Bloomfield Church Among Those Celebrating Black History With Mass

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Archdiocese of Newark’s African American, African, and Caribbean Apostolate will be celebrating Black History Month with four special Masses and Synod listening sessions throughout the month of February.

The Archdiocese of Newark serves roughly 1.3 million Catholic residents in 212 parishes throughout Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties.

There are an estimated 34,000 Black Catholics within the Archdiocese of Newark as of 2016, according to statistics from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ V Encuentro initiative.

Although the archdiocese traditionally commemorates Black History Month with one large Mass celebrated by Cardinal Joseph Tobin at Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, this year, the apostolate decided to hold four smaller Masses in local parishes to make the celebration more accessible and personal for parishioners, spokespeople said.

One Mass will be held in each of the four counties overseen by the archdiocese — Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Union — with the county’s bishop presiding. All are invited to attend so they can honor Black culture and its impact on American history.

One of the sessions will take place at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Bloomfield at noon on Sunday, Feb. 13. It will include a tribute from Bishop Manuel Cruz.

Other sessions will take place on the following dates:

Bergen County

• Sunday, February 6, at 3 p.m.
• St. Anastasia Church in Teaneck
• with Bishop Michael A. Saporito

Hudson County

• Sunday, February 20, at 1 p.m.
• St. Aedan’s: The St. Peter’s University Church in Jersey City
• with Bishop Gregory J. Studerus

Union County

• Sunday, February 27, at 12 p.m.
• Church of St. Joseph the Carpenter in Roselle
• with Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo, O.S.B.

“These Masses are an opportunity to pay tribute to the numerous, often-unrecognized contributions of Black people and celebrate the legacy of our brothers and sisters in the intimate and spiritual setting of our local churches,” said the Rev. Emeka Okwuosa, coordinator of the African American, African and Caribbean Apostolate.

“I hope everyone will join and honor our community, our ancestors, and everything they have done to benefit society,” Okwuosa said.

LISTENING SESSIONS

According to the archdiocese, parishioners will also be encouraged to join listening sessions following Mass, during which they can share their thoughts and suggestions about how to improve the Catholic Church.

The sessions are part of “Synod 2021-2023: For a Synodal Church,” a process initiated by Pope Francis in October 2021 that urges Catholics around the world to meet and discuss how the church can better connect with 21st century congregations.

The outcomes of all local listening sessions worldwide will ultimately be consolidated into reports for discussion among the world’s bishops and the Vatican to help guide Pope Francis on decisions about how the church should proceed in the future, the archdiocese stated.

“Our brothers and sisters in the Black community really love this church,” Emeka said. “They really care about this church. But unfortunately, some believe they have not felt the same kind of love from the church. So, my prayer is that during these listening sessions they’ll be able to express how they feel about the church, and I pray that their opinions will help the church listen to its children who feel overlooked.”

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