauded beyond any other undertaking of Christian civilization, may find numerous and generous contributors, to all of whom he imparts from this day his apostolic benediction.”
Already promising mission stations have been started in the large cities of the South. Negro men are sought out, and encouraged to enter the priesthood. Several zealous colored men and women are now acting as missionaries. With intense earnestness this work is being pushed forward. Let God's remnant people everywhere pray much now for the spread of the third angel's message among the Negroes of the United States; for this is the only movement in the earth that can successfully meet every advancing step of error, tear away her disguise, and reveal her true character and the principles of the blessed truth for this generation.