The African-American Catholic Congregation and its Imani Temples are a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

denomination founded in 1989 by the Reverend George Augustus Stallings, Jr., a former American Catholic

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

based in Washington, DC.

History

George Augustus Stallings, Jr., then a priest of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington The Archdiocese of Washington is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the District of Columbia and the counties of Calvert, Charles, Montgomer ...

, founded the Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation as a single congregation in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1989. It was an independent church for people who favored an Afrocentric but quasi-Catholic worship style. Within a few months, Imani Temple attracted ex-Catholic and ex-Protestant followers and former

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clergy. It grew to a group of nine churches in several cities. Later it expanded to include 13 churches. In 1989, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' reported that a former altar boy at St. Teresa of Avila Church accused Stallings of sexual misconduct over a period of several months in 1977. Stallings said "I am innocent," declining to answer questions. The ''Post'' had also reported allegations of abuse by two unnamed former altar boys. In a follow-up series of three articles in 1990, Post reporters

Bill Dedman Bill Dedman (born 1960) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, an investigative reporter for '' Newsday'', and co-author of the biography of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark, '' Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark ...

and Laura Sessions Stepp reported that concerns about Stallings's association with teenage boys had contributed to his split with the Roman Catholic Church. Stallings's former pastoral assistant, who was 22 at the time, spoke publicly about having had a two-year sexual relationship with him. In 2009 the archdiocese reached a $125,000 settlement with Gamal Awad, who said he was sexually abused at 14 by Stallings and a seminarian. In 1994, the Imani Temple African American Catholic Congregation, purchased the former Eastern Presbyterian Church, designed by noted Washington architect

Appleton P. Clark Jr. Appleton Prentiss Clark Jr. (November 13, 1865 – March 25, 1955) was an American architect from Washington, D.C. During his 60-year career, Clark was responsible for designing hundreds of buildings in the Washington area, including homes, h ...

and opened in 1893. In 2001 Stallings, then 53, married a 24-year-old woman from

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in a New York ceremony officiated by the Rev.

Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Yong Myung Moon; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Un ...

of the Unification Church. In 2006, the excommunicated former Catholic archbishop

Emmanuel Milingo Emmanuel Milingo (born June 13, 1930) is an excommunicated former Roman Catholic archbishop from Zambia. He was ordained in 1958; in 1969, aged 39, Milingo was consecrated by Pope Paul VI as the bishop of the Archdiocese of Lusaka. In 1983, h ...

(who married a woman from South Korea in 2001 at the same ceremony as Stallings) performed a conditional consecration for Stallings and three other married independent Catholic bishops at the Imani Temple church in Washington."Archbishop Repudiates Expulsion"
''Washington Post'', September 28, 2006, p. A12 In 2014 the Imani Temple in Washington was sold to property developers. It was renovated and adapted for sale as six luxury condominiums.Hopkins, Kathryn and Li, Miao. "Developers Say ‘Take Me to Church’", ''Mansion Global'', April 5, 2016
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Practice

Imani Temple teaching, in contrast to

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 ...

teaching, allows women to be ordained. Unlike the Latin Catholic Church, it does not as a rule require celibacy of its priests. In 1991, their first female priest was ordained."Black Catholic church welcomes female priest Woman makes history by saying mass", ''Baltimore Sun'', September 23, 1991
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References

External links

Imani Temple website
{{black church African-American history of Washington, D.C. Christian organizations established in 1989 Independent Catholic denominations Christian denominations established in the 20th century Churches in Washington, D.C. Capitol Hill African-American Roman Catholicism 1989 establishments in Washington, D.C.

History

Practice

See also

References

External links