Bishops to concelebrate Mass at historic African-American Catholic church

Congregants at St. Peter Claver Church in Baltimore carry offertory gifts to the altar during a 2015 Mass. The U.S. bishops will concelebrate Mass at the church Nov. 14, the first day of their fall general assembly. (CNS photo/courtesy Catholic Review)

By Catholic News Service • Posted November 4, 2016

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. bishops will concelebrate Mass at St. Peter Claver Church in Baltimore Nov. 14, the first day of their fall general assembly.

Established in 1888, St. Peter of Claver has the largest African-American Catholic congregation in the city and has a long-standing tradition of civil rights activism.

Named for the patron saint of slaves and ministry to African-Americans, today St. Peter Claver is twinned with St. Pius V. The parish community is in Baltimore’s Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, not far from where Freddie Gray Jr. was arrested in April 2015 and suffered fatal injuries while in police custody.

Gray’s death was the flashpoint in rioting that raised awareness of urban dysfunction in the center of the nation’s first archdiocese.

http://catholicphilly.com/2016/11/news/national-news/bishops-to-concelebrate-mass-at-historic-african-american-catholic-church/