Charles Uncles

Father Charles Randolph Uncles, was the son of Lorenzo and Anna Marie (Buchanan) Uncles, of East Baltimore. In 1891, he was the first black American to be ordained a Roman Catholic priest in the United States. (The first black priest to work in the United States was Augustus Tolton who was ordained in Rome).[1] He was one of the founders of the St. Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart, formed to minister to the black community.[2]

The Mill Hill Missionary Society recruited a number of candidates to become priests for their North American mission. Uncles was the only one of these candidates, who studied at St. Peter’s Apostolic School in Liverpool, England, to become a priest. On returning to the US, he studied at St. Joseph Seminary in Baltimore. He was ordained in December 1891 at the Cathedral of the Assumption by Cardinal James Gibbons. He celebrated his first Mass on Christmas Day.

From 1891-1925 Father Uncles taught mainly in Epiphany College in Baltimore and New Windsor, New York. He was one of the founding members of the St. Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart in Baltimore in 1893, also known as the Josephite Fathers.

While residing at Epiphany College, Uncles fell ill and died July 21, 1933. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery, July 24, 1933, Josephite Plot, Section "B" in New Windsor. .[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Agnes Kane, "Meeting the Pioneers of Black Catholicism", National Black Catholic Congress
  2. ↑ Josephite Fathers Website Archived 2008-12-01 at the Wayback Machine.
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