‘A Bright Star’ : Black Catholics Laud Naming of Archbishop

Black Roman Catholics came of age this week with the appointment of Auxiliary Bishop Eugene A. Marino as Atlanta’s archbishop, according to fellow black churchmen.

“It’s a tremendous blessing for the people of Atlanta and for the entire American church, since he becomes the first black archbishop in the history of our church,” said Bishop Carl Fisher of Los Angeles, a fellow native of Biloxi, Miss., who as a youth attended Marino’s first Mass as a newly ordained priest.

“He is a real sign of the true coming of age of black Catholics today,” said Fisher, 42, the auxiliary bishop in charge of the San Pedro region. “He is proof that the church is not only interested in blacks in its membership, but is also interested in blacks in its leadership.”

Before Marino’s appointment by Pope John Paul II, there were 12 black bishops in the U.S. hierarchy, including Fisher, but only one who headed a diocese--Bishop Joseph L. Howze also of Biloxi.

‘Absolutely Delighted’

Another black prelate, Auxiliary Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Chicago, said he was “absolutely delighted” with Marino’s appointment.

The Pope, Gregory said, “has long been sensitive to the need for promoting greater black Catholic leadership. This validates his own concern for the growth and development of the church in the black community.”

Father Bruce Wilkinson, pastor of St. Anthony’s Church in Atlanta and one of only two black priests in the 170,000-member archdiocese, said Marino’s appointment “will show that our church is open to all people of all races and all colors.

“His appointment will be a way to say that the black Catholic church in the United States has come of age. We’re ready not to be missioned to, but to mission to. He’s a symbol that black Catholics have come a long way in the United States,” Wilkinson said.

‘Dynamic Personality’

“We are delighted to have him, not because he’s black but because he’s capable,” said Lithangia Robinson, a member of St. Paul of the Cross Church, one of Atlanta’s predominantly black parishes. “I’m sure he will do a lot for Catholicism and bringing people into the fold because of his dynamic personality.”

The Rev. Joseph Lowery, a United Methodist minister and head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, welcomed Marino to Atlanta’s active black religious community.

“I think it’s wise and an excellent choice,” Lowery said of Marino’s appointment. “It reaffirms the role of the church as a headlight and not a taillight in traveling on the road to racial justice and authentic pluralism in all our institutions.”

The appointment is “especially significant because there’s been a long night of insensitivity in this country,” Lowery said. “This is a bright star in a galaxy that hasn’t seen too many bright stars lately.”

Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, himself an ordained United Church of Christ minister, said Marino “comes to the city at a time I think religious life is expressing a tremendous vitality, especially the Catholic Church.”

The mayor said he expects Marino to “be a great spiritual presence in the city.”