The Sainthood Cause Of Sister Thea Bowman Moves Forward
(ANALYSIS) In the final months of her life, Sister Thea Bowman heard the whispers.
She appreciated the hugs that lingered longer, as believers promised to keep praying that she would win her battle with cancer. She saw the warm glances, containing a touch of awe, as Catholics — especially Black Catholics — quietly discussed whether Rome would someday recognize her as St. Thea of Mississippi.
“People who really know me know my struggles,” she said before an Aurora, Colorado, prayer service in 1989.
The word “saint” didn't bother her, she added. But she wanted to know why many Catholics hesitate to apply that term to others whose faith touched their lives.
“You see, I’m Black,” she said with a quiet laugh. “I guess the word 'saint' has a different meaning for me. I was raised in a community where everyone grew up believing we were supposed to be what we called a 'saint.' We were always saying things like, ‘The saints would be coming to church today' or 'The saints will really be dancing and singing this Sunday.’”
Sister Thea died less than a year later at the age of 52 after spending most of her life teaching children in rural Mississippi schools. Then, in 1987, she was featured in a CBS News “60 Minutes” profile, leading to opportunities to speak and sing across America.
Now, after years of studying the life of Sister Thea, the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, has officially sealed the documents and materials it gathered and sent them to the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. Before the Feb. 9 Mass marking that event, Bishop Joseph Kopacz said: “Her life continues to inspire faith, hope and joy, not only within our diocese but throughout the Church in the United States and beyond.”
Sister Thea's grandfather was a slave, her father a physician. She converted to Catholicism when the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration opened a school in central Mississippi. She entered a convent in the 10th grade and later earned a doctorate in English language and literature from the Catholic University of America.
Wherever Sister Thea traveled, she asked worshippers — including bishops, archbishops and cardinals — to sing the simple Gospel songs she taught her students. Her classrooms were decorated with iconic images of Black saints through the centuries.
But weeks before her Colorado visit, Sister Thea opened an address to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops with a bolder musical statement. First, she asked: “What does it mean to be Black in the Church in society?”
Then she sang, “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child / A long way from home, a long way from home / I'm a long way from my home.”
She challenged the bishops: “Can you hear me, Church? ... We are here in this land, and this is our land. That's part of our history, too. Our people, Black people, helped to build this nation in cotton and grain and beans and vegetables and brick and mortar. They cleared the land and cooked the food that they grew. They cleaned houses and built churches -- some of them Catholic churches. ... You know what I'm talkin' about, Church?”
In Colorado, her message was gentler. Before the service, Sister Thea explained that one of her goals was to challenge believers to see the saints among the members of their own families and churches as well as learning about the heroic figures in centuries past.
“I know that people are looking for sources of hope and courage and strength,” she said, urgently leaning forward, while wrapping her thin hands and wrists in a wool blanket to stay warm. “I know it's important to have special people to look up to. ... But, you see, I think all of us in the Church are supposed to be that kind of person for each other.”
In her address, Sister Thea appealed directly to parents in the pews.
“Remember, it's the religion that kids learn from mom and dad that really matters, that sticks. ... You can't depend on them learning what they need to know from FATHER," she said, in a lofty tone of voice, indicating that she was talking about parish priests. Father is going to get transferred. ... Family is for keeps.”
COPYRIGHT 2026 ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION
Terry Mattingly is Senior Fellow on Communications and Culture at Saint Constantine College in Houston. He lives in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and writes Rational Sheep, a Substack newsletter on faith and mass media.