“Being configured to Christ means emptying ourselves so that God can fill us.” — Fr. Augustus Tolton

Tolton Spirituality Center are partnering St. Paul of the Cross Retreat Center for the inaugural Tolton Symposium in Pittsburgh over two days. All are welcome for this historic event.

The gathering, “On this Holy Mountain — Tolton: A Story of Hope,” will guide attendees through discussions, reflections, prayers and calls to action.

“We have to look to those who have stood with the crucified or who have been crucified, and we need examples in our world of people who have lived and have done the good work of the Gospel. I think Augustus Tolton did just that,” said Dr. Thomas Octave, program director for the St. Paul of the Cross Retreat Center.

He is excited excited to welcome attendees for the faith-filled event led by three nationally esteemed speakers: Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Joseph N. Perry, Dr. Shannen Dee Williams, Dr. Ansel Augustine, and Dr. Anne Chrzan.

The Passionists, a Catholic religious community dedicated to preserving the memory of Christ’s Passion.

Its retreat center features a chapel and monastery church where Passionist priest Theodore Foley is buried. Foley, along with Tolton, are on the path to sainthood.

Octave emphasized that Tolton’s life is inspiring and is an “example of what I think Jesus would be telling us, which is to love your enemies, do so with joy and proclaim His kingdom.”

Dr. Ansel Augustine first learned about Tolton around 2013 working as the director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

He said the symposium is timely, given the heightened political climate and reality that there are seven Black Catholic Americans who are on the road to sainthood: Venerable Tolton, Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Venerable Henriette Delille, Venerable Mother Mary Lange, Servant of God Julia Greeley, Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman and Servant of God Friar Martin de Porres Maria Ward. 

He said the continuous fight for justice and fairness can feel tiring and overwhelming.

“We see things that are challenging our dignity, especially as African Americans, Catholic and non-Catholic. But then I look at the faith of these seven religious leaders, especially Fr. Tolton, and what they endured. Who am I not to do anything less and not continue the fight? It's not about me, it's about what God does through me,” Augustine said.

At the symposium, he plans to discuss how young adults, the “present generation of leaders,”

can relate to Tolton’s story.

“My hope is that it raises awareness that we need to pass on the torch of leadership within the Black Catholic community and beyond,” he added.

Dr. Anne Chrzan became familiar with Tolton while working in Chicago, where she lived for over 30 years, primarily teaching in predominantly African American parishes and schools. She recalled a testimony that is likely one of the first documented Tolton miracles.

Around 2005, Chzran was working at Mundelein Seminary when Monsignor Dennis Lyle, the seminary rector, informed her that a seminarian suffered a major heart attack while exercising in the campus gym.

Cardinal Francis George, former Archbishop of Chicago, was visiting Tolton’s gravesite in Quincy, Illinois, when he received a call from Msgr. Lyle about the incident. Cardinal George said he would pray for a miracle at the tomb.

Paramedics took the seminarian to the hospital, where he was later declared dead and then miraculously brought back to life.

“That was really the beginning of me studying Tolton and learning the beatification and canonization process from start to finish,” Chzran said.

Chzran said there are parallels with Tolton’s life, signaling the racism and discrimination he endured, and what is happening in the country due to President Donald Trump’s actions and policies.

“People here were told that they are welcomed and part of our society, but in reality, it depends on who's running the country. We still have the same problems going on 100 years later, we're still right back to where we started,” she said.

Chzran plans to reflect on and challenge attendees to consider who is “welcomed at our table.”

“I want to focus on bringing together various identities of Catholicism, what makes your Catholic identity different from others, and then to try to pull together our commonality, our common thread. If we can get to the core of who we are as people, all created in the image and likeness of God, what difference does it make?”

Shannen Dee Williams, author of “Subversive Habits” and associate professor at the University of Dayton, will spotlight Tolton’s mother, Martha Jane Chisley Tolton, emphasizing her bravery for escaping slavery and the impact she had on his life and vocation.

“[Martha], a devout Catholic, and her daughter Anne Tolton were active members of Tolton’s ministry. I learned that his mother taught him how to sing, particularly African American spirituals, which are grounded in Catholicism” Williams recalled.

“I was really struck by [Martha’s] leadership and wanting to push back against this idea that Black women and Black Catholic mothers did not nurture vocations. They absolutely did and were the first nurturers of vocations.”

Williams will also discuss contributions of Black Catholic mothers from the colonial period through the 20th century. Their stories are buried because they “were laywomen who founded parishes but were written out of records since they were not ordained to the priesthood,” Williams said.

“What blueprint have they left for us to survive the worst of white supremacy? Certainly, in this contemporary moment, we need those blueprints to tell those stories,” Williams added.

Join the Tolton Spirituality Center and St. Paul of the Cross Retreat Center for the inaugural Tolton Symposium, March 2-4, 2026, in Pittsburgh, PA, to celebrate the life of Fr. Augustus Tolton, the first recognized African American Catholic priest in the United States.

The theme, “On this Holy Mountain — Tolton: A Story of Hope.” Featured symposium speakers are:

●      Bishop Joseph N. Perry: Retired Chicago Auxiliary Bishop and Diocesan Postulator for Father Tolton’s Cause for Canonization

●      Dr. Shannen Dee Williams: Historian, professor and author of “Subversive Habits”

●      Dr. Ansel Augustine: Author and Assistant Director of African American Affairs, USCCB Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church

●      Dr. Anne Chrzan: Expert in catechesis and spiritual formation; Online Theology Program Director, St. Joseph’s College of Maine

To learn more about the Tolton Symposium and to register, click here.