Servant of God Thea Bowman

"I bring my whole history, my traditions, my experience, my culture, my African-American song and dance and gesture and movement and teaching and preaching and healing and responsibility as gift to the Church."

• Born December 29, 1937 in Yazoo City, MS to a physician and educator
• Descendant of slaves
• Converted from Protestantism to Catholicism after asking her parents if she could become Catholic at the age of 9
• Enrolled at St. Rose Convent and Viterbo University at the age of 15
• The first and only African-American Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration
• Taught in elementary, secondary, and university levels for 16 years
• Spoke across the country on Catholicism and race topics such as "What does it mean to be Black and Catholic?" 
• Helped found the National Black Sisters Conference
• Helped found the Institute of Black Catholics as Xavier University of Louisiana
• Served as Director Office of Intercultural Affairs in the Diocese of Jackson
• Received her PhD in English from Catholic University of America in 1972
• Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984
• Helped create the first Catholic Gospel Hymnal: Lead Me, Guide Me published in 1987
• First African-American woman to address the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (1989)
• Died at the age of 52 on March 30,1990
• Cause for Canonization officially opened in 2018
• Sainthood Phase: "Servant of God"
• Remaining phases: "Venerable", "Blessed" and "Saint"
• The first US native born African American whose cause for canonization has been opened by the Catholic Church

• Hanging Out with a Future Saint
• “Former Viterbo nun gains more attention for sainthood” 
• The Legacy of Sister Thea Bowman
• Thea Bowman - religious sister, civil rights advocate, candidate for sainthood
• ‘I Bring Myself, My Black Self - Sr. Thea Bowman’s challenge to the Catholic Church

• Sister Thea Bowman: Living the Faith
  • Part One
  • Part Two
• Are You Walkin With Me? - Sister Thea Bowman
• 1989 USCCB Address