Classmates of Distinction
During the predictions of a major snow in Raleigh last January, I spent some time looking at my photo albums from my seminary days. It brought back a flood of good memories.
These photos started in the late 1940s in the aftermath of World War II. I believe that in the wake of this conflict, black people in the United States began to rise above the expected and began to be included in state and church.
Among these pictures several seminarians stood out. They were Dom Cyprian Davis, OSB, Bishop Carlos Lewis, Bishop Joseph Bowers and Bishop Harold Perry. Dom Cyprian is a noted Church historian who wrote the first definitive history of black Catholics in the United States. He is a monk of St Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana, where he teaches Church History there and is also an international lecturer.
Bishop Harold Perry, SVD, after serving in various capacities in his society, was named Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans. He was the first black bishop in modern times.
He was an engaging speaker, and was in the group of black clerics who founded the Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.
Bishop Joseph Bowers was named Bishop of Accra in Ghana. He was the first black bishop in modern times in Africa. After he was succeeded by an African-born bishop, he became the first Bishop of St. John’s Basseterre, a Diocese comprising several islands in the Caribbean.
Bishop Carlos Lewis was a native of Panama. He was named an Auxiliary Bishop there, where he gave dedicated ministry drawing on his pastoral experience in the States.
This is the season of the Resurrection of the Lord. These are the stories of priests who also rose above what was expected.
- Msgr. Thomas P. Hadden