John Richard Slattery (July 16, 1851 – March 6, 1926) was an American former

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest, activist, missionary, writer, and lawyer. He was first a member of the

Mill Hill Missionaries The Mill Hill Missionaries (MHM), officially known as the Saint Joseph's Missionary Society of Mill Hill ( la, Societas Missionariorum S. Ioseph de Mill Hill), is a Catholic society of apostolic life founded in 1866 by Herbert Alfred Vaughan, MH ...

, later becoming in 1893 a co-founder and the first

superior general A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...

of the

Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart The Society of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart ( la, Societas Sodalium Sancti Joseph a Sacra Corde) abbreviated SSJ, also known as the Josephites is a society of apostolic Life of Pontifical Right for men ( priests and brothers) headquartered ...

(also known as the Josephites).

Biography

Born on July 16, 1851, 1851 to a wealthy

Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

family in New York City, Slattery was ordained in 1877. His work in both religious communities was with African Americans in the aftermath of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

, a mission first inaugurated by the Mill Hill founder, Cardinal

Herbert Vaughan Herbert Alfred Henry Vaughan, MHM (15 April 1832 – 19 June 1903) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1892 until his death in 1903, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1893. He was th ...

, in 1871. Slattery worked for years in the mission field, establishing parishes, schools, and other ministries on behalf of the society. Among these were St. Joseph's Seminary for graduate students studying to become Josephites, and

Epiphany Apostolic College Epiphany Apostolic College, formerly known as the Josephite Collegiate Seminary, was a Catholic Church, Catholic minor seminary founded in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland in 1889 by John R. Slattery for the Mill Hill Missionaries, a United Kingdom, ...

, a

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Catholic priests. They are generally Catholic institutions, and ...

for the order. Both schools educated several of the first African-American Catholic priests in history, including

Charles Uncles Charles Randolph Uncles, Josephite Fathers, SSJ (November 8, 1859 — July 20, 1933) was an Black Catholicism, African-American Catholic Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest. In 1891, he became the first such priest ordained on US soil. Two y ...

. Slattery also founded the '' Josephite Harvest'', as of 2022 the longest-running Catholic missions magazine in the United States. Among his various pursuits, Slattery also collaborated with prominent lay Black Catholics. Among these were

Daniel Rudd Daniel Arthur Rudd (August 7, 1854December 3, 1933) was a Black Catholic journalist and early Civil Rights leader. He is known for starting in 1885 what has been called "the first newspaper printed by and for Black Americans", the ''Ohio Tribun ...

, the founder of the nation's first Black Catholic newspaper, the '' American Catholic Tribune'', and the

Colored Catholic Congress The Colored Catholic Congress movement was a series of meetings organized by Daniel Rudd in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for African-American Catholics to discuss issues affecting their communities, churches, and other institutions. Pa ...

. Slattery was heavily involved in both pursuits, before a falling out led to his withdrawal of support. After years of struggle against

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

both in and outside the Catholic Church, including vehement opposition to his goal of ordaining African Americans to the Catholic priesthood, Slattery left the Josephites and the Church in 1906 before marrying and becoming outspokenly

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its Hierarchy of the Catholic Church, clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestantism, Protestant states, ...

. A lawyer by trade from then until his death on March 6, 1926, his fortune and papers were left to the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

References

Anti-racism in the United States 1851 births American Roman Catholic priests African-American Roman Catholicism Josephite Fathers Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart American Catholics Superiors General of the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart Catholic religious leaders Roman Catholic religious leaders 1926 deaths {{US-activist-stub

Biography

See also

References