On Saturday, Nov. 22, Pax Christi USA received the sad news that Sr. Dr. Jamie Phelps, OP, had passed away at age 84 at the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan.
Sr. Jamie, an Adrian Dominican, was a preeminent scholar of feminist and Black Catholic Studies and served many communities as a preacher, social worker, theologian, and social and racial justice advocate. She was one of the founders of the National Black Sisters’ Conference and was the founding director of the Augustus Tolton Pastoral Ministry Program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. She also served as the director of the Institute of Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans.
Sr. Jamie worked with Pax Christi USA on the Pax Christi Anti-Racism Team (PCART), particularly in organizing and presenting workshops entitled, “We grow together: Catholic communities of color and Pax Christi USA.” From the Adrian Dominicans’ article linked above: “The workshops presented to the Pax Christi chapters helped participants to ‘reflect on their behavior and choices, like reading the signs of the times, but doing it locally,’ [Sr. Jamie] explained. ‘If we don’t reach out across racial lines, we tend to accept the stereotypes [about ethnic groups]. But if you work with people of other races you see how similar we are.’”
From 2014:
- Pax Christi Florida hosts “We Grow Together: Pax Christi USA and Catholic Communities of Color” workshop
- Pax Christi USA holds first workshop with Catholic communities of color in St. Louis
From 2016:
A member of Pax Christi Michigan, Sr. Jamie authored one of Pax Christi USA’s more popular Advent reflection booklets, “Be Watchful and Alert – Seek God’s Spirit in Our World,” in 2008.
“Sister/Doctor Jamie Phelps was a scholar, educator, mentor and friend,” said former Pax Christi USA executive director and Ambassador of Peace Sr. Patricia Chappell, SNdeN. “She was passionate about lifting up the Black Catholic community and showed compassion to everyone she met. Her skills in social work provided her the ability to sojourn with others while lifting them up and empowering them at the same time. She was a prayerful woman whose wisdom and insight was guided by her deep trust and belief in the goodness of God. She will be greatly missed by her Adrian Dominican community and by the lives she touched along the way. I know that as she transitioned, she was welcomed by a powerful cloud of witnesses who proclaimed, ‘Well done, good and faithful woman.’”
“Sr. Jamie’s contributions to Black Catholicism are inestimable,” wrote Pax Christi USA’s 2021 Teacher of Peace Fr. Bryan Massingale. “Not only was she a brilliant theologian and a trailblazer as one of the first Black women to earn a doctorate in Catholic theology, she cultivated the infrastructure for Black Catholic theology as a tireless director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies and the re-founder of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium. She was also a friend and mentor to me, encouraging me to persevere in my own doctoral studies during a very lonely and difficult time. The Church is richer because of her legacy of generous service and passionate advocacy of justice for all of God’s people.”
Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace Pearlette Springer had an early connection to Sr. Jamie: “My first memory of [her] was from the window of the 1962 station wagon when my father dropped my mother off for a retreat at the Walgreens Mansion in Chicago. I actually met her for the first time in the early 2000s. When I walked up to introduce myself, she called me by my mother’s name. That was when she informed me that she led the retreats at the Walgreens Mansion.
“Sr. Jamie was a power to be reckoned with. She did everything within her power and authority to empower Black Catholics to take ownership of their faith and move the Catholic Church to be more inclusive. She was a hard taskmaster in the sense that she had high expectations of her theological students. And every student I met rose to meet those expectations.
“The last time I saw her was about two to three years ago. She still called me by my mother’s name. Because of that, we had a connection that felt as if we had known each other for years.”
“I was honored and blessed to share space and time with Sr. Jamie Phelps at Xavier University of Louisiana,” wrote Jacques Detiege, a current member of PCART. “Sr. Jamie embodied a profound joy at the intersectionality of being Black, female, Catholic, and religious. She didn’t just exist at this intersection; she lived it out vibrantly in both her dedicated work and her passionate worship. She served as a powerful and constant reminder that the first witnesses and evangelists of the Resurrection were Black women. Her legacy is one of profound inspiration and a reminder of the power of Black Catholic women. Being in her presence, I learned to live more fully and authentically, and that by embracing joy unapologetically, I could be a powerful voice that spreads the Good News of the Resurrection.”
Alex Mikulich, a member of Pax Christi USA’s nonviolence working group and a former member of PCART, wrote, “Sr. Jamie Phelps exemplified the Dominican charism of preaching as a way of life. She walked the talk. She practiced resurrection in how she exuded joy and love in her greeting, her hugs, and through her entire life. Always compassionate, she knew how to name reality as it is and always raised piercing questions. She was a trailblazer in moving the Black Catholic Theological Symposium forward, she was the first Black theologian to serve on the Board of the Catholic Theological Society of America, and she was mentor to many sisters and theologians who, inspired by her, continue to make their mark through her enduring wisdom.
“I’m deeply saddened by her passing. Her witness illuminates the Gospel. I was deeply blessed to co-facilitate antiracism workshops with her at St. Joseph Seminary College in Saint Benedict, Louisiana, just east of New Orleans on Lake Pontchartrain. She marked our co-facilitation with tenderness and the courage to call people into real connection. We always enjoyed connecting at Pax Christi meetings, most recently at a gathering of Pax Christi Michigan.
“Sr. Jamie always brought the Gospel to life in her presence, her witness, her teaching, and leadership. The Dominican sisters put it best: ‘Over and over she has risen; over and over she has graced our lives and enriched our vision.’”