EXCLUSIVE: On Venerable Augustus Tolton, former slave-turned-Catholic priest: ‘He carried his crosses in life quietly and heroically,’ says Bishop Thomas Paprocki.
The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois is set to establish a shrine honoring Venerable Father Augustus Tolton — the first African American Catholic priest born in the U.S. — at a former parish church in the priest’s hometown of Quincy, Illinois.
“Father Tolton overcame the odds of slavery, prejudice, and racism, to become a humble priest and someone after whom we should model our lives,” Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield said in a statement to the Register.
Born into slavery in Missouri in 1854, Father Tolton escaped with his family to the free state of Illinois, where he grew up in Quincy, a city with a present-day population of 40,000 on the banks of the Mississippi River in the west-central part of the state.
After studying for the priesthood in Rome — as no U.S. seminary would accept a black man — Father Tolton was ordained in 1886 and returned to minister in his hometown for several years before being assigned to St. Monica Parish in Chicago, where he later suffered an untimely death from heatstroke in 1897 at age 43.
Father Tolton — whose first name is sometimes rendered as Augustine or August — is buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Quincy. St. Boniface Church, the future site of the shrine honoring Father Tolton, is located downtown. The parish closed in 2020, and though the current structure dates only to the early 1960s, it was built on the site of Father Tolton’s first Solemn High Mass in Quincy after he returned to minister there.
A timeline for the opening of his shrine has not yet been set, as organizers say it will depend on fundraising efforts and construction plans.
Father Tolton is a member of the “Saintly Seven” — seven African American Catholics currently on the path to sainthood. Other members of the group include Venerable Pierre Toussaint and Servant of God Julia Greeley. The Archdiocese of Chicago, where Father Tolton died, announced his sainthood cause in 2010. On June 11, 2019, Pope Francis declared that Father Tolton lived a life of heroic virtue, bestowing on him the title “Venerable.” He may be declared “Blessed” — beatified — if the Vatican can confirm that at least one miracle can be attributed to his intercession. For canonization, typically a second miracle is required.
“He carried his crosses in life quietly and heroically,” said Bishop Paprocki. “What a source of great pride to have the nation’s first black priest and someone who is on his way to sainthood live and minister in our diocese, in Quincy. His life truly shows that all of us — no matter how ordinary we think we are — can do extraordinary things and live a heroic Christian life.”
The vision for the shrine, the diocesan statement says, is of an intimate and sacred place where pilgrims — especially seminarians and priests — can pray for Father Tolton’s intercession, particularly for assistance with “patience amid trials, for reconciliation between enemies, and for harmony among peoples — all things Father Tolton endured in his life.” Daily Mass will be celebrated at the shrine, and there are plans to include a small museum and a gift shop.
“To restore St. Boniface as a shrine dedicated to Father Tolton means preserving sacred history while creating a living place of prayer, hope, and renewal — all tied to a holy priest whose life is an example of authentic discipleship of Christ,” Bishop Paprocki said.
“This shrine will place Quincy firmly on the spiritual map for pilgrims seeking inspiration, healing, and deeper faith.”
The Quincy-based Committee for the Shrine for Father Augustine Tolton estimates that the church building will require $5 million in renovations, plus an additional $5 million to $7 million for campus expansion and the establishment of an endowment to care for the shrine in perpetuity. There are no plans currently to transfer Father Tolton’s mortal remains to the new shrine.
A formal in-person announcement of the new shrine and associated fundraising efforts is scheduled to take place at the church on Wednesday, April 29, at 11:30 a.m. Set to be in attendance are Bishop Paprocki of Springfield; Bishop Joseph Perry, a retired auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Chicago and postulator for Father Tolton’s sainthood cause; Father Steven Arisman, chairman of the Committee for the Shrine for Augustine Tolton and pastor of St. Francis Solanus Parish in Quincy; and Linda Moore, mayor of Quincy and a board member of the Committee for the Shrine for Father Augustine Tolton.
Bishop Perry, a past vice president of the board of the National Black Catholic Congress, said Father Tolton’s example of perseverance in the face of difficulties presents a “shining example of how to grapple with disappointment, protracted disappointments that constrain our lives, as well as how to endure when endurance may appear illogical.”
The bishop said, “In the end, his faith, hope, and love were found intact.”