New study on Black Catholicism is critical for US church leaders

Why Pew's new study on Black Catholicism is critical for US church leaders

Tia Noelle Pratt's career is built on the premise of ending the erasure of Black Catholics from academic and public discourse. An assistant professor of sociology at Villanova University, Pratt writes in a commentary for NCR about the importance of the recent Pew Research Center report, "Black Catholics in America."

The 2021 report, with a representative sample of over 8,000 respondents, dives into the diversity of the Black religious experience in the United States and analyzes groups that are often left out of such discussions, including African immigrants, people who are religiously unaffiliated and Black Catholics.

"This study is a call to action for scholars and church leaders alike," Pratt writes. "It tells us concretely that, like the entire church, Black Catholics are not a monolith. The future of the church depends on deepening our understanding of this in order to minister and create policy accordingly."

You can read more of the commentary here.

More background:

• A new Pew study highlights the often-distinctive religious beliefs, practices and experiences of the approximate 3 million Black Catholics in the United States — about 4% of the nation's Catholics.

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Has study of women's history neglected the role of religious sisters?

American religious sisters have been central protagonists in the larger narrative of women's history, but that record has often been eclipsed, according to scholars during a recent panel discussion on American and Italian Catholic identities.

"Sisters' history has not been integrated in a meaningful way into the relevant areas of women's history because doing so requires acknowledging different paths," said Elisabetta Vezzosi, director of the humanities department of the University of Trieste in Italy. "Sisters were on the forefront of the American efforts to provide women with education, the ideas of self-motivation and the means of economic independence."

Read more of the story here.

More background:

• If you are interested in the coverage of religious sisters, check out Global Sisters Report and sign up for free email updates. Or follow Global Sisters Report on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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