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 The act of being raised to great holiness by the Catholic church is a magnificent and awe inspiring event for the Universal church and for everyone connected to the newly-made saint. For centuries, the Catholic church has raised many individuals and groups to this level of holiness. Black Catholics have been among these saints. But, how is this possible if Black people have just recently turned to the Universal church? To answer this question, let us consider the beginning of our church.
 In Acts 8: 26-40, we learn that Philip encountered an Ethiopian Eunuch. This unnamed Eunuch is " a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury". He must be an important and influential man as he occupies such a high office in Ethiopia. Often, we browse over this text without thinking that Ethiopia is on the African Continent. This is significant because the Eunuch returned to his homeland with the faith. Acts tells us that "he continued on his way rejoicing". This is evidence that our Catholic faith existed in Africa as early as the first century.
Cyprian Davis, the wonderful author of The History of Black Catholics in the United States", provides us with historical evidence that Christianity existed in Nubia(Ancient Kingdom located in the northeastern part of the African continent) as early as the 6th century. Fr. Davis tells us the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Justinian and his wife, Theodora both sent missionaries to Nubia. The missionaries did arrive and began their evangelization efforts among the Nubian population. This history and spiritual reality aligns people of color with the Catholic church. It also supplies the world with enough evidence that Black people have been Catholic since the beginning of our church. Black Catholicism is not a new phenomenon. We have, in fact, not just turned to the church because we are now allowed, rather, we have always been present.
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