Why We Need to Learn Black Catholic History with Alessandra Harris

Dear Listeners,

Lately I’ve been wrestling with the question, “what is missing from my understanding of the Black Catholic experience?”

Like many white Catholics, I grew up hearing that racism was wrong. I learned the basic language of equality and justice. But what I was not taught was the deeper history of race, Catholicism, and the Church’s own complicated relationship with racism.

I was not taught about the ways Catholics participated in and benefited from systems of slavery and segregation. I was not taught about the generations of Black Catholics who fought for belonging in a Church that often failed to fully recognize their dignity. I was not taught about the rich tradition of Black Catholic thought, spirituality, and theology that has shaped the Church.

This episode is an invitation to begin filling in those gaps.

I’m joined by Alessandra Harris for a conversation about why learning Black Catholic history not only fills in our view of the Church’s past but can also help us understand the present. We talk about the importance of listening to Black Catholic voices, confronting the parts of our history that are uncomfortable, and recognizing that the story of Catholicism in America has always been more complex than the versions many of us were handed.

The stories we tell about the past shape how we understand issues of justice today — from policing and incarceration to housing, education, and the ways communities experience belonging. Books like In the Shadow of Freedom have helped illuminate how historical systems continue to influence our society, and why honest historical reflection matters.

For many Catholics, especially white Catholics, learning Black Catholic history requires moving beyond a simple understanding of racism as individual prejudice and toward a deeper understanding of the systems, structures, and histories that have shaped our Church and our country.

Thank you to the historians, theologians, writers, and Black Catholic leaders whose work helped inform this conversation, including voices like Alessandra’s and Fr. Bryan Massingale, whose scholarship continues to challenge the Church to take seriously its call for justice and solidarity.

My hope is that this episode invites all of us — especially those of us who were never taught this history — to approach it with humility, curiosity, and a willingness to listen.

Because learning Black Catholic history is not separate from understanding Catholic history.

It is Catholic history.

-Max

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