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African-American Catholics Look for a Saint of Their Own

Aired March 25, 2000 - 8:15 p.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANDRIA HALL, CNN ANCHOR: Religious strife threatened to cloud the pope's Holy Land pilgrimage this week. For one group of Americans, race has long been a source of frustration with the Catholic Church.

Kathleen Koch has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every Sunday at St. Augustine's, there is music, prayer and a feeling that something is missing. While Washington's oldest black Catholic church does have images of some of the church's 12 black saints, none is African- American.

THOMAS BUFFINGTON, PARISHONER: American saints, American blacks, people from our own communities, it's important to see those as models and symbols of the church.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, that says yes, this is my church, this is my home.

KOCH: Pope John Paul II has pushed to elevate more contemporary role models to sainthood. The most likely candidate to become the first black American saint is Pierre Toussaint. Born a slave in 1766, he used his earnings as a New York hairdresser to support his master's widow, establish an orphanage and help the church.

MSGR. RUSSELL DILLARD, ST. AUGUSTIN ROMAN CHURCH: They also saw and heard about the wonderful things he did for the poor, for black children in the streets, for his charitable giving to all kinds of organizations, even organizations that did not allow African-American people to be a part of them.

KOCH: From a church in Lower Manhattan, Toussaint's body was reentered under the high altar at St. Patrick's cathedral.

Less well-known is Mother Mary Lange. A refugee from the Caribbean, she established the country's first black convent in Baltimore in 1829. Though the city erected a plaque on the site last month, initially the order got a chilly reception.

SISTER VIRGINIA FISH, OBLATE SISTERS OF PROVIDENCE COMMUNITY: This political group attempted to run us out of the city. We needed protection. People sat in the parlor, a priest and a man sat in the parlor, to protect the sisters.

KOCH: Theologians say the lack of African-American saints is no surprise.

PROF. CHESTER GILLIS, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: There was racism in the American Catholic Church, clearly, for much of its history.

KOCH: Black American Catholics are now hoping for a saint of their own and a fresh start.

Kathleen Koch for CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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