Senator Sullivan joined his colleague Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins in designating April 24, 2012, as Father Augustus Tolton Day in Illinois. Father Tolton was the first African-American priest ordained in the Roman Catholic Church and served as pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Quincy from 1886 to 1889. From there, he moved to Chicago to shepherd a growing congregation of black Catholics at St. Augustine’s and later St. Monica’s.
“Quincy is proud of its distinction as the first community in America to welcome an African-American priest,” Sen. Sullivan said. “As pastor of St. Joseph’s, Father Tolton worked tirelessly to care for both black and white parishioners and educate the poor.”
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