Black bishop

Abstract: The article chronicles the diasporic life of the Cyprus-born Ethiopian priest Yoḥannǝs (1509–65), who, after traveling far and wide across Europe and to Portuguese India, eventually settled in Rome and served the papacy for over two decades. Rare language skills and a cosmopolitan coming of age enabled his remarkable ecclesiastical career as an agent of the Counter-Reformation. Shortly before an untimely death, Yoḥannǝs became the second black bishop and the first black nuncio in the history of the Roman Church, rare appointments that would not be accessible to black Africans again until the 20th century. His unique experience represents a significant addition to the available historiography on blacks in early modern Europe and calls into question some commonly held assumptions in African diaspora studies.

Abstract: MICHAEL J. BEAKY. Black Bishop: Edward T. Demby and the Struggle for Racial Equality in the Episcopal Church. Studies in Anglican History. Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2001. Pp. xvi + 305, bibliography, index. $34.95. One of the endorsements on the dust jacket of this book declares it to be "a highly revealing portrait not only of Edward T. Demby but also of the church in the South in the early 20th century. Black Bishop is a much needed book that helps close a gap in the historiography of race relations in the Episcopal Church." It is common knowledge that dust jacket endorsements do not always give accurate portrayals of a book's value. Such is not the case here. Michael J. Beary does indeed present a riveting and valuable analysis of the long and often dehumanizing struggles of the Reverend Edward T. Demby as he fought on two equally difficult fronts: to become the first duly elected black bishop in the Episcopal Church and to expose and overcome the racism that marked both Episcopalianism and the secular society of his age. Beary begins with a discussion of how Demby's early experiences with racism paralleled those of the more widely-heralded northern black Episcopalian trailblazer-Absalom Jones. In chapter two, he takes us on an eye-awakening journey into the social, racial, and political ethos and practices of early twentieth-century Arkansas which he calls the "historical context" of the "suffragan experiment" that eventually would elevate Demby to the Episcopal bishopric. Beary's goal here is to present and defend his overarching thesis "that outward circumstances have defined the inner life of the Episcopal Church, especially when it comes to race relations." He accomplishes this goal by painting a broad picture of the racial attitudes of Episcopalianism in Arkansas as well as across early twentieth-century America. He reveals how this churchfearing repercussions from racists in the secular society-frequently backed away from condemning racism as a moral issue and sin. Focusing on a number of Episcopal leaders, including Bishop William Brown, Beary weaves a striking story of how many of these men of God not only feared the "outward circumstances" of racism, but actually practiced anti-blackness themselves. Beary devotes chapter three to a stirring examination of the intrigue and pain that marked Demby's election to the bishopric. Chapter four studies Demby's evolving ministry as a bishop and also his continuing encounters with racism in his church. Chapter five features a revealing look at the segregationist practices within Episcopalianism during the early decades of the twentieth century. Here he zeroes in on how many Episcopalians-bishops and laity-were in such tight lock step with the virulent racism of the secular society that they treated African Americans as less than human even within the church walls. …

Abstract: Henry Venn, the CMS honorary secretary between 1841 and 1872, is rightly regarded as the great exponent of self-supporting, self-propagating, and self-governing churches. I have argued elsehwere that his principles took many years to assume their final shape and that, when they did, they contained what was regarded as an ecclesiological anomaly—that there should be separate bishops for different races in the same geographical area. Between about 1856 and 1872 Venn became increasingly daring in his proposals, abandoned his support for the idea of a single European bishop wherever there were European settlers and was instrumental, not only in having Samuel Crowther appointed as the first black bishop in West Africa or in responding positively to suggestions of an Indian bishop for South India, but also in proposing, both in India and in China, that the needs of a truly culturally integrated independent ‘native’ church demanded that its structures should be separated from those of the imported European church.