Chinotu Kwelle, a senior at Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock, was recently selected as one of six students chosen by the Sisters of Mercy to write about potential Black saints.
Bob Keenan, media relations manager for the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, told Arkansas Catholic that the six students were chosen to help commemorate Black Catholic History Month in November.
Kwelle, 17, wrote about Mississippi native Thea Bowman.
“The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas have invited six students from Mercy high schools across the United States to participate by writing an essay about one of the six Black U.S. Catholics currently on the path to canonization,” Keenan wrote. “… Also featured in the series will be reflections on the lives of Venerable Mother Henriette DeLille, Servant of God Julia Greeley, Venerable Mother Mary Lange, Venerable Father Augustus Tolton and Venerable Pierre Toussaint.”
Students from Mercy schools in New York City, Baltimore, Chicago, Macon, Ga. and Burlingame, Calif., also participated. Keenan said the students were asked to explore the lives of the six sainthood candidates, to reflect on the special characteristics that made them holy and to explain why it is important to U.S. Catholics that the Church recognizes the sanctity, charity and perseverance of each.
Sister Regina Ward, RSM, associate director for mission integration at Mercy Education, said the project has helped Mercy students around the world grow closer to saints who are especially inspirational to young people.
“This project has helped to open a world of saints to our Mercy students. Through their reflections in this Black Catholic History Month blog series, our students deepen their understanding of faith, resilience and the universal call to holiness,” she said. “Their voices inspire us as they recognize and celebrate the powerful legacies of these six individuals who embody courage and compassion. Furthermore, included in planning materials they received for this project was a video detailing the canonization process and highlighting Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, who is also on the path to sainthood.”
Kwelle, a member of Christ the King Church in Little Rock, is active in her school and parish, serving as a Eucharistic minister and as a member of the school’s campus ministry team.
“I was over the moon when I got this opportunity. I thought it was a great opportunity — that Sisters of Mercy were reaching out to us, especially students of color, to talk about saints that really don’t get recognized,” Kwelle said. “… It’s just really cool to see that people of my skin color can be saints and that they are striving for holiness…”
Sister Thea Bowman is one of the “saintly six,” a group of six Black American Catholics who many American Catholics have encouraged the Vatican to canonize. Bowman was born Dec. 29, 1937, in Yazoo City, Miss., and was drawn to Catholicism after seeing how the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, who taught at her school, treated Black students.
Bowman converted to Catholicism at 9 years old with aspirations to become a religious sister. She entered the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration at 15 years old and spent much of her religious career navigating white communities as a Black sister.
She went on to teach at Catholic elementary schools across the South and advocated for Black Catholics and students. She addressed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1989, encouraging them to continue to uplift the voices and concerns of Black Catholics before dying of breast cancer on March 20, 1990.
“One thing that inspired me was that when (Bowman) was diagnosed with cancer, she was still one of the most joyful, happiest people,” Kwelle said. “She still lit up the room anywhere she went, and she was very resilient and trusted God in the process. She didn’t question God. She didn’t stop her ministry. She didn’t stop preaching the good news. She kept going until she died. And that was just amazing to see, especially with such a scary disease that could stop peoples’ lifestyles … but she chose it to strengthen her life and strengthen her purpose that God had called her to be.”
Kwelle hopes Bowman and the other five members of the ‘Saintly Six’ will be canonized to serve as a role model for other Black Catholics.
“It’s a really amazing opportunity, especially since there are not very many Black people that are Catholic that I know of,” she said. “Usually, when you go to Catholic churches, the predominant race is white people. And I feel like Black people feel like they don’t belong in a Catholic church because they have no one to look up to. They don’t see anyone in that skin color representing them. And I think it’s an amazing opportunity for Pope Francis, considering how some Black Catholics may feel in a Catholic church or when they don’t have any saints they could look up to that are their color.”
Jamie Groat, director of communications and marketing for Mount St. Mary, said Kwelle’s essay uplifts the importance of a diverse Catholic community to a global audience.
“This was a significant and very special opportunity for Chinotu. The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas invited just six students from Mercy Education’s 54 member schools to participate in their Black Catholic History Month commemoration project, and the students’ resulting essays are being shared with a global audience via numerous channels,” she said.
Kwelle’s essay and the other essays will be published Nov. 26 to the Sisters of Mercy blog at sistersofmercy.org/stories/.
