The Black Catholic Theological Symposium is a
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
-based Catholic organization founded in 1978 to promote theological education and research concerning
Black Catholics.
History
In 1978, the first meeting of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium, organized by Thaddeus Posey,
O.F.M. and sponsored by the
National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus
The National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (NBCCC) is an organization of African-American clergy, religious, and seminarians within the Catholic Church.
History
The group was founded in April 1968, shortly after the assassination of Martin Luthe ...
, was held in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. It worked on defining
black theology and clarifying its relationship with the
black consciousness movement
The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...
and related understandings of violence and separatism. Including theologians such as
Thea Bowman
Thea Bowman, FSPA (born Bertha Elizabeth Bowman; December 29, 1937 – March 30, 1990) was a Black Catholic religious sister, teacher, musician, liturgist and scholar who made major contributions to the ministry of the Catholic Church toward A ...
,
M. Shawn Copeland
Mary Shawn Copeland (born August 24, 1947), known professionally as M. Shawn Copeland, is a retired American womanist and Black Catholic theologian, and a former religious sister. She is professor emerita of systematic theology at Boston College ...
,
Jamie T. Phelps, and
Cyprian Davis
Cyprian Davis, O.S.B. (born Clarence John Davis; September 9, 1930 – May 18, 2015) was an African-American Catholic monk, priest, and historian at St. Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana. He is known for his work on the history of Black Catholicism.
...
, its proceedings were published as ''Theology: A Portrait in Black''.
The second meeting of the Symposium was held in 1979 on the theme of "Nguba Saba." It would not hold another meeting until 1991, when convened by Sr
Jamie T. Phelps,
O.P., but has held meetings annually ever since.
Conveners
# Fr
Thaddeus Posey, OFM
# Sr
Jamie T. Phelps, OP
# Dr. M. Shawn Copeland
# Dr.
Kimberly Flint Hamilton
# Fr
Bryan Massingale
# Dr.
C. Vanessa White
# Dr.
Kathleen Dorsey Bellow
# Fr
Maurice J. Nutt, CSsR
#Dr.
Kimberly Lymore
See also
*
Black Catholicism
Black Catholicism or African-American Catholicism comprises the African American people, beliefs, and practices in the Catholic Church.
There are currently around 3 million Black Catholics in the United States, making up 6% of the total popula ...
*
Black Catholic Movement
The Black Catholic Movement (or Black Catholic Revolution) was a movement of African Americans, African-American Catholics in the United States that developed and shaped modern Black Catholicism.
From roughly 1968 to the mid-1990s, Black Catholi ...
*
Black theology
Bibliography
External links
Black Catholic Theological Symposium
Christian organizations established in 1979
African-American Christianity
Catholic theology and doctrine
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