The importance of personal parishes for Black Catholics

This week on “The Gloria Purvis Podcast,” Gloria speaks with the Rev. Thomas Burke, the pastor of St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church in Pittsburgh, Pa., about the importance of establishing personal parishes for Black Catholics. 

When Bishop David Zubik first announced this personal parish there was a negative response from some white Catholics, who didn’t understand the need for a liturgy and community that reflected the unique cultural legacy of Black Catholics. 

To those critical of the parish, Father Burke says: “Go check it out and see why it’s Catholic. It’s not so much going on the bandwagon of wokeness, of separating the Blacks from the whites in creating a personal parish.” 

Instead, it is about recognizing the richness that Black Catholics bring to the liturgy, he adds “the atmosphere, the welcomingness, the music, the family aspect of it and to celebrate the culture, I think is a learning lesson.”

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