The President of the Catholic African World Network
Fr. Clarence Williams, CPPS, PhD is a member of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. Father Williams was the first Black priest ordained in his hometown diocese of Cleveland , Ohio in 1978. He served in the Archdiocese of Detroit for over 30 years, as pastor of St. Anthony Church for 15 years, as the Director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministries and pastor of Holy Innocents-St. Barnabas Church. Throughout his assignments, he was a regular celebrant for the televised Mass for Shut-Ins for 25 years. Fr. Williams was celebrates his 35th anniversary of ordination in 2013.
Fr. Williams has a doctorate in Global Education and Cultural Communication from the Union Institute & University of Cincinnati, Ohio . As an educator, he established the Institute for Recovery from Racisms® dedicated to training facilitators and designing programs to promote Racial Sobriety™ and Social Sobriety™. This goail is accomplished through executive training and staff seminars. The audiences include but not limited to not-for-profit organizations, religious congregations, dioceses, corporations, civic organizations and educational institutions. Go to the website for more information: See www.racialsobriety.org.
Media communications have assisted his pastoral and social healing ministries through the production of national teleconferences. The “live” interactive programs have reached over 20,000 participants. The Rev. Dr. Williams is the author of Recovery from Everyday Racisms (1998), Racial Sobriety: A Journey from Hurts to Healing (2002) with Spanish (2004) and Portuguese (2005) workbook editions.Racial Sobriety: Becoming the change you want to see was released in 2008. He has given workshops and presentations on racism throughout the nation as well as in Europe , Africa and South America.
In the area of cultural communication, Fr. Williams is the co-founder of Building Bridges in Black and Brown, the national dialogue between the African American and Hispanic American communities. He is the editor of the book, People of the Pyramids: The Dialogue Between the African American and the Hispanic/Latino Communities (1997).” The “Building Bridges Process” was developed through four national conferences on building bridges between the African American and the Hispanic/Latino communities from 1992 to 1997 funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. The knowledge base from these programs developed into the concept of moving beyond the multicultural paradigm of diversity to the pluricultural perspective. Partnering with the National Federation of Priests' Councils and funded by the Raskob Foundation, Fr. Williams served as the Program Director for the "Church of Tomorrow." In 2003, two focus groups made up of national leaders in race, gender and class diveristy met on the east and west coasts of the United States to explore the pluricultural perspective as a tool for building bridges between racial and cultural groups.
In the area of Global Education, Fr. Williams leads groups and community leaders on on international tours to illuminate the cultural reality in real time. The immersion programs include directed reflections on identity, structured dialogues on relationship building and vision clarification for mission. The following countries have been the sites for new learing: Brazil, a Black Catholic immersion; Mexico, a building bridges in Black and Brown; to inform that general public and dedicated leaders. and context of the world in which leadership
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Awarded the Lily SPE Ministry Fellowship Grant at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit, Michigan (2008)
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.), Global Education and Cultural Communications ,The Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio (1998)
Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois (1978)
Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois Masters of Art in Black Catholic History (1982)
St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana Bachelor of Arts (BA), Sociology and French (1973)
MEDIA PRODUCTIONS
The following productions were written, produced, hosted or directed by Fr. Williams in the past two decades.
2005 April - Guest of two television specials on the legacy of Pope John Paul II and the
Papal Conclave, as well as television and radio interviews with national and international media on the emerging presence of Catholics of African descent and the possibility of an African pope.
2001 - Wrote and hosted the National Teleconference on Racism for Catholic Charities/USA
1992 November -Writer and producer of "Rejoice! Futuring Black Catholic Worship," an hour long international documentary on Black liturgy around the world. Production took place in Italy , Brazil , West Africa and throughout the United States.
1992 June - Executive Producer of "Sr. Thea: Her Own Story," a one hour documentary on the life of Sr. Thea Bowman which aired nationally on NBC this summer. Awarded the 1992 Christopher Award for outstanding television special in the Religious Theme category.
1992 November - Executive Producer for "Racism and the Renewal of the Mind II: The National Teleconference on Racism." This interactive satellite teleconference involved 44 Arch\Dioceses with 8,000 participants.
1992 April - Executive Producer and Liturgical Planner for the "ABC National Easter Mass. " This liturgy was produced for the American Bishops Conference Catholic Communication Campaign and aired in more than 90 markets in the United States . The broadcast coverage was from the Bahamas to Hawaii .
1991 October - Executive Producer for "Racism and the Renewal of the Mind II: The Second National Teleconference on Racism." This interactive satellite teleconference involved 30 Arch\Dioceses with 8,000 participants.
1990 September - Executive Producer of "A Basilica for Africa," as the guest producer of the government. This was the official English production of the Consecration of Our Lady of Peace Basilica in the Ivory Coast. It is the only Basilica in Africa and the tallest church in the world.
1990 January - Executive Producer of "The Beatification of Blessed Katherine Drexel," which was produced in Rome for the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.
1989 February - Executive Producer and writer of "Saint!!" The gospel musical on the life of St. Martin de Porres. It aired nationally on religious cable in the U.S. and has been dubbed into Korean and Kiswahili by the Daughters of St. Paul.
1989 November - Executive Producer for "Racism and the Renewal of the Mind: The National Teleconference on Racism." This interactive satellite teleconference involved 22 Arch\Dioceses with 4,000 participants.
1988 February - Executive Producer and Host of the four part magazine on Black Vocations: "In God's Service." Aired nationally on religious cable; and internationally in English-speaking Africa .
1987 February - Executive Producer and Host of the four part documentary " Search for a Black Christian Heritage." This production deals with the Black people's presence in Egypt ; Old and New Testament; the early Church and today. It is being distributed by the Vatican in English and French and is shown nationally in the U.S. on over 300 cable systems.
1984 to 1990 - Executive Producer of "This Far By Faith: The Black Catholic Chapel of the Air," which is a weekly 30 minutes radio program of Black Catholic choirs and preachers that airs in over 200 cities throughout the nation. Now in production for web broadcast.
Awards
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award in Birmingham, Alabama on the National King Holiday (2012)
The Faith and Culture Awrd from the National Pastoral The Center in New York (2009)
The Keep the Dream Alive Award from both the Archdiocese of Detroit (2008)
The Keep the Dream Alive AwardArchdiocese of Miami (1996)
The Archbishop James P. Lyke Award from the Pan African Roman Catholic Clergy Conference (1995)
The Joseph Davis Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (1992)
Honors:
The National Black Catholic Seminarian Association Award named, "The Clarence Williams Award." (1990)
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