Attendees at the 1892 Colored Catholic Congress included the nation's first openly Black priest, Augustus Tolton, who stands in the middle of the front row. (The Conversation) — The first publicly recognized Black priest in the United States, Augustus Tolton, may not be a household name. The Vatican allowed Black men to be ordained, but church hierarchy in the U.S. would not admit Black men to seminaries. He was sent as a “missionary” to the Black community in Chicago, with the hope of establishing a Black Catholic church. John Henry Dorsey received the Holy Orders in 1902, becoming the second Black man ordained in the U.S. and the country’s fifth Black priest.