Office of Native Ministry; St. Francis Mission; Holy Rosary Mission; St. Isaac Jogues Parish
Nicholas Black Elk Cause for Canonization Mass/Office of Native Ministry
Lakota Catholics and others praying for the canonization of Nicholas Black recently celebrated the first anniversary of the opening of that canonization effort with Mass at St. Agnes Church in Manderson, S.D.
St. Agnes is one of 6 parishes that are part of the Holy Rosary Mission on the Pine Ridge Reservation, home to Nicholas Black Elk. If and when Black Elk, now known as a servant of God, is canonized, he would become the first Lakota saint in the Catholic Church. Black Elk was born sometime around 1860. In 1904, the Lakota holy man was baptized in the Catholic faith and died in 1950. He is buried in a rustic, unpretentious grave in the small St. Agnes cemetery in Manderson and is revered as both a Lakota catechist who brought many people to the faith and as a Lakota visionary who has the highest peak in the Black Hills National Forest named for him, Black Elk Peak. The diocesan phase of his canonization cause is supported by the Office of Native Ministries, which received grant funding from BIMO.
St. Francis Mission, Body Mind and Soul Summer Camp
During the second quarter of the grant period, BIMO funds supported the creation and development of the curriculum for the 2019 Body, Mind and Soul Summer Camps, which will be held in five communities on the Rosebud Reservation this summer. The one-week camps are an outreach and evangelization ministry to approximately 400 youth who participate in the free camps and might otherwise never have any contact with the church or St. Francis Mission. The camps offer enrichment for children’s bodies, minds and souls, with a focus on Bible studies and Lakota culture.
Holy Rosary Mission: Oglala First Communion/ Sr. Barb window repairs
BIMO’s support of the 6 parishes of the Holy Rosary Mission on Pine Ridge Reservation assisted efforts by Sr. Barbara Bogenschutz, OP, parish administrator at Our Lady of the Sioux Parish in Oglala, S.D., to continue responding to home repair needs following a devastating 2018 hail storm. Sr. Barb oversees disaster response efforts that made some repairs to about 60 houses in her area. Many of the damaged homes are mobile homes that sustained broken windows and shredded siding.
BIMO funds also support religious education programs that resulted in 5 youth celebrating their First Communions at Our Lady of the Sioux Church during the grant period.
St. Isaac Jogues Church 2019 Confirmation class
Four youth who were confirmed at St. Isaac Jogues Church in the second quarter of this grant period wore eagle feathers in their hair in honor of their Lakota heritage. BIMO funds support a inculturated youth ministry and religious education programs in this urban Rapid City parish, which has a high percentage of Native American Catholics.
