There are Diocesan Archives that show proof that American Catholic bishops and diocesan priests have owned and sold people in the 18th and 19th centuries.
It was October 2023, and I was attending a conference on enslavement records and the Catholic Church. The remark came from a colleague I’d known for more than 20 years, and it completely caught me off guard. It challenged assumptions I did not realize I was carrying and raised questions I could no longer ignore.
I knew some religious orders in the South had owned people. At the time, I naïvely envisioned this to mean unpaid labor that supported daily life — a surrogate for the lay sisters and brothers common to European monasteries.
But bishops? Our clergy?
Like many people confronted with an uncomfortable truth, I tried to rationalize what I had just heard. I caught myself thinking, “They were owned by Catholics — so how bad could their enslavement really have been? Surely, they were treated humanely.”
I quickly realized how little I understood about this complex and painful chapter of American Catholic history. I was aware that enslaved people appear in sacramental records, but I did not yet grasp the scope or implications. That realization led me to ask a deeper question: Where does the Catholic Church in Florida fit into the broader history of Catholic enslavement in the United States?
In 2021, colleagues from Catholic institutions across the country established CROSS — Catholic Research Organizations Studying Slavery. Several years earlier, Black genealogists tracing their own family histories had drawn national attention to direct connections between enslaved ancestors and prominent Catholic institutions, including the Jesuits of Georgetown University. Over the course of my career, I had heard informal accounts from southern archivists who encountered enslavement records in their collections. When I moved south and became a custodian of similar records, that history became personal and unavoidable.
When the first CROSS conference was held in St. Louis in 2023, I felt compelled to attend. The experience was so formative that I paid my own way to Georgetown University in October of the following year to participate in the second conference rather than miss it.
Archivists see ourselves as stewards — temporary custodians of collections that belong not only to institutions, but their communities and descendants. The practical experiences shared by colleagues at both CROSS conferences were invaluable. The organization’s Best Practices Guide offers institutions a responsible framework for engaging these records. Archivists and educators shared their own journeys, including how they worked with leadership, partnered with descendants and educated their local Catholic communities. Descendants share their programs which inform the next generations.
The greatest gift of both conferences was learning directly from descendants. Enslavement is not an abstract historical topic; it is a deeply personal and painful reality for many Americans. As one longtime colleague reminded us, “There is power in records. Those who hold the records hold the power.” Without seeking it, Diocese of St. Augustine is among those institutions that hold such power — and therefore responsibility.
Joyce Jones, archdiocesan director for the Office of Racial Harmony and Black Catholic Ministries in St. Louis, introduced two African concepts that resonated deeply with this work. The first, from West African tradition, is griot or jeli/jali — a hereditary storyteller and keeper of communal memory, history and legacy. This role mirrors the responsibility entrusted to archivists.
The second concept is sankofa, from the Akan people of Ghana. It translates to, “it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot.” Its symbol, a bird looking backward while holding an egg, calls institutions that care for records of enslaved people to engage these holdings honestly, to recover memory that has been lost or ignored, and to do so transparently and in dialogue with those most affected.
During Black History Month, I find myself reflecting on the contributions of People of Color — named, unnamed and unknown — who helped build the Catholic Church in Florida. I look forward to uncovering their names and telling their stories alongside those of the clergy and lay who have shaped our shared history, recognizing that faithful stewardship of the past is essential to integrity in the present.
To learn more about the history of enslavement and the Catholic Church:
Books
Endres, David J. Slavery and the Catholic Church in the United States. Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2023.
Rothman, Adam & Elsa Barraza Mendoza (ed). Facing Georgetown’s History: A Reader on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation. Washington DC: Georgetown Press, 2021.
Swarns, Rachael L. The 272: the Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church. NY: Random House, 2023.
Articles & Reports
Archdiocese of St. Louis. “Forgive Us Our Trespasses, A Report on Slavery in the Historic Archdiocese of St. Louis, 2024.”
https://df4a9580-9936-4802-bcaf-8c1d30e378cb.filesusr.com/ugd/26dc8e_10b297a5ea5049f59319adcf2f6bf71d.pdf
Swarns, Rachael L. “272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown. What does It Owe Their Descendants?” New York Times, 04/16/2016.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/us/georgetown-university-search-for-slave-descendants.html
Tinner-Williams, Nate. “’This is a journey’: Catholic archivists talk slavery at inaugural conference.” Black Catholic Messenger, 11/3/2023.
https://www.blackcatholicmessenger.org/cross-conference-2023-recap
Tinner-Williams, Nate. “Second national CROSS conference unpacks Catholic slavery, centers descendants at Georgetown.” Black Catholic Messenger, 11/15/2025.
https://www.blackcatholicmessenger.org/cross-conference-2025-recap
USCCB. “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love – A Pastoral Letter Against Racism.” 2018. https://www.usccb.org/resources/open-wide-our-hearts-enduring-call-love-pastoral-letter-against-racism
Institutional Websites
Archdiocese of Baltimore. “Commission on Slavery.”
https://www.archbalt.org/racismpastoral19/commission-on-slavery/
Archdiocese of Washington DC. Honoring Those Who Were Enslaved: Do Justice, Love Goodness, and Walk Humbly.
https://adw.org/living-the-faith/social-concerns/honoring-those-enslaved/
Catholic Religious Organizations Studying Slavery (CROSS)
https://catholicsstudyingslavery.org/about-cross
Georgetown University. “Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation Initiative.”
https://library.georgetown.edu/slavery-memory-reconciliation/university-initiatives-events
Jesuits. “Slavery, history, Memory, and Reconciliation Project.”
https://www.jesuits.org/our-work/slavery-history-memory-and-reconciliation/
Descendants Groups
American Ancestors, the GU272 Memory Project
https://gu272.americanancestors.org
Descendants of Jesuit Enslavement Historical & Genealogical Society
https://www.descendantsofjesuitenslavement.org
Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation
http://descendants.org/who-we-are/history
