Daniel Rudd
Born: August 7, 1854
Died: December 3, 1933
Daniel Rudd was born in Bardstown, Kentucky on August 7, 1854 to Catholic former slaves, and his ministry began a mere 20 years after slavery. While Christianity was powerless against the rising tide of white supremacy, causing many denominations to split over race, Rudd rose above this pitiful Christian testimony to proclaim that the Catholic Church welcomed African Americans. Rudd began publishing the first Black Catholic weekly, the American Catholic Tribune, in 1886 to share his message even though Black literacy was low.
Daniel Rudd’s paper, however, was but a precursor to his larger vision. In 1889, after traveling the country to preach to Black Catholics, his efforts culminated in the first ever National Black Catholic Congress, held in Washington, D.C.
“Gather them [Black Catholics] and let them exchange views on questions affecting their race,” Rudd said a year before the conference. “Then uniting on a course of action, behind which would stand the majestic church of Christ, they must inevitably become… the bearer of their race.”
More about Daniel Rudd:
Civil writer: Daniel Rudd, founder of the National Black Catholic Congress
The founder of the National Black Catholic Congress inspires a modern-day Black Catholic to keep working for the church he envisions.
In the beginning, there were Black Catholics
In 1993, Father Cyprian Davis sat down with the editors of U.S. Catholic to talk about Black Catholic history and the future of the Black Catholic Church.
Built of living stones: 5 black Catholics to remember
Although the history of American Catholics is intertwined with the history of people of color, Black Catholics have often been forgotten in the American church.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
