National Black Catholic Congress

The National Black Catholic Congress is an American Catholic nonprofit founded in 1987 by Bishop John Ricard, as a spiritual successor to Daniel Rudd's Colored Catholic Congress movement of the late 19th century.

The NBCC mission is to improve and enrich the lives of African-American Catholics, operating in close cooperation and coordination with the Black Bishops of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)[1] and receiving funding from the Black and Indian mission collection.[2]

Six NBCC congresses have been held, occurring every five years.[3]

Programs

• The National Black Catholic Congress Convocation - an event providing guidance to black clergy on how to best preach and minister to the African-American community.
• Lay Leaders Training Workshops - providing understanding on how to reach black lapsed Catholics on a regional scale.
• Catholic High School Consortium Program - in which leaders create plans to help member Catholic schools with a significant (75%) Black population best serve their constituency and the larger communities.
• The African American Catholic Tribune Newsletter - published quarterly, with noteworthy information impacting the Black Catholic community.

See also

• Religion in Black America
• Knights of Peter Claver
• Federated Colored Catholics

References

1. "The National Black Catholic Congress:".
2. "Monsignor Paul A. Lenz, 1976-2007" (PDF). Marquette University. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
3. The Black Catholic Congresses

Further reading

• Phelps, Jamie T. Black and Catholic: The Challenge and Gift of Black Folk: Contributions of African American Experience and Thought to Catholic Theology (Marquette University Press, 1997) online
• Rudd, Daniel. Three Catholic Afro-American Congresses. (New York: Arno Press, Inc., 1978)

External links

• National Black Catholic Congress website