Thea Bowman

Servant of God Thea Bowman FSPA
Born	Bertha Elizabeth Bowman (1937-12-29)December 29, 1937 Yazoo City, Mississippi, United States
Died	March 30, 1990(1990-03-30) (aged 52) Canton, Mississippi, United States

Part of a series on
Black Catholicism
1892 Colored Catholic Congress
Overview
Pope: Francis History Black Catholic Movement National Black Catholic Congress
Background African Christianity African Catholicism Kongo Catholicism Black Christianity Catholicism and race Age of Discovery Catholic Slavery U.S. Catholicism Haitian Revolution Stono Rebellion San Miguel de Gualdape Fort Mose
People Saints Moses the Black Augustine Monica Benedict the Moor Martin de Porres Peter Claver Katharine Drexel On the way to sainthood Pierre and Juliette Toussaint Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP Henriette Delille, SSF Augustus Tolton Samuel Henderson Julia Greeley Mary Theodore Williams, FHM Thea Bowman, FSPA Martin de Porres Ward, OFMConv Cardinals Wilton D. Gregory Archbishops Eugene A. Marino, SSJ James P. Lyke, OFM Bishops James Healy Joseph O. Bowers, SVD Harold R. Perry, SVD Joseph L. Howze Priests Patrick Healy, SJ John R. Slattery, SSJ Charles F. Uncles, SSJ Cyprian Davis, OSB Clarence Rivers Paschal Salisbury, OP Seminarians William Augustine Williams Families Healy family
Institutions Churches Basilicas Basilica of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception (Norfolk, Virginia) Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica Other St Augustine (New Orleans) St Augustine (D.C.) St Francis Xavier (Baltimore) St Benedict the Moor (NYC) Most Pure Heart of Mary (Mobile) Religious communities Oblate Sisters of Providence Sisters of the Holy Family Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary The Josephites Society of African Missions Fraternal orders Knights of Peter Claver Schools Xavier University of Louisiana Claver College St. Augustine High School (New Orleans) St. Augustine Seminary (Bay St. Louis) St. Anthony's Mission House Organizations Colored Catholic Congress Federated Colored Catholics National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus National Black Sisters' Conference National Black Catholic Seminarians' Association National Black Catholic Lay Caucus The National Office for Black Catholics National Association of Black Catholic Administrators National Black Catholic Congress Black Catholic Theological Symposium Institute for Black Catholic Studies National Association of Black Catholic Deacons
Literature History of Black Catholics in the United States (Davis)
Worship Gospel Mass Black Unity Mass Prayer Sacraments
Rites Roman Ordinary Form Zaire Use
Controversies Jesuit Bend Incident George Stallings (Imani Temple)
Miscellaneous Anti-Catholicism Ecumenism Relations with: Protestantism Islam
Societal issues U.S. Catholic politics
Links and resources Index Outline Glossary Category Media Templates WikiProject Vatican City portal
Catholic Church portal
v t e

Mary Thea Bowman, FSPA (born Bertha Elizabeth Bowman; December 29, 1937 – March 30, 1990) was a Black Catholic religious sister, teacher, musician, liturgist and scholar who made major contributions to the ministry of the Catholic Church toward African Americans.

She became an evangelist among her people, assisted in the production of an African-American Catholic hymnal, and was a popular speaker on faith and spirituality in her final years, in addition to recording music. She also helped found the National Black Sisters' Conference to provide support for African-American women in Catholic religious life. She died of cancer in 1990.

In 2018, the Diocese of Jackson opened her cause for sainthood and she was designated a Servant of God.