Sister Thea Bowman and the soul of Black Catholic spirituality

By Father Leonard Gicheru | Catholic Key

“What does it mean to be Black and Catholic? It means that I come to my Church fully functioning. … I bring myself; my Black self, all that I am, all that I hope to become. I bring my whole history, my traditions, my experience, my culture, my African American song and dance and gesture and movement and teaching and preaching and healing and responsibility as a gift to the Church.” – Sister Thea Bowman

In the tapestry of American Catholicism, few threads shine as vibrantly as the life and witness of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman. Born in Mississippi in 1937 to a Methodist family and a convert to Catholicism as a child, Thea’s journey to religious life and national prominence was rooted in a deep love for Jesus Christ and a deep pride in her Black heritage.