Sr. Thea's life honored in new book

Many Viterbo students may not know of Sister Thea Bowman. However, that may soon change after they read “Thea’s Song: The Life of Thea Bowman,” by Sr. Charlene Smith, Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA). Her book “tells Thea’s inspiring story to as wide an audience as possible,” Sr. Smith told Lumen.

“The basic message of ‘Thea’s Song’ is that young Thea saw something she liked (FSPA) and wanted to be a part of it,” Sister Smith said. “She was drawn and led by Fancis’ authenticity, and she saw her ministry in the FSPA as an avenue for building the Black Catholic and universal Christian identity.”

Sr. Smith was friends with Thea for 35 years. The two met in 1954 in the St. Rose dining room. They both returned to Viterbo during the 1970s, Sr. Charlene as Dean of Students and Sr. Thea as a teacher, and later the chair of the English department and director of the Hallelujah Singers at Viterbo.

The biography was released Jan. 30 this year by Orbis Books, a New York publishing house that focuses on the global Christian faith. The book was also co-authored by John Feister, a writer and founding editor of www.AmericanCatholic.org. Feister spent two years researching and interviewing members of the black community for their perspective.

In addition to Feister’s research, Sr. Smith had researched the life of Thea while she was coordinator of the Thea Bowman Legacy and used writings, interviews, and photographs of Thea to show Sister Thea’s spiritual life and legacy.

The book shows Sr. Thea’s “impact on black Catholicism, on the FSPA, and on me,” Sr. Smith said. “When I closed the final draft of the book, I felt Thea’s joy. She is somebody who seems to be more alive in the minds of a lot of people than she was before she died.”

The book tells the story of Thea’s life in five parts: Childhood, Thea in La Crosse, Thea in Washington D.C., Thea at Viterbo, and Back to Canton.

Thea was born in 1937 and grew up in Canton, Miss. She was raised Methodist by her parents but at the age of nine she wanted to become Catholic so she was baptized into the Catholic Church by Fr. Justin Furman. Six years later in 1953, Thea joined the Franciscan Sisters’ community in La Crosse and in 1956 was given the name Sister Thea, which means “of God.” Thea went on to teach and after completing her doctorate, she returned to Viterbo to teach in the English department.

In 1980, Thea helped found the Institute of Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans, La. “Thea’s spirituality was built on black sacred song, ritual and dance,” Sr. Smith said. “It is important that people get to know her because she encouraged the Catholic Church to embrace black ritual and song in the liturgy.”

In 1984, Sr. Thea was diagnosed with breast cancer. Even though she was in treatment, she continued to go on speaking engagements, teaching, and performing. For the next five years, Sr. Thea was honored for her spiritual activism and she received many awards, including the U.S. Catholic Award for furthering the cause of women. The National Black Sisters’ Conference recognized Thea with the Harriet Tubman Award and Viterbo honored Thea with the Pope John XXIII Award in 1985.

In 1987, “60 Minutes” featured Sister Thea. Correspondent Mike Wallace introduced her by stating: “Today at 49, Sister Thea is still shaking people up, preaching in her African robes, not the traditional white Catholic litany, but a new black Catholic Gospel powered by the conviction that when something is wrong, you change it.”