Black Catholics from across U.S. pack cathedral
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Black Catholics from across U.S. pack cathedral By Lou Baldwin It was possibly the most elegant gather- ing of Black Catholics in the history of the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. Almost 1,000 Knights and Ladies (especially the La- dies) of the Knights of Peter Claver filled the grand old cathe- dral on July 21 for the opening Mass of anksgiving as part of their annual con- vention, and first ever in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. “e entire Church of Philadel- phia rejoices with you as you come for your assembly in our city,” said Bishop Timothy C. Senior, the principal celebrant of the Mass. “We are blessed to have you for this 98th Annual Convention and Supreme Assembly of the Knights and Ladies of St. Peter Claver. Your order is a great blessing to our parishes and churches; our schools and other ministries. “In Philadelphia ... we treasure the great blessing of racial diver- sity and ethnic diversity because diversity in our Church enriches everyone’s life in the community.” Joining him and other clergy on the altar was Bishop Shelton J. Fabre, auxiliary bishop of New Orleans and Msgr. William L. Nor- vell, superior general of the St. Joseph’s Society of the Sacred Heart (Josephite Fathers). e Knights of Peter Claver was founded in 1909 in Mobile, Ala- bama at the urging of the Josephite Fathers who ministered almost entirely to the African American community. In structure they mirrored the Knights of Columbus, which at the time had very few African American members and none in the strictly segregated Deep South. e Ladies Auxil- iary was organized in 1922. While they are still very much part of the organization, today they vastly out- number the men. e most striking feature of the cathe- dral Mass was the presence of approxi- mately 600 Ladies in the regalia of their order — white skirt- ed suit, white fez, white pumps, gloves, purses and button earrings. All, except those in the proces- sion, were seated a full hour before the liturgy began. e Knights and Ladies as a whole were definitely committed Catholics. “I’m pleased with the turnout,” said Supreme Lady Virtelle Ke- nyon, who came from Charleston, South Carolina. “We have a very full week of workshops here. We have Knights, Ladies, Junior Knights and Junior Ladies. Our mission is to serve the Church as well as members of our organization.” Overall, the Knights are not a large organization, perhaps 17,000 members, something for which they compensate by dedication. Although not many members are in the North, the order de- cided Philadelphia was a good choice because the cathedral was large enough for a group Mass. Supreme Knight Carlos Blackmon was enthusiastic about the Mass. “What a joy it is to be here, to renew old friendships and make new friendships and to share with one another our desire to serve the Lord and to serve His Church,” he said. Locally, there are about 10 councils or courts in the Philadelphia area, according to Deacon Bill Bradley, director of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office for Black Catholics and himself a Knight. The Knights and Ladies Auxiliary of Peter Claver fill the aisles of the Cathedral Ba- silica of SS. Peter and Paul July 21 for the opening Mass of their 98th annual con- vention, the first time it has been held in Philadelphia. (Photo by Sarah Webb)
Transcript of Black Catholics from across U.S. pack cathedral
Black Catholics from across U.S. pack cathedral By Lou Baldwin
It was possibly the most elegant gather-ing of Black Catholics in the history of the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul.
Almost 1,000 Knights and Ladies (especially the La-dies) of the Knights of Peter Claver filled the grand old cathe-dral on July 21 for the opening Mass of Thanksgiving as part of their annual con-vention, and first ever in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
“The entire Church of Philadel-phia rejoices with you as you come for your assembly in our city,” said Bishop Timothy C. Senior, the principal celebrant of the Mass. “We are blessed to have you for this 98th Annual Convention and Supreme Assembly of the Knights and Ladies of St. Peter Claver. Your order is a great blessing to our parishes and churches; our schools and other ministries.
“In Philadelphia ... we treasure the great blessing of racial diver-sity and ethnic diversity because diversity in our Church enriches everyone’s life in the community.”
Joining him and other clergy on the altar was Bishop Shelton J. Fabre, auxiliary bishop of New Orleans and Msgr. William L. Nor-vell, superior general of the St. Joseph’s Society of the Sacred Heart (Josephite Fathers).
The Knights of Peter Claver was founded in 1909 in Mobile, Ala-bama at the urging of the Josephite Fathers who ministered almost entirely to the African American community. In structure they mirrored the Knights of Columbus, which at the time had very few African American members and none in the strictly segregated Deep South.
The Ladies Auxil-iary was organized in 1922. While they are still very much part of the organization, today they vastly out-number the men.
