“I tell people that if you want to know how to design the finest priest, then use the model of a servant. The priest is a servant of God and his people.” – Father Boniface Hardin
Father Boniface Hardin, who passed away in March, may be best remembered as the founder of Martin University.
He was also, however, a Benedictine monk and priest who became a leading figure among African-American Catholic clergy in the Indianapolis area. Hardin’s death marked the latest reduction of this already relatively small group.
“We are affected by death and retirement just like everybody else, so our numbers are going down,” said Father Kenneth Taylor, pastor of Holy Angels Catholic Church. “With a decline in the number of priests and nuns, the development of leadership in the Black Catholic community is even more crucial.”
In 2002, there were several African-American priests active in Indianapolis, including three serving as pastors of churches. Since then, the diocese has lost respected figures such as Father Arthur Kelly, a popular associate pastor at St. Rita Catholic Church and Father Clarence Waldon, who became the first Black priest ordained in the local archdiocese in 1964 and served as pastor of Holy Angels until his death in 2005.
Today, Taylor is now the only active Black priest who is from Indianapolis.
Many experts agree that the reduction of clergy among America’s estimated 3 million African-American Catholics reflects a general loss of priests in the denomination.
The number of priests in the United Sates declined by 8 percent between 2001 and 2008, from nearly 45,000 to about 41,000, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University.
“The number of people going into the priesthood and becoming nuns, regardless of race or ethnicity, has gone down dramatically since the 1960s,” said Philip Goff, director of the Center for Religion and American Culture, located on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).
Goff said several factors can possibly contribute to the reduction of Catholic priests.
“Now there are more options for religious people who want to go into full time Christian vocation,” Goff said. “Also, other denominations, including those close to the Catholic tradition such as the Episcopal Church, allow marriage for their priests. I think that also has something to do with it.”
Goff also noted that the image of priests in popular culture has changed.
“I can remember when I was a kid there would be different movies or television shows where there was a cool priest,” he said. “You just don’t see much of that now. Priests are usually shown as being judgmental, or exorcising a demon or something like that. Young people just don’t have the pop culture role models in the priesthood that they might have had years ago.”
Filling a void
This scenario has raised questions about the future of Catholic leadership among African-Americans in Indianapolis. Who will carry on that legacy when Taylor and the current generation of priests can no longer function in ministry?
“The church is always trying to recruit and attract bishopric candidates,” said Taylor, who is also director of the archdiocese’s office of Multicultural Ministries.
One of those candidates is Douglas “Doug” Hunter, currently in training at St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in Southern Indiana.
Hunter, a member of St. Joan of Arc parish in Indianapolis, said the church has been at the center of his life since childhood.
“I felt a strong call to the priesthood,” Hunter said in an interview for the archdiocese. “Even though I’ve been in other areas of corporate America, and law enforcement, I’ve always had that feeling I should answer the call.”
Hunter is also treasurer of the National Black Catholic Seminarian Association.
“He’s in position to be next in line,” Taylor said.
In the Catholic denomination, there are two types of priests: those like Waldon and Taylor who belong to a diocese that serves a specific geographic area, and those like Hardin, who are members of a religious order that can assign them anywhere.
Although Taylor is currently the only Black priest who belongs to the Indianapolis archdiocese, there are priests and monks of African decent from other places who have made Indianapolis home.
Fathers Charles and Chester Smith, two African-American brothers with the Society of the Divine Word order, serve locally.
Also, the Archdiocese has brought in several priests from Nigeria, including Father Eusebius Mbidoaka, current administrator at St. Rita Catholic Church, one of the city’s two predominantly Black Catholic parishes.
In addition, Donald Dearman, of St. Bernadette Catholic Church, is in training to become the city’s only African-American Catholic deacon.
Statewide, well-respected Catholic scholar Cyprian Davis is located at St. Meinrad, while the Catholic Archdiocese of Gary has two African-American pastors.
Leadership among African-American Catholics is also being nurtured by the National Black Catholic Congress, of which Taylor is vice president. In July, the organization will host its annual convention in Indianapolis, providing a special opportunity to promote ministry service.
Goff has noticed that the Catholic Church has joined other denominations in making a strong effort to make religious vocation attractive to young people.
“Also, non-profit organizations are funding programs that promote a career in ministry on college campuses,” said Goff.
Taylor agrees that despite the decline in priests, there are reasons to be optimistic.
“The church has always found a way to serve, even through difficult and challenging times,” Taylor said. “There will always be people who see the importance of the spiritual side of life and be attracted to the life of ministry. I believe that the future is going to be good.”
