National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus

Formation of NBCCC 

In April 1968, amidst a growing sense of Black Nationalism and facing widespread riots and disillusionment in the wake of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., roughly half of the then-150 Black Catholic clergy met separately at the Catholic Clergy Conference on the Interracial Apostolate — the first time the nation’s Black Catholic Clergy had ever gathered as one body.

With a prophetic voice and after hours of intense deliberation, they published a statement; courageously calling out the Catholic Church as a racist institution, proposing necessary changes for the Church to become viable in the Black community; but also, expressing hope in its future.  This meeting became the genesis for the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (NBCCC).  The latter became a catalyst and inspiration for the formation of many other Black Catholic leadership organizations, institutions and publications.