African Community
Catholics from Africa have found a welcoming home in the Charlotte diocese over the past few decades – coming here from Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, South Africa and more. Some have been forced to flee conflict or famine, while others seek higher educational opportunities and economic advancement. Our Lady of Consolation and Our Lady of the Assumption parishes in Charlotte, St. Mary’s in Greensboro, Christ the King in High Point and others in the Triad place a special focus on outreach and fellowship to these faith-filled communities. Missionary priests serving here from Cameroon, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo provide pastoral care and attention.
For Nigerian Catholics in the Greensboro area, Masses are offered several times a year at St. Mary Catholic Church in their native Igbo language thanks to visiting priests from neighboring dioceses. St. Mary’s, one of the diocese’s most ethnically diverse parishes, includes members from many parts of the African continent, including Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria. The Igbo Mass, offered every few months at the parish, enables these Catholics to hear Mass in their native language and honor their cultural identity.
Watch: “Igbo Mass celebrated in Greensboro”
Learn more about Greensboro’s most diverse congregation: “St. Mary’s Parish in Greensboro rejoices with multicultural anniversary celebration”
The diocese is blessed with approximately a dozen priests who have traveled more than 5,700 miles from home to minister to the People of God in western North Carolina. In fact, the diocese has special partnerships with the Diocese of Buea, Cameroon, and the Missionary Society of St. Paul. Inspired by missionary priests to become missionaries themselves, they bring the Gospel message from the developing world back to the developed world. Read more: “A missionary spirit in the diocese”