About 70 people gathered at the Center for Pastoral Leadership in Wickliffe on Feb. 8 for a program focusing on the legacy of the late Father Clarence Williams Jr., CPPS. Father Williams was the first Black priest ordained from the Diocese of Cleveland. He grew up in St. Adalbert/Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Parish in Cleveland.
The program was facilitated by Sister Jane Nesmith, SBS, director of the diocesan Office of Black Catholic Ministries. Attendees included family and friends of Father Williams.
African dancers accompanied by the Evangelizing Sisters of Mary opened the program with music and traditional dancing. The dancers sprinkled attendees with holy water as the sisters sang in Swahili and accompanied them on drums. The sisters began their ministry in Cleveland in 2014 at St. Adalbert/Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament.
“Holy water is good stuff,” Sister Nesmith said. “You want to be touched by it. It can clear space. It’s powerful stuff.”
(See photo gallery above.)
Phillis Clipps, a St. Adalbert/Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament parishioner, introduced panelists, each of whom spoke about Father Williams: Regennia Williams of the Western Reserve Historical Society, David Patrick Ryan, WRHS and Saint Ignatius High School and Carl Williams, Father Williams’ younger brother. Prester Pickett provided a special Black History Month tribute.
Patrick talked about the Black Catholic Church, noting it was not just Euro-centered. It also embraced the culture and traditions of African nations. He said Father Willams was a proponent of racial sobriety, which looks at racism as a disease and offers ways to overcome it.
Pickett’s presentation began with song and recapped Father Willams’ life, including the numerous honors and accolades he received. Father Williams, who suffered from ill health the last few years of his life, died in 2023 at age 73 at Jennings in Garfield Heights. Picket said Father Williams looked at racism as a social illness with a treatment program, speaking honestly about it.
“He was a drum major for peace, justice and righteousness, a teacher, public archivist, pastor, speaker, consultant, pioneer, advocate for Catholic Charities, a brother, son, uncle, nephew and a Catholic,” Pickett said.
As a priest, Father Williams didn’t have material things to leave behind, Pickett said, so he left the legacy of his committed life. “He wanted to help people,” he said, noting Father Williams said this meant his life would not have been in vain. “He wanted to be on the right or left side of Jesus, but not for selfish reasons.”
A native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Father Williams was raised in Cleveland. He entered the Missionaries of the Precious Blood in 1965 at the congregation’s high school seminary near Canton. Father Williams was ordained in Cleveland on Oct. 28, 1978. He worked in parish ministry before being assigned to the Archbishop Lyke International Center in Detroit, Michigan. He spent 25 years working in the Archdiocese of Detroit, including serving as director of African American ministries.
Father Williams earned a doctoral degree in global education and cultural communication. He wrote three books, numerous articles and gave many presentations across the country about racial sobriety. Father Williams established Recovery from Racism, an institute dedicated to forming leaders and creating programs to counter racism. He also co-founded Building Bridges in Black and Brown, a national dialogue between African American and Hispanic American communities.
In 2007, he was named the director of racial equality and diversity for Catholic Charities USA, based in Washington, D.C. He also was active in multi-media productions, including serving as executive producer for several video projects, some of which highlighted the history and gifts that Black Catholics bring to the Church.
Father Williams received many awards, including a lifetime achievement award from the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus; the Dr. Martin Luther King Keep the Dream Alive Award and the Msgr. Phillip Murnion Award for Pastoral Excellence from the National Pastoral Life Center in New York.
Carl Williams, Father Williams’ brother, said he was honored that the program recognized his brother and his many accomplishments. “He was the oldest and I was the youngest. We had a lot in common, but he was five times more intense, bull-headed and complex than I was,” Williams quipped.
He said his brother explained that racial sobriety is an ongoing process. To that end, he offered numerous workshops to teach people how to combat it. “He saw racial sobriety as an illness. A racist can be racist even to their own race,” he said, adding his brother developed tools for recovery.
“He never raised his voice,” Williams said. “He loved learning, teaching and working with people.”
Williams said his brother addressed the First Friday Club of Cleveland, sharing “things they never knew. He encouraged you to read and learn.” He recalled how Father Williams immersed himself in his work, explaining that he didn’t just learn Spanish, he spent two years living in Mexico.
“Hopefully, we can use his legacy to continue his work,” Williams said.
Rhonda Abrams, bereavement coordinator for the Catholic Cemeteries Association, shared her experiences with Father Williams during a 1997 pilgrimage to Egypt and the Holy Land. Five Black Catholic priests made the pilgrimage, which she called “an amazing journey. God’s grace was with us the whole time. Imagine going on a trip with five Black priests and walking the grounds where Jesus walked.”
Abrams said a highlight of the pilgrimage was being baptized in the Jordan River.
Sister Nesmith said Father Williams “spent his life listening. God called him and Father Williams was open to it … We need to listen to God. He has a plan for us.” She said she didn’t envision what God had in mind for her, but she opened herself to it, including helping to found an organization for Black religious sisters to help support those in congregations and to encourage others who sought to join some of the orders.
Reflecting on the day’s program, Sister Nesmith said, “This had to happen. God wanted us to have a moment with this man.” She noted the program took place on the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, a former slave who became a religious sister. She was canonized in 2000, becoming the first female Black saint in the modern era.
“Just listen to God. He’s got the plan and it’s a divine plan,” Sister Nesmith said.