Michael Pfleger, a charismatic priest of a thriving Black Catholic parish, inspired her to become an activist and recruited her to run his South Side church's violence prevention office.
Stories like Bosleyโs are recurrent at St. Sabina Church, a close-knit community thatโs been a social activism hub for 40 years under Pfleger.
Black Catholic parishes are few and dwindling.
Of roughly 21,000 American Catholic parishes, about 800, or less than 4%, are mostly Black, according to a University of Notre Dame and National Black Catholic Congress study.
Black priests are more rare, making up 250, or under 1%, of roughly 36,500 Catholic priests, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.