Xavier University of Louisiana’s Institute for Black Catholic Studies (IBCS) recently received the 2023 Distinguished Service Award from the American Catholic Historical Association (ACHA) in recognition of its excellence in service to the field of Catholic history and in honor of its contribution to advancing ministry to Black Catholics in the United States. 

Established in 1980, the IBCS is a school of pastoral theology and ministry whose curriculum and community life center Black Catholic perspectives. The Institute meets in summer session on the campus of Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation’s only historically Black and Catholic University in the nation. The mission of the program is the ongoing formation of Christian disciples, ordained and lay, for effective ministry in Black communities and the Church at-large in light of Roman Catholic and African American religious and cultural traditions. The Institute constitutes a learning community where students, staff and faculty engage in holistic teaching, learning, research, community service and communal worship.

“Because history is a core element of the people’s culture, Black Catholic history is foundational to the work of the Institute,” said Dr. Kathleen Dorsey Bellow, IBCS Director. “The prestigious ACHA award affirms the commitment of IBCS professors and students to archival research that evangelizes as it verifies the steadfast role of the Black community found missing in most accounts of Catholic history.”

ACHA began bestowing the Distinguished Service Award in 2010, recognizing institutions and scholars who have supported the work of Catholic history in extraordinary ways. ACHA visited Xavier’s campus in 2022 and was moved by IBCS’s scope, impact, and holy work of creating a more inclusive understanding of the Catholic faith.

The award will be presented to IBCS at ACHA’s Presidential Luncheon on January 6, 2023, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As America’s only Black and Catholic university, this well-deserved national recognition showcases the deep admiration for the Institute’s work at Xavier and beyond. As the Institute promotes equity, justice, and inclusion in Church and society, it supports Xavier’s mission of creating a more just and humane society.

For more information about the Institute for Black Catholic Studies of Xavier University of Louisiana, visit the website at www.xula.edu/ibcs or email ibcs@xula.edu.