Augustine Tolton, Ex-Slave and First Black Priest in U.S., Takes Step to Sainthood

Augustine Tolton was born into slavery in Missouri in 1854, escaped to freedom as a child during the chaos of the Civil War, and later became the first African-American priest in the Roman Catholic Church.
This week, he took the first step toward becoming the church’s first African-American saint.
Pope Francis put Father Tolton on the path to sainthood Wednesday when he issued a decree “declaring the heroic virtues” of the priest, who was the only American on the list, which contained the names of eight candidates for sainthood.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said Wednesday that Father Tolton was the first Catholic priest “publicly known to be black” when he was ordained in 1886.
Bishop Joseph Perry of the Archdiocese of Chicago called Father Tolton “a bright light in a difficult period of this nation’s history.”