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​Who was Father Augustus Tolton?

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  • He was the son of poor slaves in the South.
  • He was refused admission to seminary in the USA because of race, and finally studied in Rome.
  • He was ordained in 1886, and was believed to be the first black priest in the nation.
  • He first served in the Springfield Diocese but came to Chicago where he founded a black parish.
  • He died of heatstroke at the age of 43.

The Servant of God Augustus Tolton

 

In His own words...

 

"The Catholic Church deplores double slavery—that of the mind and that of the body.  She endeavors to free us of both.  I was a poor slave boy, but the priests of the Church did not disdain me.  It was through the influence of one of them that I became what I am tonight."

 

Father Augustus Tolton
From a speech given at the
First Black Catholic Congress
Washington, D.C.  1889

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