We celebrate the many saints of colour in the Catholic Church who have inspired the faithful in their devotions.
Also in Racial Justice Sunday
Bishop's Message > Prayer > RJS24 Theme > Schools' Resources > RJS 2023 > RJS 2021 > RJS 2020 >Men and women of historic virtue have walked the path to sainthood for centuries, inspiring us to look to their example and pray to them to take our petitions to the Lord. However, when you look at the prayer cards and icons for sale in our parish shops and kiosks, you could be forgiven for thinking that all our saints are white Europeans.
This, of course, only reveals a segment of the bigger picture, and there are many saints of colour in the Catholic Church who have inspired the faithful in their devotions.
In this section, we celebrate just a few of these men and women – some already canonised, others on the path to sainthood as Venerable or Blessed.
St Augustine of Hippo was a theologian, philosopher, the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa in AD 354-430.
St Augustine Zhao Rong was a Catholic priest and martyr who preached the gospel in the western Sichuan Province of China in the early 18th century.
Saint Charbel was a Maronite Catholic priest, monk, and hermit who lived in 19th Century Lebanon and was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1965.
Nalini Nathan from the Christian Network Against Caste Discrimination explains why St Teresa of Calcutta - Mother Teresa - is a saint close to her heart.
Oscar Romero was the Archbishop of San Salvador and a champion of diversity and social justice in the 20th Century.
