The Elders Project


Elders Project

Many of our Gesu elders have incredible stories of faith while holding onto hope and displaying incredible courage.  During this month of November that celebrates Black Catholic History, it is the perfect time to highlight some of the stories of African American Elders.  These stories display devotion to the faith, despite facing incredible racism even from within the church.  In spite of everything, they have deepened their relationship with God, while strengthening their commitment to the Roman Catholic faith.

 

Emmett Moten Jr.

Emmett Moten

Click below to see the video of Emmett Moten relating his experiences:

 

Emmett Moten was back in his hometown of New Orleans to be added to the hall of fame of his high school, St. Augustine. Travel logistics meant that he was unable to attend Sunday mass so instead he went to Saturday, 5:00 pm mass at St. Patrick’s where he used to attend as a child: “In those days, your parents dropped you off for confession once a week whether you’d sinned or not. Sometimes you had to go to a White parish.” To read more, click here.