The Office of Evangelization and Catechesis works collaboratively with the Vicar for Catholics of African Descent and the Office of Adolescent Catechesis and Evangelization to provide support, resources, and advocacy for catechists and catechetical leaders who serve our African, African American, and Caribbean Catholic communities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. 

For more information, contact Amy Auzenne, OEC Director, at aauzenne@archgh.org / 713-741-8796

Upcoming Events

Community Conversations

Sessions meet virtually from 10am-noon on the third Wednesday of each month.

Using the USCCB's pastoral letter on racism, "Open Wide Our Hearts" as a guide, these monthly dialogues seek to provide safe space for difficult conversations about race, faith, and justice that are grounded in our Catholic teaching of the dignity of the human person.  Each session features a talk by a knowledgeable expert, followed by small group discussion.  All are welcome! Click here to register.

January 17, 2023: Courageous Conversations - Ms. Joyce James will speak about her work facilitating conversations about racial justice as part of the "Courageous Conversations" program in Austin.

February 21: "Write the Vision: Engaging Black Catholic Young Adults" - Mr. Doris Barrow, Campus Minister at Texas Southern University, will speak about the challenges and opportunities of engaging Black Catholic young adults.

March 20: Faith of Our Mothers, Holy Faith - Participants are invited to share stories of the women who formed their faith as part of our interactive Women's History Month program.

May 15: Healing the Wounds: Read Nations Rising - Mr. Fidel Moreno will speak to us about Red Nations Rising, a multi-tribal organization formed with the goal of elevating the history, experiences, and needs of Native Americans.  Central to the work of Red Nations Rising is the need for restorative justice and multi-generational healing among Native people.

June 15: Juneteenth, a Personal History of a National Holiday Galveston native, historian, and activist Ms. Cordelia Harris Banks will join us for a conversation about our newest national holiday, born right here in Texas. In 2000, Ms. Harris Banks became the first African American woman to serve on the Galveston City Council. 

July 17: Venerable Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange and the Oblate Sisters of Providence Sr. Magdala Marie Gilbert, OSP will share the life and legacy of Venerable Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, founder of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first religious community for Black Catholic women in the United States. Sr. Magdala Marie serves as the Director for the Mother Lange Guild; she is a native of Beaumont, Texas and will celebrate her 75th anniversary as an Oblate sister this year.

August 21: Songs of My People: Negro Spirituals and the American Folksong Tradition Join Community Conversations this month for a discussion with Christopher Carter, Director of Voices of Houston, a local choral group dedicated to uplifting the history and legacy of Negro spirituals within the history of American folksong tradition.

September 18: "What We Have Seen and Heard" - Forty Years Later In 1984, the African American bishops of the United States published "What We Have Seen and Heard", a pastoral letter that called on African Americans to claim their place within the universal Church, and admonished the Church in the United States that it must be a source of truth and healing in the sin of racial prejudice.  Forty years later, what can we still learn from this prophetic document? 

Click here to register for this virtual meeting.

Previous Programs

Professional Growth Day for Religious Educators: "What Our Students Don't Know About Black Catholic History (and Why It Matters)" (January 2024)  Workshop with with Kaye Crawford, Th.M, founder of  BlackCatholicHistory.com

"Songs of Our Hearts, Meditations of Our Souls: A Lenten Morning of Prayer in the African American Catholic Tradition" (February 2024)  at St. Mary of the Purification Catholic Church. Featuring reflections from catechetical leaders and clergy of the Archdiocese of Galveston Houston, with music from the Catholic African American Ministry Choir. Click here to view a recording of this program.

American Saints and Blesseds: Venerable Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange (July 2024) Conversation with Sr. Magdala Marie Gilbert, OSP Director for the Mother Lange Guild about the life and legacy of Venerable Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, an Cuban-Haitian immigrant who founded the first religious community for women of African descent in the United States in Baltimore, Maryland in 1829. Click here to view a recording of this program and enter the password AmericanBlesseds3*

American Saints and Blesseds: Venerable Henriette Delille (July 2024) Presentation by OEC Director Amy Auzenne, MSW, MACE on Henriette Delille, who founded the second religious community for women of African descent in the United States in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1837. Click here to view a recording of this program