PASADENA, Calif. (RNS) — Actor Jim Coleman stood at the front of a dimly lit stage and recounted the joys and hardships of being a black man of Catholic faith.
As the star of the play “Tolton: From Slave to Priest,” Coleman was portraying the life of the Rev. Augustus Tolton, the first known African American to serve as a Catholic priest in the United States.
The one-man multimedia performance, presented by Saint Luke Productions, toured several parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles this month (Feb. 10-15), with a private showing on Feb. 18 at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo.
Tolton, born into a family of slaves in Missouri, escaped during the Civil War with his mother and siblings and settled in Illinois. His father had already escaped to join the Union army and his family later learned of his death.
In Illinois, Tolton, who had been baptized in his former owners’ Catholic faith, faced pushback from peers and parents while attending all-white Catholic parish schools, according to Tolton’s biography provided by the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Undeterred, Tolton pursued the priesthood, studying in Italy after U.S. seminaries refused to admit a black man. He was ordained at the age of 31 in 1886.
Father Augustus Tolton in 1887.
Image courtesy of Creative Commons
In the play, Tolton refers to the U.S., as “foreign land” where, after “living in freedom for six years,” he returned on finishing seminary.
Tolton was sent to Chicago, where he helped oversee the construction of St. Monica’s Catholic Church, a black parish. Known as “Father Gus,” Tolton spent much of his career seeking help for the the poor in his black community.
In June 2019, Pope Francis officially declared that Tolton “lived a life of heroic virtue,” and the priest is now on the path for sainthood. His cause for canonization was opened by the Archdiocese of Chicago in 2010.
In Pasadena, the seats were filled for a showing of “Tolton” at St. Andrew Catholic School on Feb. 12. Some cheered and others cried as the play demonstrated how Tolton’s faith helped him cope with the racism he encountered before he went to seminary.
“People need to see that their spiritual life can help give them the strength to persevere in troubling times,” said Edwina Clay, president of the Altadena/Pasadena Black Catholic Association, who said the play was still relevant.
Source: Religion News Service
All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source