National Office for Black Catholics

US organization of Black Catholics

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "National Office for Black Catholics" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

National Office for Black Catholics

Abbreviation| NOBC
Formation| 1970; 55 years ago (1970)
Founder| Joseph M. Davis, SM (among others)
Dissolved| 1987; 38 years ago (1987)

Part of a series on
Black Catholicism

1892 Colored Catholic Congress

Overview

* Pope: Leo XIV
* History
* Black Catholic Movement
* National Black Catholic Congress

Background

* African Christianity
* African Catholicism
* Kongo Catholicism
* Black Christianity
* Catholicism and race
* Age of Discovery
* Catholic Slavery
* U.S. Catholicism
* Haitian Revolution
* Stono Rebellion
* San Miguel de Gualdape
* Fort Mose

People

|  Saints

* Moses the Black
* Augustine
* Monica
* Benedict the Moor
* Martin de Porres
* Peter Claver
* Katharine Drexel

On the way to sainthood

* Pierre and Juliette Toussaint
* Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP
* Henriette Delille, SSF
* Augustus Tolton
* Samuel Henderson
* Julia Greeley
* Mary Theodore Williams, FHM
* Thea Bowman, FSPA
* Martin de Porres Ward, OFMConv

Cardinals

* Wilton D. Gregory

Archbishops

* Eugene A. Marino, SSJ
* James P. Lyke, OFM

Bishops

* James Healy
* Joseph O. Bowers, SVD
* Harold R. Perry, SVD
* Joseph L. Howze

Priests

* Patrick Healy, SJ
* John R. Slattery, SSJ
* Charles F. Uncles, SSJ
* Cyprian Davis, OSB
* Clarence Rivers
* Paschal Salisbury, OP

Seminarians

* William Augustine Williams

Families

* Healy family

Institutions

|  Churches

* Basilicas

Basilica of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception (Norfolk, Virginia)

* Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica

* Other

St Augustine (New Orleans)

* St Augustine (D.C.)
* St Francis Xavier (Baltimore)
* St Benedict the Moor (NYC)
* Most Pure Heart of Mary (Mobile)

Religious communities

* Oblate Sisters of Providence
* Sisters of the Holy Family
* Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary
* The Josephites
* Society of African Missions

Fraternal orders

* Knights of Peter Claver

Schools

* Xavier University of Louisiana
* Claver College
* St. Augustine High School (New Orleans)
* St. Augustine Seminary (Bay St. Louis)
* St. Anthony's Mission House

Organizations

* Colored Catholic Congress
* Federated Colored Catholics
* National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus
* National Black Sisters' Conference
* National Black Catholic Seminarians' Association
* National Black Catholic Lay Caucus
* The National Office for Black Catholics
* National Association of Black Catholic Administrators
* National Black Catholic Congress
* Black Catholic Theological Symposium
* Institute for Black Catholic Studies
* National Association of Black Catholic Deacons

Literature

* History of Black Catholics in the United States (Davis)

Worship

* Gospel Mass
* Black Unity Mass
* Prayer
* Sacraments

Rites

Roman

* Ordinary Form
* Zaire Use

Controversies

* Jesuit Bend Incident
* George Stallings (Imani Temple)

Miscellaneous

* Anti-Catholicism
* Ecumenism

Relations with:

* Protestantism
* Islam

Societal issues

* U.S. Catholic politics

Links and resources

* Index
* Outline
* Glossary
* Category
* Media
* Templates
* WikiProject
* Vatican City portal

Catholic Church portal

* v
* t
* e

The National Office for Black Catholics (NOBC) was an organization of Black Catholics in the United States, founded in 1970 and headquartered in Washington, DC. Its mission was "to make the Church relevant to the needs of the black community; to assist generally in the black liberation movement; to assist black Catholics in their efforts to become self-determining; and to become an effective voice in the whole of Church government."

It was officially dissolved in 1987,[1] but certain leaders claim to have continued the work until at least 2007.

