By Jessica Able, Record Staff Writer
African American Catholics helped build some of the oldest churches in the Archdiocese of Louisville, yet oftentimes they were relegated to the back pews of parishes and could not receive Communion at the main altar.
A new documentary “Facing an Uncomfortable Truth” explores contributions made by Kentucky’s early African American Catholics as far back as the 18th century. Its producer, Steve Crump, is a son of the Archdiocese of Louisville and a descendant of those early black Catholics.
“They were builders and caretakers, parishioners and worshippers. Understanding what they did, how they lived and the sacrifices they made means coming to grips with ‘facing an uncomfortable truth’ by connecting bluegrass roots and Catholic realities,” said Crump, who also narrates the documentary.
“Their contributions came at a very heavy cost” and go largely unnoticed, he said.
Crump is a reporter for WBTV in Charlotte, N.C., and a documentary filmmaker. He is a 1975 graduate of Trinity High School and attended the former St. Peter Claver Church. He was recognized in 2003 as a Salute to Catholic School Alumni honoree and in 2017 he received the Acacia Award, the highest honor presented by the Archdiocese of Louisville’s Office of Multicultural Ministry.
Crump has produced more than two dozen documentary projects examining African American issues. During a recent interview, he said he has always been fascinated with his family’s history and its role in the early Catholic Church in Kentucky. While attending the African American Catholic Leadership Awards Dinner a couple of years ago, Crump listened as Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz said “the church has no room for racism.”
“That resonated with me. That was during one of my early research trips,” he said.
The film begins by looking at the early days of the Catholic Church in central Kentucky, when pioneer Catholics arrived from Maryland beginning in the 18th century.
These pioneering Catholics, who came to Kentucky in search of religious freedom, brought slaves with them.
These enslaved men and women, who adopted the faith of their captors, were offered to help build parishes in what is now known as the Kentucky Holy Land in Nelson, Washington and Marion counties, according to Dr. C. Walker Gollar, a professor at Xavier University.
Gollar, who is featured in the film, said Father Stephen Theodore Baden worked hard to minister to the ever-growing Catholic community in the late 18th century.
“Many Catholic women and men donated help to him in the terms of slaves,” Gollar said.
Oftentimes when estates were settled, slaves would be given to religious orders. Or when a young woman entered the convent or a young man joined a religious order, a slave would be given as part of the dowry, Father Anthony Chandler, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in La Grange, Ky., points out in the film.
African American slaves who were skilled masons and carpenters helped construct a number of the first places of worship for Catholics in the Kentucky Holy Land, including St. Charles in St. Mary, Ky.; St. Augustine in Lebanon, Ky.; St. Thomas in Bardstown; and the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown, according to the film.
Slaves also helped build two prominent buildings on the campus of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Nazareth, Ky., including the congregation’s St. Vincent de Paul Church and O’Connell Hall, according to Sister Theresa Knabel, who is featured in the documentary.
Marilyn Gerton Keene, a parishioner of St. Monica, says in the film she had “some inkling that slaves probably built these churches.”
“Being Catholic, one of our basic social teachings is about human dignity. So it’s hard to wrap your head around all the darkness of it,” she says.
Nathaniel Green, who wrote “The Silent Believers,” a book that chronicles the obstacles endured by African American Catholics in Kentucky, says in the film that Catholics, like other major religions, fell into “this lull” of supporting slavery and segregation.
“The church was trying to survive in the religious environment that they found themselves in Kentucky,” says Green.
Change within the church was as slow as it was in the rest of society.
Bishop Martin John Spalding, who became bishop of the Louisville diocese in 1850 and became archbishop of Baltimore in 1864, was born in the Kentucky Holy Land into a family that owned slaves.
The film details an 1863 document written by Bishop Spalding to the Vatican, called “Dissertation on the American Civil War.” From the border state of Kentucky, the soon-to-be archbishop expressed concern that emancipated slaves were at risk of becoming drunks and thieves.
The early history of the Catholic Church in Kentucky is bound to stir up “scattered emotions,” Crump said, but he noted, it’s important to understand the history.
“You can’t debate the truth in scenarios such as this. Quotes are what they are. Facts are what they are. Statistics are what they are. Brickwork, masonry, architecture, cornerstones are what they are. You can’t sugarcoat that,” Crump said.
M. Annette Mandley-Turner, executive director of the Archdiocese of Louisville’s Office of Multicultural Ministry, said the documentary will provide a “growth opportunity” for people of central Kentucky and beyond.
“I think those who are of African descent that were raised right here in the Archdiocese of Louisville and those that are not African American are going to all be exposed to some uncomfortable truths,” she said. “I see it as a gift to the whole church.”
She added that “having the whole story told only enhances what already exists” in terms of the early days of the archdiocese.
In the film, Mandley-Turner provides commentary on why African Americans remained faithful Catholics following the “Emancipation Proclamation” of 1863.
“Father Cyprian Davis (historian of black Catholics in the U.S.) used to say ‘Where else would they have gone? What else did they know?’ Their faith had become part of their very existence,” she said in a recent interview.
Mandley-Turner noted that the Catholic Church is not perfect.
“When we say the church, we’re not talking about a building but rather the church is the people,” she said. “The church is a reflection of the society we live in. It’s always going to have its challenges. It’s when we admit our own challenges, that we can grow.”
In the film, Keene credits her ancestors for her faith and said she wants to pass on that legacy.
“I am here because of my ancestors, because of their spirit and I want to continue that and I want to pass that on to my children so that they can understand it. It’s important to embrace who you are and your history,” she said.
Crump added that he hopes the documentary will be used as an educational tool in the classroom of high schools in the archdiocese. He also suggested the archdiocese consider honoring the pioneering black Catholics for their role in the foundation of the local church “on a grander scale.”
“Facing An Uncomfortable Truth” will be shown at Trinity’s Communication Arts Center, 4011 Shelbyville Road, June 24 at 3 p.m. It is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required but are encouraged. Contact mycrumpdocs@gmail.com to make a reservation.
This program will also air on Kentucky Educational Television during July and August.