The most striking feature of the cathe-dral Mass was the presence of approxi-mately 600 Ladies in the regalia of their order — white skirt-ed suit, white fez, white pumps, gloves, purses and button earrings. All, except those in the proces-sion, were seated a full hour before the liturgy began.
The Knights and Ladies as a whole were definitely committed Catholics.
“I’m pleased with the turnout,” said Supreme Lady Virtelle Ke-nyon, who came from Charleston, South Carolina. “We have a very full week of workshops here. We have Knights, Ladies, Junior Knights and Junior Ladies. Our mission is to serve the Church as well as members of our organization.”
Overall, the Knights are not a large organization, perhaps 17,000 members, something for which they compensate by dedication.
Although not many members are in the North, the order de-cided Philadelphia was a good choice because the cathedral was large enough for a group Mass.
Supreme Knight Carlos Blackmon was enthusiastic about the Mass. “What a joy it is to be here, to renew old friendships and make new friendships and to share with one another our desire to serve the Lord and to serve His Church,” he said.
Locally, there are about 10 councils or courts in the Philadelphia area, according to Deacon Bill Bradley, director of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office for Black Catholics and himself a Knight.
The Knights and Ladies Auxiliary of Peter Claver fill the aisles of the Cathedral Ba-silica of SS. Peter and Paul July 21 for the opening Mass of their 98th annual con-vention, the first time it has been held in Philadelphia. (Photo by Sarah Webb)
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New figures show signs of hope amid long slide in Mass attendance
On any given weekend during the month of October 2012, there were ap-proximately 253,338 Catholics attending Mass in churches throughout the Arch-diocese of Philadelphia, according to fig-ures compiled by the archdiocesan Office for Parish Service and Support.
If that sounds like a lot, it isn’t.According to the same statistics there
were 1,159,966 Catholics registered in the 266 parishes of the Archdiocese. That means approximately 21.8 percent of all of the registered Catholics attended Mass in October, a month chosen because it is typical – there is no snow, few people are away on vacation and there is no major holiday to distort the figures.
The figures supplied by the Office for Parish Services show observed Mass at-tendance in October 2012 (head counts are taken in all the churches during all weekend Masses) was down 9,488 from 2011 and down 125,456 from 2001, or a decline of 33 percent in the past 11 years.
If you want to take it back even further, figures supplied in 1992 when there were 1,243,113 registered Catholics, Mass at-tendance was at 410,444 or 33 percent of registration.
So much for the downside. There are also success stories out there that could be built upon.
According to the figures provided, 74 parishes actually showed increased num-bers from the prior year and not all of them were in areas one might expect.
For example in South Philadelphia,
which has been losing Catholic popula-tion for years, attendance was up 276 at St. Monica and 264 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Those parish areas are an easy work commute to Center City, and may reflect part of the return-to-the-city housing trend in the Philadelphia region.
There were a total of 19 parishes in the Archdiocese where Mass participation exceeded 40 percent of registration.
At St. Patrick Parish in Norristown weekly attendance was up 265. Father Augustus Puleo credits this entirely to an ever-growing Hispanic population in the area.
When people come to make arrange-ments for a marriage or a baptism he emphasizes coming to Mass. Last year he noticed his Sunday morning Spanish Mass was standing-room only. He added another Spanish Mass but very soon the first was just as crowded.
Adaptability is another key to contin-ued viability. St. Patrick Parish in Ken-
nett Square, Ches-ter County, which saw a 265 increase last year, has 7,549 Hispanics on the rolls today, mostly Mexican.
St. Cyprian, Phil-adelphia, which had an increase of 224 in Mass atten-dance, has 1,210 Black Catholics on the rolls.
The reigning champion in size
and still growing is St. Andrew in New-town, Bucks County. With 9,009 week-end worshippers, an increase of 259 from the previous year, it has a highly respect-able 45 percent Mass participation.
“We like to think our emphasis on good preaching and excellent music at our Masses has something to do with it,” said Msgr. Michael Picard, St. Andrew’s pastor. Homilies, he noted, are generally limited to 10 minutes or so partly because of the necessity to empty the church and parking lot in time for the next Mass, but also “people appreciate a well-crafted homily that is to the point,” Msgr. Picard said.
Other factors are a Sunday evening family Mass that is especially geared to teens. A Faith for Life program fo-cuses on families of parish school and PREP children, encouraging families to come to Mass together. There is further evangelization through encouraging the many parish sports teams to attend Mass as a body.
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