"Blacks in the Catholic Church"

Here is a provocative -- yet sobering -- read, "Blacks in the Catholic Church:  Then and Now," from OpinionJournal:

As the debate continues over what to rebuild in New Orleans, the fate of the city's black Catholic community may be one of the more poignant tales of loss and uncertainty in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It is also one that points to a challenge for the wider Catholic Church in America. New Orleans, along with Baltimore and New York, is one of the precious few strongholds of black Catholics in the United States, a venerable old community facing challenges beyond the storm's toll.

Katrina dispersed much of New Orleans's Catholic population, including many African-Americans. Even now, seven months later, only half of the 350 families from the Church of St. Augustine, a parish near the French Quarter founded in 1841 by slaves and freedmen, have returned. The local archbishop wants the congregants to merge with another church.

Indeed, people outside major cities are often surprised to discover that there are black Catholics at all; for them, the church's vaunted universality is limited to a light-toned blend of European and Latino nationalities. And indeed, African-Americans make up just 3% of the nation's more than 65 million Catholics. Why should this be so?

When it comes to racial integration, the Catholic Church in America carries much of the same historical baggage as many other institutions. True, there have been remarkable black American Catholics, notably Venerable Pierre Toussaint, the Haitian immigrant and slave who bought his own freedom in the early 19th century, and then used his wealth to fund all manner of charitable efforts and help to underwrite the building of Old St. Patrick's Cathedral on Mulberry Street in New York.