Thea Bowman

In 1989 Thea Bowman was a keynote speaker at a semiannual conference of U.S. Roman Catholic bishops. The topic of her address, on what it means to be Black and Catholic, drew upon her experience as a convert to Roman Catholicism and as the only Black American member of her religious congregation, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. Bowman’s speech riveted the assembly of predominantly white bishops, who responded with a standing ovation. The following year, Bowman died after a long battle with breast cancer, leaving behind a life dedicated to teaching children and adults and to raising awareness about racial prejudice in the church. Widely admired in her lifetime, Bowman was regarded by many American Catholics as a modern-day saint. Indeed, the cause for her canonization opened in November 2018.

Childhood and faith formation

Bertha Elizabeth Bowman was born on December 29, 1937, and grew up in Canton, Mississippi, the only child of Theon Bowman, a doctor, and Mary Esther Bowman (née Coleman), a schoolteacher. A self-proclaimed “old folks’ child” (Bowman’s parents were middle-aged when she was born), Bowman was raised to cherish the spiritual and cultural traditions of her African American heritage, and she came from a home that strongly valued education. She initially attended a Methodist church and a local public school. However, about the time that Bowman was beginning the sixth grade, her parents discovered that she could not read. They transferred her to a new Roman Catholic school established by the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity and the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, the latter of which was a congregation from La Crosse, Wisconsin, that had come to Canton to teach and serve the Black American community. Inspired by the sisters’ dedication, Bowman also converted to Roman Catholicism.

At age 15, Bowman decided to join the Franciscan sisters’ congregation. “I had witnessed so many Catholic priests, brothers and sisters who made a difference that was far reaching. I wanted to be part of the effort to help feed the hungry, find shelter for the homeless, and teach the children,” Bowman wrote in 1990 in an article for CUA Magazine. Her pastor at the time suggested that she enter a community of Black nuns in New Orleans, but Bowman insisted on joining the convent in La Crosse. She would become that congregation’s first Black American member.

Becoming Sister Thea Bowman

Bowman began her novitiate in La Crosse in 1956 and professed simple vows in 1958. That same year she began teaching at a local Catholic primary school. She took her final vows in 1963, choosing the name Sister Mary Thea in honor of the Virgin Mary and her father, Theon. To the end of her life, she was more often called Sister Thea Bowman.

Between 1961 and 1968 she taught English and music at a Catholic high school in her hometown of Canton, where she made it her mission to instill in her mostly Black American students a sense of pride in being both Black and Catholic. She described her method as “down-home teaching.” In Canton, Bowman worked with several other Franciscan sisters who were white. Because racial segregation was still the law in Mississippi, she was not allowed to live with her fellow sisters; instead, she slept in a trailer parked beside the convent.

Bowman earned a bachelor’s degree (1965) in English from Viterbo College (now Viterbo University) in La Crosse, followed by a master’s degree (1969) and a Ph.D. (1972) in English at the Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C. She became a college professor, over the years teaching English and linguistics at Viterbo, CUA, and Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans.

Public speaking and evangelism

By 1978 Bowman’s parents were elderly and required her care. That year she returned to Canton again and began serving as a consultant to the Office of Intercultural Awareness in the diocese of Jackson, Mississippi. In time, she became the office’s director and developed a reputation throughout the country as a powerful public speaker.

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Indeed, Bowman was beloved by her students and her community for her vibrant personality and the boundless energy that she brought to her work. Integral to her ministry was demonstrating her pride in her African American heritage by incorporating Black traditions, including Evangelical styles of worship, into her teaching and public speaking. Additionally, after the modernizing changes of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), which resulted in many female religious orders forgoing the requirement that their members wear the standard nun’s habit, Bowman further embraced her heritage and began dressing in clothes that reflected her African ancestry.

Catholic leaders viewed Bowman’s methods as vital and groundbreaking, particularly because Black Americans represented a minority in the U.S. church. For example, in 1975 the Catholic population in the United States totaled nearly 50 million people, but Black Catholics numbered only about 1 million. Bowman was recognized as a bridge builder between Black Americans and the U.S. Catholic Church.

Throughout the 1980s Bowman’s outreach to Black communities was significant. She was a founding faculty member of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies, established at Xavier University in 1980. Five years later she traveled to Nairobi to participate in the International Eucharistic Congress. In 1987 she helped organize the National Black Catholic Congress in Washington, D.C., the first meeting of its kind since the 19th century. The following year she traveled to Tanzania to conduct workshops on racism among the community of Maryknoll sisters, who had a mission there. Among the many honors Bowman received for her work were the inaugural Harriet Tubman Award from the National Black Sisters’ Conference and the Pope (now Saint) John XXIII Award from Viterbo College (both in 1985).

Cancer diagnosis and 60 Minutes feature

In the midst of her tireless efforts, Bowman discovered that she had breast cancer. She began treatment in 1984; the same year both her parents died. Nevertheless, her schedule of teaching, traveling, and lecturing remained busy.

In 1987 Bowman was featured on the news program 60 Minutes. During the segment, she discussed with correspondent Mike Wallace her work as an educator and speaker in much demand, as well as the impact of her cancer diagnosis and treatment. The segment also showed Bowman speaking before worshippers in a church and leading a workshop with priests to help them become more dynamic preachers. (Bowman believed that Catholics would benefit from using their bodies and voices during worship in a style similar to that of many Black Protestants.) Wallace noted a similarity between Bowman’s work and that of a priest or preacher, both roles from which women are excluded in the Catholic Church. When asked whether women should be allowed to be priests, Bowman replied, “Nobody so far has been able to tell me any reason why not that I understand.” Yet she also stated that she was “OK” with women not being allowed to preach, adding:

I mean, who are you going to listen to first? The official preacher or your own mama? I think women have always had influence within our communities and always will. So if I can’t preach in church, that’s alright with me. I can preach in the school, I can preach in the home, I can preach in the street, I can preach on the bus, I can preach on the train.

“To be Black and Catholic”

For many Catholics, the most important event of Bowman’s career came when she was invited to speak at the U.S. bishops’ annual conference in June 1989. After singing a Black spiritual, “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” she addressed the bishops:

Can you hear me, church? Will you help me, church?…[I’m] a pilgrim in the journey looking for home.…Cardinals, archbishops, bishops, my brothers or church, please help me to get home.

For more than 30 minutes, Bowman spoke passionately about Black Christians’ contributions to the church and the problems of social and economic inequity in the United States. Asking “what does it mean to be Black and Catholic?” she answered:

It means that I come to my church fully functioning.…I bring myself, my Black self, all that I am, all that I have, all that I hope to become. 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 gifts to the church.

Near the end of her speech, she asked the bishops to stand, join hands, and sing with her “We Shall Overcome,” a prominent song of the civil rights movement. Bowman’s speech came to be considered a landmark moment in the U.S. church.

Legacy and canonization

In October 1989 the Sister Thea Bowman Black Catholic Education Foundation was launched at St. Michael’s College in Vermont. The organization partners with Catholic universities and colleges to offer scholarships and grants to African American students. The following year Bowman died from cancer at age 52.

In November 2018 the diocese of Jackson officially opened the cause for Bowman’s canonization. Upon the occasion, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement that called Bowman “a ‘holy woman’ in the hearts of those who knew and loved her and continue to seek her intercession for guidance and healing.”