Sister Patty Ralph SSJ Elected to the National Black Sisters’ Conference Board
Sister Patty Ralph SSJ Elected to the National Black Sisters’ Conference Board
– Sister Carole Pollock SSJ
This past July, Sister Patty Ralph SSJ attended the Joint Conference (National Black Sisters’ Conference (NBSC), National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, National Black Catholic Seminarians Association, and National Association of Black Catholic Deacons and their wives) held at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. Of the event, Sister Patty shares, “It was truly a beautiful experience. We met as ONE and had our own separate group meetings.”
At this gathering, the NBSC had elections and Sister Patty was elected to serve on the board. “I am excited about the opportunity and have a strong willingness to serve.”
The NBSC was founded in 1968 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, under the inspiration and direction of then Sister Martin de Porres Grey, RSM (now Patricia Grey, Ph.D.) and with the generous support and hospitality of the Most Reverend John J. Wright, Bishop of Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh Sisters of Mercy. Sister Martin de Porres was the only woman religious to attend the first National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (NBCCC) held in Detroit in April 1968. Inspired and encouraged by the vision of African American Catholic priests, she left the Caucus with a heightened awareness of the pressing demand for Black religious to address themselves to the urgent need for the Catholic Church in America to develop greater relevancy for Black persons, or to risk losing its credibility as a manifestation of Christian unity.
The Holy Spirit moved Sister Martin de Porres to call all Black religious women to share in a task, which would be done only by Black religious women acting together, fully free, and joyously for the coming of the kingdom.
At that first, now historic, meeting in the summer of 1968, over 150 Black Catholic women religious from 79 different national and international congregations, gathered on the grounds of Pittsburgh’s Carlow College. Sister Martin de Porres was elected to serve as president. A board of directors was elected and plans for legal incorporation of the NBSC were made.
Today, NBSC is a national organization of more than 150 Black Catholic women religious and associates in the United States striving to promote a positive self-image among us and our people. Together, they form a strong and cohesive voice in support of the dignity and rights of women of color, in creating mentoring and support systems for Black women in religious formation, in educating the African American family, and in confronting the sin of racism, which continues to permeate our society and Church as they work tirelessly for the liberation of African American people.
Congratulations, Sister Patty!
