Grace At Every Turn

About the Book

In March of 1965, Tom Honoré was one of four black young men ordained to the priesthood in the historic Saint Louis Basilica, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Except for the one other member of that ordination class who was Anglo and a native of Massachusetts, the four African Americans were all from the deep South – from places that were not more than one hundred miles from the Crescent City. The then Archbishop of New Orleans, John Patrick Cody, had sent for these young men to come to New Orleans, so that he could ordain them and demonstrate to the world the special significance of that moment in the history of the U.S. Catholic Church and in the history of the Josephite Fathers. For the Josephites, this group would be the first predominantly African American ordination class despite that Society of priests one hundred years of spiritual ministry exclusively to black Catholics in the United States. These young black men came as hopeful signs of a turn-around in the pattern of failure on the part of the U.S. Catholic Church vis-à-vis blacks throughout the entire history of this country. They came filled with the fresh spirit of Gaudium et Spes, the Vatican II Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, feeling that they would be able, at long last, to join the freedom fighters of the American civil rights revolution, with no worry concerning the authenticity and legitimacy of such as the holy work of priests who chose to do it. In less than five years after that bright day in March of 1965, three of the newly ordained African American classmates concluded that they had to leave the Josephite Fathers and the priesthood. They had seen enough during the intervening years to convince them that, except for a precious few members, the Josephite Fathers supported neither the Second Vatican Council nor the civil rights revolution that took hold in the 1950s. How Honoré came to that sad conclusion and resigned the priesthood in June of 1969, is a story that begins not with ordination but with the earliest memories of his childhood; significant memories of growing up in the 1940s and 1950s as part of a black, African Creole community in Louisiana. It is only by recounting the memorable experiences of his life as a minority among minorities, living through the constraints, confinements and debilitating degradations of the American apartheid years in the South and in the Catholic Church of the South, that any real appreciation can be had for the transforming grace that brought him to such great and joyful expectations in 1965. The disappointment and disillusionment that led to Honoré’s resignation from the priesthood cannot be understood or appreciated as a story worthy of note by those still struggling to be Catholic and Christian without the context of his complete journey. It is, therefore, his hope that this story will demonstrate convincingly the tread of God’s unfailing influence and presence in the events and decisions of his journey, which, only in hindsight, are recognized as being clearly connected and always leading to a greater light and peace – to the place where He/She intends for him to be. In the late 1960s, shortly after the Second Vatican Council, resignation from the Roman Catholic priesthood was a common occurrence all over the world. Thousands of priests walked away from the clerical life that most had chosen early in their youth. Too often it is assumed that all these thousands and tens of thousands left for just one reason, namely, an inability to remain celibate. This may have been a reason for many or most. It was not the only reason for any of them, if we examine their stories closely. To assume that all resigning priests left the priesthood just to get married would be a gross over-simplification and a misrepresentation. The truth of their leaving, as exemplified in Honoré’s story, was far more complex. The paths of these men into and out of the priesthood were as varied and unique

About the Author

Tom Honoré’s roots are in the African/French-Creole culture of Louisiana. He is mulatto, a black man with light skin, born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1936. At 17, Tom entered the seminary, following the sudden death of his beloved girlfriend. In 1965, he was ordained a Josephite priest, but resigned in 1969 and began a federal public service career. In 1999, he retired from HUD as head of its largest field office, the Los Angeles Office. Now he promotes peace and justice and Church renewal as a member of the national board of Call To Action, as a weekly volunteer with the Los Angeles Catholic Worker community, and as other opportunities to work with progressives become available. Tom and his wife Jan live in Culver City, CA and have one son, Marcel, who is a Georgetown University graduate and aspiring journalist.