Augustus Tolton: References & Edit History

Researcher's Note

Who was the first African American priest?

Both James Augustine Healy and Augustus Tolton can lay claim to the title of first African American Roman Catholic priest. Healy, the son of an Irish planter and a mixed-race mother, was ordained in 1854. Although the definition of race that was prevalent at the time characterized him as African American, Healy was light-skinned and not only could pass for white but also never openly identified as a Black priest. Augustus Tolton, who was ordained in 1886, was born to enslaved parents. Tolton is therefore often regarded as the first “recognized” African American Roman Catholic priest or as the first Catholic priest having African American heritage on both sides of his family.

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

  • Matt Stefon
    Matt Stefon was a religion editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica. He earned B.A. degrees in English and American studies from the Pennsylvania State University and an M.A. in religion and literature and an M.T.S. in philosophy, theology, and ethics (comparative religious ethics) from Boston University, where he also completed coursework toward a doctorate in comparative theology and American religious history. A native of the Northeast, Stefon was born and raised in Pennsylvania and educated both there and in Massachusetts, where he also taught college English and philosophy and ran a writing center. He is interested in the literature and folklore of the Anthracite mining fields and of New England. His more "scholarly" pursuits include American Transcendentalism, Confucian and neo-Confucian thought, Daoism, process philosophy and theology, the transmission of Asian religions in the United States, and the intersection of religion with literature and other arts.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
First paragraph modernization. May 03, 2024
Anniversary information added. Mar 28, 2024
Anniversary information added. Jul 05, 2023
Media added. Feb 17, 2023
Noted his cause for canonization and added cross-references throughout. Mar 16, 2022
Add new Web site: African American Registry - Biography of Augustus Tolton. Sep 26, 2013
Add new Web site: BlackPast.org - Biography of Augustus Tolton. Sep 26, 2013
New article added. Sep 15, 2010
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