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St. Josephine Bakhita Mission Parish celebrates third annual Founder’s Day Mass, honors beloved African saint

By Jeff Grant  |  The Catholic Sun

During Sunday mornings at St. Josephine Bakhita Mission Parish, the singing is upbeat and energetic yet reverent. There is clapping, as well as expressions of “Amen!” and “Hallelujah!” This was especially present as the parish community celebrated its third annual Founder’s Day Mass on Sunday, June 1 honoring St. Josephine Bakhita.    

Visitors and decades-long parishioners alike experienced an atmosphere of warmth, love and Afrocentric culture and spirituality.  

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In Memory of Deacon Kenneth S. Greene

Kenneth Greene Obituary

Obituary published on Legacy.com by Serenity Funeral Home LLC on May 31, 2025.
Kenneth Steve Greene was the eldest of six children born on February 2, 1947, to the union of Kenneth Thomas and Ivory Mae Greene in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He departed this life on May 22, 2025, at the age of 78. His parents preceded him in death. Three of his siblings also preceded him in death: Connie Lavern Greene, Mark Keith Greene, Sr., and Michael Thomas Greene.
Kenneth was baptized into the Roman Catholic faith as an infant. He was educated in Catholic schools and universities: St. John the Baptist Catholic School and St. Anne’s Academy in Fort Smith; St. Benedict’s College in Atchison, Kansas; and the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. Kenneth earned a master’s degree in educational psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

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Black Catholic Spirituality | A voice crying out in Gospel joy

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.