By Gia Myers • Posted August 23, 2024

Education has always been important to Stacy Williams, the new director of the archdiocesan Office for Black Catholics. In her role that she began in July, she hopes to inspire everyone – not only Black Catholics – so that all may learn and grow together in the Catholic faith.

“The more that we understand how universal the Catholic Church is, the better off we all will be,” said Williams. “And our faith will be increased.”

Williams’ love of learning was inspired by many people in her family. Her grandmother attended business school in the 1930s, a time when most Black women were unable to pursue education.

Her grandmother’s oldest child – Williams’ mother – was an accountant for the City of Philadelphia for many years before retiring.

Williams’ aunt is acknowledged by the American Medical Association in the field of Parkinson’s Research and is now retired from Columbia University. Other family members also hold degrees and impressive accomplishments.

A Philadelphia native, Williams says she’s “from a long line of Catholics,” growing up in the 155-year-old historically Black Catholic St. Charles Borromeo Parish in South Philadelphia. She attended the parish grade school, and each day when classes ended, she would walk to the parish rectory where her grandmother worked as the bookkeeper.

For high school, Williams attended St. Leonard’s Academy, a private school for young Catholic women on Chestnut Street in West Philadelphia, which has since closed.

As a college student, Williams ventured outside the Philadelphia area. She attended Williams College in Massachusetts, a campus surrounded by the scenic Berkshire Mountains.

Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, Williams returned home to Philadelphia and taught at various Catholic elementary schools throughout the archdiocese.

During this time, she also pursued classes at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, earning a Certificate in Youth Ministry. Williams also holds a Certificate in Teaching for Spiritual Growth from Weston Theological Seminary in Massachusetts.

After years of teaching, Williams enrolled in online courses at Southern New Hampshire University. She took both graduate and undergraduate history courses, earning dual degrees — a Master of Arts degree in public history and a Bachelor of Arts degree in history.

While pursuing these studies, Williams worked as the Director of Religious Education (DRE) for St. Malachy Parish in North Philadelphia, and then additionally became Pastoral Associate for the parish, roles in which she’s served for the last 15 years.

St. Malachy Parish has “a lot of things going on,” she said, and she was involved in many of the its ministries.

Fond memories include the “Mad Hatter” tea parties for a senior citizen group called the “Young at Heart Club.” There was also an annual “Trunk or Treat” party and cookout in October for the parish children and their families.

When Williams wanted to start youth programs for children and teenagers in the parish, there wasn’t much funding, but the whole parish was eager to help.

Teenagers pitched in by painting the rooms and hallways in the parish’s former school building, and parishioners bought “fun games and books, and all the things that would help further (the children’s) formation in their Catholic faith,” she said.

Over a decade ago, the parish started an anti-racism committee because “we have so many kinds of people in our church,” Williams said.

Though historically a Black parish, the parish now includes a mix of Black, Hispanic, African, Asian, Irish, and Italian Catholics.

“We wanted to make sure that we were being welcoming to everybody,” she said.

Now, Williams looks forward to her new role as director of the Office for Black Catholics.

Archbishop Nelson Pérez announced Williams’ appointment in December 2023, though she requested to start her new role on July 1 of this year so that she could remain at St. Malachy to assist in the transition of two new priests assigned to the parish.

Williams has many goals for herself in the new role. She’s currently planning a formation program for Black Catholics with St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

She also has goals to inspire Black Catholic youth and young adults “to bring in the next generation of Black Catholics,” she said.

Having attended the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis last month, Williams was inspired to begin inviting speakers from different ethnicities and regions to the archdiocese “so they can be seen and heard here in Philadelphia,” not only for Black Catholics but for everyone in the archdiocese, she said.

Williams invites all Black Catholics in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to reach out to her with their ideas, their thoughts, and hopes for the Office of Black Catholics moving forward. She can be reached at swilliams@archphila.org.