A new documentary on Sr. Thea Bowman shines a light on her life and work as an advocate for racial justice and intercultural understanding.
The one-hour film, a part of the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission’s fall documentary season, will begin airing on ABC stations nationwide on Sunday afternoons in October, beginning on October 2.
Going Home Like a Shooting Star: Thea Bowman’s Journey to Sainthood offers a comprehensive look at Sr. Thea, the first African American member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and one of six Black Catholics known as a “Servant of God.” Written and produced by Franciscan Sr. Judith Ann Zielinski, the film also makes a case for her sainthood and for contemporary spirituality.
Along with archival media of Sr. Thea, the film features interviews with her colleagues, friends, fellow Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, former students and African American scholars, priests and bishops.
Our own Fr. Maurice Nutt, associate producer and biographer of Sr. Thea, called her an “apostle for racial reconciliation.” Noting that she died in 1990, he said the film will introduce her to a new generation. He said her call for people to come together and share their gifts is a pivotal message to put a stop to “some of the racial hatred that we see in our society even today.”
Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz of Jackson, Mississippi, petitioner for Sr. Thea’s cause and executive producer of the documentary, said the film “speaks the need for the church to never give up that desire to be more united and more universal.” He called Sr. Thea a gifted, charismatic, prophetic and energetic dynamo with a “timeless message” for greater harmony, unity, racial understanding and reconciliation: in short, “being the Body of Christ in a more faithful way.”
Sr. Eileen McKenzie, president of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, said Sr. Thea’s canonization would “hold up the spirituality and the gift of the Black Catholic Church” and “give courage to our African American brothers and sisters who often don’t have a platform.”
Going Home Like a Shooting Star was funded in part by the Catholic Communication Campaign. Streaming opportunities will be announced by the Diocese of Jackson. To watch a preview of the film, visit: https://youtu.be/tkzhnKG7mxc
