The power of reckoning: How Catholic Church records can help African Americans uncover their ancestry
Posted on August 4, 2025, by Loretto Community
Posted by Black Catholic Messenger August 1, 2025
The intersection of the Catholic Church with the transatlantic slave trade is extensive, and the investigation of its history and effects has grown to include a number of organizations in recent years, especially in the United States.
What many don’t know is the connection with the state of Kentucky, where many African Americans and their Catholic enslavers—including bishops, priests, and women religious—arrived in the 18th century from coastal regions like Maryland. Reckoning, Inc., an organization led by award-winning radio journalist Dan Gediman, aims to make this history known.
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The organization has had the financial support of various foundations and religious communities, including two that participated in the early era of Kentucky enslavement—the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and the Sisters of Loretto.
Read the entire story on the Black Catholic Messenger website here.
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