## History

[edit]

The NOBC was founded in 1970, as an umbrella group for the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (NBCCC), the National Black Sisters Conference (NBSC), and the National Black Lay Catholic Caucus (NBLCC). Funding for the NOBC came primarily from an annual collection taken at Catholic churches around the country, called "Black Catholics Concerned."

NOBC undertook a variety of programs in the 1970s and 1980s. Its major departments included the Office of Culture and Worship, Office of Evangelization, Department of Church Vocations, and Education Department.

The organization's work included promoting black clerical leadership, supporting the development of African-rooted liturgy and ministries, contributing to the revitalization of black parishes, and strengthening black Catholic education. The organization also worked with the American Catholic hierarchy to bring issues around race to the forefront and participated in the 1976 "Call to Action" conference held by the U.S. bishops.[1]

NOBC sponsored many conferences and events throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Among its most successful events was a regular conference on African American Culture and Worship (AACW) led by Fr Clarence Rivers.

Beginning in 1980, it also hosted a biennial conference for the organization's members. 2,000 delegates attended the first gathering, developing a plan to petition the Vatican to allow for married Black clergy and a national Black seminary.[1]

In 1988 and 1989, NOBC and NBLCC hosted two Lay Leadership symposiums in Belleville, Illinois. The Office of Evangelization also sponsored revival events throughout the country.

Tension over the mission and organizational structure of the organization led to the formal withdrawal of the NBSC and NBCCC from NOBC in the early 1980s.[1] (One incident is said to have involved a fistfight between members of the lay caucus and NBSC, over the former's unwillingness to cede leadership positions.)

The NOBC's publications included its newsletter, Impact!, as well as Freeing the Spirit, a journal of the Office of Culture and Worship (headed by Fr Clarence Rivers). Freeing the Spirit ceased publication in 1983, but Impact! continued sporadic publication through the 1980s. A professional concert and album, also called Freeing the Spirit, was produced in Detroit in 1971, with acclaimed gospel musician Edwin Hawkins, the Hawkins Family, and many other nationally respected black musicians.

Although NOBC leaders like Walter Hubbard claim to have continued its activity through the 1990s and early 2000s, other sources say it ceased operations in 1987 in favor of the National Black Catholic Congress, founded that year, and/or the National Association of Black Catholic Administrators.[2][3][4][5][6]

## Executive directors

[edit]

* Br. Joseph Davis, SM (1970–1977)
* Fr. Cyprian Lamar Rowe, SSF (1978–1980)
* James Henderson (1981–1987)
* Penelope Taylor Powell (1978 [acting director], 1987–1988)
* Walter Hubbard (1988 – c. 2000)

## See also

[edit]

* Federated Colored Catholics
* National Black Catholic Congress

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Newman, Mark (2018). Desegregating Dixie : the Catholic Church in the South and desegregation, 1945-1992. Jackson. ISBN 978-1-4968-1886-7. OCLC 1031045686.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
2. ^ Yockey, Roger (2007). I Never Stopped Believing: The Life of Walter Hubbard, p. 110-129. Xlibris, Bloomington IN. ISBN 9781425768775.
3. ^ Davis SM, Joseph M. and Cyprian Rowe, FMS (1988). "The Development of the National Office for Black Catholics." U.S. Catholic Historian 7(2/3), 265-289.
4. ^ "Hubbard, Walter Jr. (1924-2007)". historylink.org. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
5. ^ Henry, Mary (2007-07-03). "Walter Hubbard Jr. (1924-2007) •". Retrieved 2021-07-09.
6. ^ Winstead, Kevin (2011-08-07). "The Black Catholic Movement and Social Movement Continuity Theory: The Civil Rights Movement in Abeyance". Research Papers.

## External links

[edit]

* http://library.stu.edu/exhibitions/nobc/nobc.html
* https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_03HOdWKAfcCGbW2bW3j7iprn2PsqYX8]

Authority control databases |

* SNAC

|

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template