Denver Newsroom, Nov 27, 2020 / 04:00 am
During the U.S. bishops' meeting last week, Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento said his diocese had hosted a one-man play honoring the first African-American slave to become a Catholic priest, as part of its efforts to address racism.
The play is "Tolton: From Slave to Priest," the work of St. Luke Productions. It has been performed in front of thousands of people since it was released three years ago.
Leonardo Defilippis, director and president of St. Luke Productions, told CNA that the witness of Fr. Augustus Tolton is important at a moment of racial division, especially Tolton gives witness to Christian unity beyond racial barriers.
"We're the only show in the whole country and it's the only instrument like it in the Catholic Church," he told CNA. "It's so powerful. [It helps] you realize all men are created equal."