Black History Month: Black Catholics in New Jersey
The first Africans to come to what would become the United States were brought as slaves. Although African slavery is most often associated with the southern states, slavery was legal in many of the northern states until the years just before the beginning of the Civil War.
The African American population increased in New Jersey during the “Great Migration” from 1916 to 1970 when more than 6 million African Americans left the rural south for the urban northeast, the Middle West, and west.
After the immigration reform of 1965, significant numbers of sub-Saharan Africans migrated to the United States. The numbers increased markedly after 1990. This trend began after mid-20th century decolonization, as many Africans moved to the United States to obtain higher education and to escape poverty. The number has risen steadily over time. Originally, many of these migrants came with the sole purpose of advancing themselves before returning to their respective countries. Nevertheless, many migrants never returned to their homes in Africa. It is estimated that the current population of African migrants in the United States is about 2.1 million.6
Recent census statistics7 for New Jersey give the estimated numbers of major sources of African migration as:
Africans in New Jersey
| Nigeria | Ghana | Kenya | Cameroun | Cabo Verde | |
| 2010 | 16,749 | 12,347 | 4,977 | 906 | 972 |
| 2017* | 20,720 | 10,744 | 4,203 |
Nigeria
The largest group is Nigerian. Only Texas, New York, Georgia, Maryland, and California have more Nigerians than New Jersey. It is difficult to get accurate population estimates. Nigerian diaspora sources give higher numbers than others. One source also gives higher numbers but states that in recent years many Nigerians have left New Jersey.8 Similar sources note that a large proportion of Nigerians live in the four counties of the archdiocese of Newark, particularly in the city of Newark.
Nigerians in the Archdiocese of Newark
| NJ | Bergen | Essex | Hudson | Union | RCAN | ||
| 2010 | 16,749 | 732 | 6,232 | 982 | 2,687 | 10,633 | |
| 2017 | 20,720 | 782 | 8,479 | 703 | 1,768 | 11,732 |
United States Census
Saint Patrick is the Patron Saint of Nigeria
Studies have shown that Nigerians have the highest level of academic achievement of all immigrant groups in the United States, 40 percent holding bachelor’s degrees, 17 percent master’s degrees, and four percent doctorates.9
Sources disagree about the percentage of Nigerians that are Catholic. The estimates generally are in the range of 20 percent. The great number of conversions in Nigeria and other parts of Africa make it difficult to develop current or even recent reliable statistics.
There is not a great deal of literature about African migrants to the United States as they have arrived in significant numbers only in comparatively recent years. In the archdiocese of Newark, the largest African migrant population is Nigerian, and for this national group we can break down the number into counties. The chart above shows that almost two-thirds of the Nigerian migrants in New Jersey live in the Archdiocese of Newark.
Many Nigerians simply participate in a neighborhood parish near their homes. However, Blessed Sacrament Parish in Newark is essentially a Nigerian parish that celebrates Mass in Igbo once a week. Large numbers of Nigerians also worship weekly at Newark Abbey. Another distinct Nigerian congregation worships weekly in the chapel of Seton Hall University.
Over the years, a number of Nigerian priests came to New Jersey to further their education. They remained to minister and many have been incardinated. In addition, several young men of Nigerian origin have been ordained as priests of the archdiocese of Newark.
Kenya and Ghana
Mary, Queen of Heaven, is Patron Saint of Kenya.
The estimates of the Catholic percentage of the populations of Ghana and Kenya, the second and third largest African groups in New Jersey vary, partly due to the rapidly changing demographics in these and most other Africa countries. Reasonable estimates are that Ghana is 13 percent Catholic and Kenya is 33 percent Catholic.
Because the numbers of African immigrants in New Jersey is comparatively small, except for Nigerians and Ghanaians, it is difficult to obtain precise statistics for their presence in the archdiocese of Newark. However, their numbers are probably larger than those taken from several sources and given in the chart below.
Ghanaians in the Archdiocese of Newark
| NJ | Bergen | Essex | Hudson | Union | RCAN | ||
| 2010 | 12,347 | ||||||
| 2017 | 10,744 | 1,043 | 3,486 | 539 | 772 | 5,840 | |
New Jersey 2017 Census Approximations
| Kenya | Ethiopia | Senegal | Cabo Verde | Cameroun |
| 5,000 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
Parishes in the Archdiocese of Newark with African American, African, and Caribbean faithful10
| Bergen County Bergenfield, St. John the Evangelist Englewood, St. Cecilia Hackensack, Holy Trinity Leonia, St. John the Evangelist Teaneck, St. Anastasia Tenafly, O.L. of Mount CarmelEssex County East Orange, Holy Name of Jesus East Orange, Holy Spirit/Our Lady Help of Christians East Orange, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel East Orange, St. Joseph Irvington, St. Leo Maplewood, St. Joseph Maplewood, St. Andrew Kim Montclair, St Theresa of Calcutta Montclair, St. Peter Claver Newark, Blessed Sacrament/ St. Charles Borromeo Newark, Parish of the Transfiguration Newark, St. Antoninus South Orange, Our Lady of Sorrows West Orange, Our Lady of Lourdes | Hudson County Jersey City, Christ the King Jersey City, O.L. of Sorrows Jersey City, O.L. of Victories Jersey City, St. Aloysius Jersey City, St. Anne Jersey City, St. John the Baptist Jersey City, St. Patrick/Assumption-All Saints Jersey City, St. Paul the ApostleUnion County Elizabeth, Holy Rosary/St. Michael Hillside, Christ the King Plainfield, St. Bernard and Stanislaus Plainfield, St. Mary Rahway, Divine Mercy Roselle, St. Joseph the Carpenter Union, St. Michael |
Footnotes
1. Jena Gaines. Haitian Immigration, Broomhall PA, 2004. passim.
2. Jena Gaines. Haitian Immigration, Broomhall PA, 2004. passim.
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Americans
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_diaspora
5. http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/haiti#/?affiliations_rel…
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_immigration_to_the_United_States
7. http://nj1015.com/all-the-nations-where-nj-immigrants-come-from-and-wher…
8. ipfs.io
10. Imani (Faith), Bulletin of Archdiocese of Newark Office of African American, African and Caribbean Apostolate
Msgr. Robert J. Wister, Hist.Eccl.D. is a retired professor of church history at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, Seton Hall University, and writes historical articles for the publications of the Archdiocese of Newark.
