Black and Indian Mission Office facts for kids
The Black and Indian Mission Office is a special Catholic group in the United States. It helps support missions for Native Americans and African Americans. It's made up of three smaller groups: the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, the Commission for Catholic Missions, and the Catholic Negro-American Mission Board. These groups work together with one team and one board of directors, even though they each have their own specific jobs.
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A Look Back: How It Started
The Bureau and the Commission started sharing offices in Washington, D.C., in 1935. The Catholic Negro-American Mission Board joined them in 1980. In 2009, these three groups decided to use "Black and Indian Mission Office" as a common name for their website.
The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions
The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions was created in 1874. Its main goal was to support and promote Catholic missions among Native Americans. It also worked to protect the rights of Native American people. The Archbishop of Baltimore, J. Roosevelt Bayley, approved its start.
The Commission for Catholic Missions
Since 1887, the Commission for the Catholic Missions among the Colored People and the Indians has managed a special yearly collection. This collection, held during Lent, helps support missions for both African Americans and Native Americans. The idea for this collection and a group of three bishops to manage it came from the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884. Since the 1980s, this group and its collection have been known as the Black and Indian Mission Office and the Black and Indian Mission collection.
The Catholic Negro-American Mission Board
The Catholic Negro-American Mission Board was founded in 1907. It was first called the Catholic Board for Mission Work among the Colored People. Its purpose was to support and promote Catholic missions specifically for African Americans. It provided a second way to raise money for Black Catholic missions across the country.
