Archdiocese of Philadelphia Office for Black Catholics to Host a Day of Reflection Featuring Sister Cora Marie Billings, R.S.M.
The gathering’s theme is Renewing the Human Family.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia Office for Black Catholics will host a Day of Reflection with prayer, music, and conversation in celebration of National Black Catholics Month. Sister Cora Marie Billings, R.S.M. will be the main speaker. All are welcome to attend.
Saturday, November 20, 2021
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Saint Malachy Church
1429 North 11th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
Sister Cora Marie Billings, a professed religious of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, is a pioneer and trail blazer dedicated to combating racism and promoting social justice. She is also a founding member of the National Black Catholic Sisters Conference.
In the 1960s Sister Cora Marie was the first African-American female religious to teach in a Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. During the 1970s she served as an adjunct professor at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. Additionally, she led the Diocese of Richmond’s Office for Black Catholics for 25 years and was director of the Human Rights Council for the state of Virginia from 2007 to 2010.
Black Catholic History Month was inaugurated in 1990 by the Black Catholic Clergy Caucus. November was selected as it holds two significant dates for Catholics of African descent—the Feast Day of Saint Martin de Porres on November 3rd and the birthday of Saint Augustine of Hippo on November 13th.
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Editor’s Note: For more information on the Office for Black Catholics Day of Reflection, please call James Andrews, Director of the Office for Black Catholics, at 215-587-3541.
Contact:Jhoselyn Martinez
Communications Specialist
215-587-3747 (office)