Augustus Tolton: The Church Is the True Liberator

by Joyce Duriga

Father Augustus Tolton was the first identified black American ordained to the priesthood in the United States. He was born into slavery and escaped to freedom with his mother and siblings under harrowing circumstances. Throughout his life he displayed a great devotion to the Lord and the Catholic faith despite facing racism within the Church at nearly every turn. Still, he felt and preached that the Catholic Church’s teaching that all people are children of God regardless of race made it the true church for African Americans in the United States following the Civil War. In Augustus Tolton , Joyce Duriga brings to light his quiet witness as a challenge to prejudices and narrow-mindedness that can keep us insulated from the universal diversity of the kingdom of God.

128 pages, Paperback

Published October 22, 2018

Reviews

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story about the first acknowledged black priest. He was born a slave in Kentucky. After the Emancipation Proclamation his mother took her three young children and escaped to freedom.
This book was written in support of the canonization of Father Tolston.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

www.toltoncanonization.org