Delille, Henriette (Henriette Díaz)
1813-1862 · Contribution: 1836-1862
Founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family
Founded the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans in 1842, the second-oldest surviving African American Catholic religious order in U.S. history
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Quick facts
- Born
- 1813, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Active since
- 1836
- Category
- Religious & Spiritual Leadership
- Best known for
- Founding the Sisters of the Holy Family; candidate for sainthood
Impact on the world
Delille devoted her life and entire fortune to serving New Orleans's enslaved and free Black population, building a religious order for women of color at a time the Catholic Church itself barred them from existing congregations.
An alternative history
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Sources
- Source lookupFind
USCCB (On the Road to Sainthood)
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Related visionaries
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1766-1853
Formerly enslaved New York hairdresser whose lifelong philanthropy helped fund Old St. Patrick's Cathedral and the city's first Black Catholic school; a leading candidate to become the first African American Catholic saint
Greeley, Julia
c.1833-1918
Known as Denver's 'Angel of Charity' for decades of secret nighttime charity to the city's poor; the only African American laywoman among six current Black candidates for Catholic sainthood
Bowman, Sister Thea (Bertha Elizabeth)
1937-1990
Singer, scholar, and evangelist who became a leading national voice for Black Catholic culture and intercultural understanding within the American Catholic Church