Thea Bowman

The 25th anniversary of her death brought forth numerous tributes.

Mary Thea Bowman, FSPA (born Bertha Elizabeth Bowman; December 29, 1937 – March 30, 1990) was a Black Catholic religious sister, teacher, musician, liturgist and scholar who made major contributions to the ministry of the Catholic Church toward African Americans.

She became an evangelist among her people, assisted in the production of an African-American Catholic hymnal, and was a popular speaker on faith and spirituality in her final years, in addition to recording music.

She also helped found the National Black Sisters' Conference to provide support for African-American women in Catholic religious life.

Bowman was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, in 1937.

Her paternal grandfather (Edward Bowman) had been born a slave, but her father (Theon Edward Bowman) was a physician and her mother (Mary Esther Coleman) a teacher.

She was raised in a Methodist home but, with her parents' permission, converted to the Catholic faith at the age of nine.

Bowman attended Holy Child Jesus School in Canton, Mississippi, where she met her classmate Flonzie Brown Wright.

She joined the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration at La Crosse, Wisconsin at age 15, overcoming her parents' objections.

Bowman was also part of the civil rights movement.

As part of her religious formation, Bowman attended Viterbo University, which is run by her congregation, and earned a B.A. in English in 1965.

She went on to attend The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where she earned an M.A. in English in 1969 and a Ph.D. in English in 1972, writing her doctoral thesis on Thomas More.

Bowman taught at an elementary school in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and then at Holy Child Jesus Catholic School, her alma mater.

She later taught at her other alma mater, Viterbo College in La Crosse and the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., as well as at Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

In his book Eleven Modern Mystics, Victor M. Parachin, a meditation teacher, notes Bowman's impact upon Catholic liturgical music in providing an intellectual, spiritual, historical, and cultural foundation for developing and legitimizing a distinct worship form for Black Catholics.

Bowman had explained: "When we understand our history and culture, then we can develop the ritual, the music and the devotional expression that satisfy us in the Church."

"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."Bowman was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984, after which she began rigorous treatments but maintained a robust speaking schedule.

As her illness progressed, her fame grew and she made several overseas trips sponsored by friends, including to West Africa and Lourdes, France.

She also became a household name in mainstream media, appearing on national news outlets and even being filmed for a documentary on her life after a terminal diagnosis.

During an appearance on the show 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace, she prodded him into saying "Black is beautiful" and she said:

"I think the difference between me and some people is that I'm content to do my little bit. Sometimes people think they have to do big things in order to make change. But if each one would light a candle we'd have a tremendous light."

Bowman became instrumental in the 1987 publication of a new Catholic hymnal, Lead Me, Guide Me: The African American Catholic Hymnal, the first such work directed to the Black community.

James P. Lyke, Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland (also an African-American), coordinated the hymnal project, saying it was born of the needs and aspirations of Black Catholics.

Bowman was actively involved in selecting hymns to be included.

The hymnal includes her essay titled "The Gift of African American Sacred Song."

In it, she wrote, "Black sacred song is soulful song" and described it in five ways:

After she had spent 16 years in education, the Bishop of Jackson invited Bowman to become a consultant for intercultural awareness for his diocese.

She then became more directly involved with ministry to her fellow African-Americans.

She began to give inspirational talks to Black congregations and found a tremendous response by the people to whom she spoke.

She brought her "ministry of joy" to far-ranging audiences, from Nigeria and Kenya to Canada, from the Virgin Islands to Hawaii, New York, and California.

She called on Catholics to celebrate their differences and to retain their cultures, but to reflect their joy at being one in Christ, a joy which her audiences found her exhibiting to a remarkable degree, including with those of other faiths.

In his book Hope Sings, So Beautiful: Graced Encounters Across the Color Line, Christopher Pramuk wrote:

In 1989, shortly before her death, in recognition of her contributions to the service of the Church, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Religion by Boston College in Massachusetts.

Just months before her death from cancer, Bowman spoke to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1989 from her wheelchair, and the bishops "powerfully and visibly moved, applauded her. When she finished they stood linking arms and singing as Thea led them in the spiritual, 'We Shall Overcome'."

Harry Belafonte met her in Mississippi in 1989 hoping to do a film on her life starring Whoopi Goldberg as Bowman, though the project did not materialize.

She died of cancer in 1990.

Less than a week before her death, the University of Notre Dame announced that it would award Bowman the 1990 Laetare Medal.

It was presented posthumously at the 1990 commencement exercises.

She died on March 30, 1990, aged 52, in Canton, Mississippi, and was buried with her parents in Memphis, Tennessee.

In 2018, the Diocese of Jackson opened her cause for sainthood and she was designated a Servant of God.