Local day of reflection to focus on national survey

By Mary Ann Garber

Black Catholics in the archdiocese will have an opportunity to discuss a significant new national survey on African-American participation in the Church during a Jan. 28 day of reflection in Indianapolis.

Father Kenneth Taylor, director of the archdiocesan Office of Multicultural Ministry and pastor of Holy Angels Parish in Indianapolis, said the National Black Catholic Survey results will be the topic of a special meeting from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Jan. 28 at Holy Angels School, 2822 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St., in Indianapolis.

The day of reflection, which is free and includes lunch, will be held in the school gymnasium, he said. No pre-registration is required.

Father Taylor serves on the board of directors of the National Black Catholic Congress and is vice president of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.

He is looking forward to discussing the survey on current opinions and practices of

African-American Catholics later this month because it will be one of the main focuses of “Faith Engaged: Empower, Equip, Evangelize,” the National Black Catholic Congress, which will bring more than 2,000 participants to Indianapolis in July.

“This is the first scientifically done study of black Catholics in the United States,” Father Taylor said. “… The congress will use the findings of the survey plus the discussions before and during the congress to develop a new pastoral plan for black Catholics in the United States.

“One of the things that sparked the survey being done in the first place was a sense across the nation that the black Catholic community in the United States is really struggling,” he said. “We need to do something to address the health and well-being of the black Catholic community.”

Black Catholics need to “make their voices be heard as a number of the other ethnic and cultural groups in the Church have,” Father Taylor said. “Even in areas of a high black Catholic population, there is a lot of concern that ministry to black Catholics is suffering. One of the things that are constantly being pointed to are the closing of black parishes and schools around the country, and that comes down to a numbers issue.”

He said other factors that concern black Catholics as well as the Church in general include the disaffection of youth, lack of vocations and cultural challenges.

“Those are Church-wide issues,” Father Taylor said, “but because our numbers are so small to begin with it’s more dramatic and we feel it more.”

He said key points from the national survey that will be discussed during the day of reflection and congress include more positive results than expected before the interviews.

“There is an underlying strength within the black Catholic community,” Father Taylor said, as well as strong participation at Mass and in many Church activities by African-American adults.

“Only 24 percent of black Catholics belong to a predominantly African-American parish,” he said. “Seventy-six percent do not. … It shows that we are very spread out.”

He said the National Black Catholic Congress has asked each diocese to sponsor a day of reflection to prepare for the survey discussions at the congress which will help form the pastoral plan.

“This will be an opportunity for Indianapolis to have a voice in how the pastoral plan will come out,” Father Taylor said. “This is a historic effort on the part of the Church in the United States.”

(For more information about the day of reflection on Jan. 28 or the national congress on July 19-21, call the archdiocesan Office of Multicultural Ministry at 317-236-1562 or 800-382-9836, ext. 1562.) †