Servant of God Thea Bowman
Bertha Elizabeth Bowman was born on December 29, 1937 in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Her paternal grandfather had been a slave, but her parents were both professionals. Theon Edward Bowman was a physician, who chose to work among the Black community of Mississippi, despite the deep prejudice that existed there. Her mother, Mary Esther Coleman, was a teacher.
When Bertha was a child, Mississippi still had segregated public schools. Her parents were not happy with the quality of education offered and when the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA) came to teach at Holy Child Jesus School, they enrolled nine-year old Bertha in the school. The family were Methodists, but Bertha was curious about these Catholic nuns. Her curiosity quickly turned to faith, for she soon converted, and was baptized in Holy Child Jesus Mission within the year, and was confirmed the next year. She was twelve when she first spoke of becoming a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration. At the age of fifteen, she entered the pre-novitiate.
“Sr. Thea Bowman, singer, dancer liturgist, educator, evangelist, prophet” is quite a description.” (Hine, Darlene Clark (ed.). “Bowman, Sister Thea (1937-1990)” in Black Women In America: An Historical Encyclopedia, 1993, edition, pp. 155-157) But Sr. Thea Bowman as all those and more. She was a scholar who taught at the elementary, high school, and university level, including Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and Xavier University in New Orleans. She was an evangelist, especially among people of color. She assisted in the production of an African-American Catholic hymnal. She was a popular speaker on faith and spirituality, and you can find videos of her presentations on You Tube. She is one of the founders of the National Black Sisters Conference, which provides support for women of color in Catholic religious life.
In his book Hope Sings, So Beautiful: Graced Encounters Across the Color Line,[10] Christopher Pramuk, Regis University Chair of Ignatian Thought and Imagination, wrote: “Arguably no person in recent memory did more to resist and transform the sad legacy of segregation and racism in the Catholic Church than Thea Bowman ... who inspired millions with her singing and message of God's love for all races and faiths. Sister Thea awakened a sense of fellowship in people both within and well beyond the Catholic world, first and foremost through her charismatic presence.”]
Shortly before her death, the Sister Thea Bowman Black Catholic Educational Foundation was established as a national entity to raise post-secondary education scholarship money for underserved students of color. She described its mission to students as: "Walk with us. Don't walk behind us and don't walk in front of us; walk with us."
Her cause for canonization was opened in mid-2018 Most Reverend Joseph Kopacz, Bishop of Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi. At the 2018 Fall General Assembly of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, indicated unanimous support for the advancement of Sister Thea Bowman's canonization cause.
(Much of the information in this article comes from Sr. Thea Bowman, FSPA: FRANCISCAN, TROUBADOUR, PROPHET, POET by Victoria Marie, OSC Franciscan Institute, Saint Bonaventure University. You can read the full paper at:
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