Fr. Reginald Norman was born in Durham, North Carolina, and raised in Connecticut. He converted to Catholicism in 1990 at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Stratford, Connecticut, and pursued a career in business before answering the call to priesthood. Ordained a priest for the Diocese of Bridgeport, he has served as pastor and administrator at multiple parishes and is presently the vicar of the Apostolate of Black Catholics, pastor of St. Mark Church in Stratford, Connecticut, and dean of the Seat of Wisdom Deanery.
Fr. Reginald holds leadership roles in national Black Catholic organizations, including president of the National Association of Black Catholic Administrators and vice president of the National Black Catholic Congress. He also serves on numerous diocesan committees, lectures on faith and social issues, and is actively involved in Catholic Charities and community organizations. He is the recipient of the D.A.R. Good Citizens Award, the Congressman Medal of Honor, and other awards recognizing his service to the community. A dedicated mentor and speaker, he is passionate about men’s spirituality, family dynamics, and uplifting both youth and the elderly.
In this episode, we speak with Fr. Reginald about his background in the Baptist tradition and entrance into the Catholic Church, forms of systemic racism that are still present in diocesan structures, and his perspective on the state of the Black Catholic movement in the church today. Fr. Reginald also shares with us the importance of surrender on the spiritual path, the difference between “dictating and disappearing” and “acting and assisting” in living out the church’s mission, and how “recognition of injustice is power, not punishment.”
In tandem with this episode, Fr. Reginald has kindly let us reproduce the text of his keynote speech given at the Stratford Interfaith Service honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this past January.
