An Hour with Augustus Tolton

Spend an hour with this holy man who endured the inhumanity of slavery and racism to become the first ordained black priest in America. Cardinal Giovanni Simeoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, said in 1886 on the occasion of the ordination of Augustus Tolton: “America has been called the most enlightened nation. We will see if it deserves the honor. If America has never seen a Negro priest, it will see one now.” But it was Father Tolton’s humility, innate compassi