Excerpts From the Catholic Standard: Pope Leo XIV on May 1, 2026 named Father Robert Boxie III, who is currently serving as the Catholic chaplain at the Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center at Howard University in Washington, as a new auxiliary bishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. Bishop-Elect Boxie, a 45-year-old native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, entered the seminary after earning a degree in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University in Nashville and a degree from Harvard Law School. Before his ordination as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington 10 years ago in 2016, he said he hoped to have an impact on young people, to help them “excel in what they do, and to see the world as an opportunity to discover who you are and what God has in store for you.” Serving as the Catholic chaplain at Howard University in Washington since 2020, Bishop-Elect Boxie has had the opportunity to do that, and Cardinal McElroy praised his ministry at the university, saying “he has deeply enhanced the ministry and community there, while building a chapel and dramatically renewing the Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center.” The cardinal noted that in then-Father Boxie’s first assignment as a parochial vicar at St. Joseph Parish in Largo, Maryland, he served “under the tutelage of Bishop Roy Campbell, who was a wonderful mentor to him.” Bishop Campbell has served as the longtime pastor there. In addition to serving as a parochial vicar at St. Joseph Parish from 2017 t0 2020, Father Boxie served as a parochial vicar at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Derwood, Maryland in 2016. Since 2016, he has served as an assistant vocations director for the Archdiocese of Washington. Praising Bishop-Elect Boxie, Cardinal McElroy said, “He has a priestly heart and keen intelligence, as well as the prayerful compassion and evangelizing core that will be a great gift to our local church in deepening our outreach to all and helping particularly to enrich our Black communities.”

(OSV News) — Several U.S. bishops recently traveled on pilgrimage to key sites commemorating the nation’s Civil Rights Movement and the legacy of slavery and racial discrimination — with two bishops telling OSV News the journey showed the need to face the past, before seeking to change the future. “It’s important to learn about the past, as odious as this is, as evil as the sin of racism and slavery is,” said Bishop William A. Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida. “We have to admit it, that it was part of our history, part of our nation, really a part of our culture. … It’s hard to move on if we have not confronted it together.” Read More

Josephites.org: It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our 13th Superior General, Very Reverend William Norvel, SSJ, who went to be with the Lord on the morning of Sunday, March 8, 2026. Father Norvel was a faithful Josephite priest, pastor, teacher, author, and liturgical leader whose ministry spanned more than five decades. Born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1965 and dedicated his life to serving Black Catholic communities across the United States with deep pastoral love and missionary zeal. Read More

todayscatholic.org: The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Pope Leo XIV called for deescalation and dialogue in the Middle East following the joint attacks on Iran launched on Saturday, February 28, by the United States and Israel, which killed Iran’s longtime supreme leader, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Read More

Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman, F.S.P.A., M.A. 1969, Ph.D. 1972, is a step closer to being recognized as a saint. The Diocese of Jackson – where she was born, became Catholic, and later served as an intercultural consultant – has completed the initial phase of her canonization process. This included researching and documenting her life and virtue. Boxes filled with the findings and documents gathered during this phase will be ceremonially sealed and then sent to the Congregation of the Causes of Saints following a Feb. 9, 2026, Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by Bishop Joseph Kopacz in Jackson, Miss. “We join our prayers to those of the Diocese of Jackson as Sr. Thea’s process of canonization moves ahead. Her legacy of compassion, prophetic witness, inculturation of worship, and unwavering love for Christ and the Church continues to inspire the generations of students who have walked the same campus she did,” said University President Peter Kilpatrick. The descendant of enslaved persons, Sr. Thea Bowman’s parents sent her to Catholic schools. She became Catholic in high school and, inspired by Catholic sisters and priests, joined a religious order. She went on to teach at the elementary and secondary levels. Read More

BlackCatholicMessenger.com: Jon Batiste, Cynthia Erivo, and FKA Twigs were big winners on music's biggest night, along with several honorees in non-competitive categories. Read More

onevoicebhm.org: KPC Members Bro. Brent Patterson (Archbishop Thomas J. Toolen Council) and Sir Knight Deacon Jacky Rodgers (Martin Luther Assembly 19) honored! The Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama held it Diocesan Prayer Breakfast in commemoration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Saturday, Jan. 10, at the Cathedral of St. Paul’s Life Center. The guest speaker was Father Kareem R. Smith, who was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 2018, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York by Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Currently, Father Smith serves as the pastor of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in New Rochelle, NY. His ministry, however, extends beyond parish life. He is the senior chaplain for the Pierre Toussant Scholarship Program, the chaplain for black Catholics in the Archdiocese of New York, president of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, and a board member of the National Black Catholic Congress. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Iona Preparatory School and Cardinal Spellman High School. Father Smith champions black Catholic spirituality, youth engagement, and liturgical diversity across the United States. Read More

The Black and Indian Mission Office in Washington, D.C., recently released two documentaries — one highlighting African American Catholics on the path to sainthood and the focusing on Native American Catholic communities in the United States. Read More