There are 3 million African American Catholics in the United States.
Of Roman Catholic parishes in the United States, 798 are considered to be predominantly African American. Most of those continue to be on the East Coast and in the South. Further west of the Mississippi River, African American Catholics are more likely to be immersed in multicultural parishes as opposed to predominantly African American parishes.
Dioceses with significant number of African Americans include, in descending order, include:
- Brooklyn, NY
- New York City, NY
- Los Angeles, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Miami, FL
- Detroit, MI
- Galveston-Houston, TX
- Washington DC
- Orlando, FL
- Atlanta, GA
- San Bernardino, CA
- Oakland, CA
- Philadelphia, PA
- New Orleans, LA
- Baltimore, MD
About 76% of African American Catholics are in predominating white parishes and 24% are in predominately African American parishes. Many others are in diverse or multicultural perishes, through often not in the majority. At present there are 12 living African American Bishops, including one Cardinal and one Archbishop. Also, there are 5 retired bishops. Currently, 4 U.S. dioceses are headed by African American bishops.
According to our most recent data, there are 250 African American priests, 437 deacons, and 75 men of African descent in seminary formation for the priesthood in the United States. There are 400 African American religious sisters and 50 religious brothers.
The African American or Black population in the United States is estimated to be just over 41 million people (12.9% of the total U.S. population) many also identify as Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latino or Haitian. By the year 2050, the African American or Black population is expected to almost double its present size to 62 million, and it will increase its percentage of the U.S. population to 16%.
Sources: www.uspapalvisit.org/backgrounders/african_american.htm
The Catholic Church: By the Numbers, USCCB Office of Media Relations (2012)
CARA Report, Black Catholics in the United States (Aug. 2019)
Updated: Jan. 2020
Predominantly African American Parishes
Good news! For travelers, students, military families and persons relocating for employment, there is no need to skip Mass. Likewise, African American Catholics who wish to grow in faith with other African American Catholics need not despair of finding a "Church Home” in the Catholic Christian tradition. What follows is a compilation of Catholic parishes that are predominantly African American Catholics. Notify the Subcommittee of updates to this list via email to: @email. (read more)
Currently Active Black Bishops in the United States
Most Reverend Roy E. Campbell, Jr., Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, DC
Education
B.S. Howard University (Washington, DC)
M.S. University of Virginia (Richmond, VA)
M.Div. Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary (Weston, MA)
Biography
Roy E. Campbell, Jr., was born on November 19, 1947. After a career in banking he was ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 2007, and an auxiliary bishop in 2017.
Most Reverend Simon Peter Engurait, Bishop of Houma/Thibodaux
Engurait was born in Ngora, Eastern Uganda, the seventh of fourteen children. One of his brothers is a Catholic priest and another sibling is a religious sister. He studied at St. Peter's College in Tororo and earned a bachelor's degree in political science and public administration from Makerere University in Kampala in 1995. Engurait then obtained a Master of Business Administration from Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands.
In 2007, Engurait moved to the United States to study theology, earning a Master of Divinity from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2013.
Engurait was ordained to the priesthood on May 25, 2013, by Bishop Sam Jacobs. His pastoral assignments included service as associate pastor at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma, St. Genevieve Parish in Thibodaux, and Christ the Redeemer Parish in Thibodaux. He became pastor of St. Bridget Parish in Schriever in January 2017.
In 2016, Engurait was appointed Moderator of the Curia and in 2017 he became Vicar General of the diocese. Following the death of Bishop Mario Dorsonville in January 2024, Engurait served as diocesan administrator of the diocese until his appointment as bishop in June 2025.
Most Reverend Shelton J. Fabre, Archbishop of Louisville
Education
B.A., St. Joseph Seminary, 1985
M.A., Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), 1989
Biography
Shelton J. Fabre was born Oct. 25, 1963 in New Roads, LA. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Baton Rouge on Aug. 5, 1989. In 2006 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of New Orleans. In 2013 he was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. In 2022, he was appointed archbishop of Louisville.
Most Reverend Jacques E. Fabre-Jeune CS, Bishop of Charleston
Education
M.Div. Pontifical Urban University (Rome)
Biography
Rev. Jacques Fabre-Jeune, CS, was born on Nov. 13, 1955, in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. He immigrated to New York City while in high school and completed his secondary education. He attended St. John's University in Jamaica, New York, and then Saint Michael's College in Toronto, Canada. Fabre-Jeune also studied at the Catholic Theological Union in Hybrid Park, Illinois, and at the Scalabrini House of Theology in Chicago. He joined the order of the Missionaries of St. Charles and took his first vows in 1982. Four years later, on Oct. 10, 1986, he was ordained to the priesthood in Brooklyn, NY. He was appointed by Pope Francis as Bishop of Charleston. He is a vowed cleric of the religious order the Missionaries of St. Charles, or Scalabrinian Fathers, and became the 14th Ordinary for the diocese. Bishop Fabre-Jeune was previously the administrator at San Felipe de Jesús Mission in Forest Park, Ga., and the local superior of the Scalabrinian priests in Atlanta. He was ordained and installed on May 13, 2022.
Most Reverend Jerome Feudjio, Bishop of St. Thomas
Education
C.A.P. St. John's College (Mbanga, Cameroon) 1972
B.A. Oblate College (Washington, DC)
M.A. Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, IL)
Biography
Jerome Feudjio was born on September 30, 1955 in Dschang, Cameroon. He attended St. John's College in Mbanga where he earned a degree in Business Accounting. In 1980 he came to the United States where he entered the Catholic seminary at Oblate College and led a weekly ministry with Haitians and other French-speaking Catholics in Washington, DC. He then joined the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and made his religious profession in 1987. He later developed a pastoral interest in the re-education of juvenile delinquents and enrolled in a graduate program in the Administration of Justice at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. On September 29, 1990, he was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Saint Thomas. In addition to parish ministry, he served in various diocesan leadership positions including Director of Vocations, Vicar for Clergy, and Vicar General. On April 17, 2021, he was consecrated bishop of the Diocese of Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands.