The National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus of the United States voted to designate November as Black Catholic History Month in 1990. November marks a time when the Church prays for all saints and souls in loving remembrance, as well as a time to recall the saints and souls of Africa and the African Diaspora. According to the USCCB, there are over 3 million African American Catholics in the U.S. today. The Pew Research Center finds that there are at least 200 million people of African descent in the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world. As yet, there are no African American saints, but six are on the path to sainthood, including Mother Henrietta DeLille, Mr. Pierre Toussaint, Ms. Julia Greeley, Mother Mary Lange, Fr. Augustus Tolton, and Sister Thea Bowman, all great Black Catholic leaders and lifelong advocates for racial justice. To learn more about them, see publications from Virginia Catholics for Racial Justice, the National Catholic Register, and The Church of St. Francis Xavier (New York, New York). Let’s celebrate the rich and holy history of the Black Catholic Church in our country.