The Detroit Catholic church where a painting depicting Jesus as a Black man, generating both international acclaim and violent threats, is shutting down, and the fate of the building and the renowned mural is unknown.
St. Charles Lwanga, formerly known as St. Cecilia, 10400 Stoepel Street, on the city’s northwest side, had originally planned to hold its final Mass at 9 a.m. Sunday, according to a social media post by the church and several people familiar with the situation. A Monday Facebook post by the parish said the final Mass has been postponed “due to administrative complications on the part of the Archdiocese.” A Mass will still be held on Sunday.
A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Detroit, Holly Fournier, confirmed the church is closing but declined further comment.
The church has dealt with a dwindling number of parishioners for years, down to currently about 200, said Rev. Theodore Parker, the former parish priest who retired last year. Further, the aging building needs costly repairs, including upgrading the heating system and repairing the roof, Parker said.
The image of a Black Jesus in the domed ceiling behind the altar was created in 1968 by local artist DeVon Cunningham. It was in response to the changing demographics of the neighborhood, the 1967 civil uprising in Detroit, and the Civil Rights movement, according to various media accounts, including 2023 interviews by The Detroit News.
The work inspired both love and hate. The parish priest who authorized the mural received death threats. It sparked national dialogue among the Catholic community. The image made the cover of Ebony Magazine in March 1969 and years later was featured on the front page of the New York Times.
In 2009, the Vatican used the image in a postcard, according to Rose Johnson, the former companion of the artist who created the mural. The artist, Cunningham, died in 2023.
Leisa Traylor, Cunningham’s daughter, said her family and others are beginning to explore ways to save at least part of the mural.
“We would love to save it and we hope there is enough support from the community and others to recognize it should be preserved,” Traylor said. “At this point, we are really hoping to get more information of what happens to the building.”
The mural may also be at risk from the church’s condition.
“In 2024, parishioners began noticing that the robe of Jesus was becoming discolored from a leak in the roof of the dome,” Johnson said.
Decades ago, Traylor played a role in the events leading up to her father’s painting of the imagery. She was a junior high student at then-St. Cecilia’s school during the 1967 uprising, which was one of the largest U.S. civil disturbances in the 20th century.
Sometime after the uprising, Traylor said she and other students staged a “sit-out” at the school.
“We were upset there were no images of ourselves” in the church, Traylor told The News in 2023. “We wanted our Jesus to look like our community.”
St. Cecilia’s parish priest at the time, the Rev. Raymond Ellis, invited Cunningham to paint the image. Alongside the Black Christ, there are images of a multicultural row of angels. There are also images of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, John and Robert Kennedy, and a Star of David. Separately, Cunningham created a statue of the Black Virgin Mary.
“I don’t know when Father Ellis started to receive the death threats, but I know that was part of the reaction,” said the Rev. Parker in a 2023 interview with The News.
The backlash may have resulted in the firebombing of Cunningham’s Detroit home, said Kimberly Perry, another of Cunningham’s daughters.
One part of the former St. Cecilia’s continues and that is St. Cecilia Gym, which became a nonprofit run by the group Ceciliaville years ago. For decades, it has attracted thousands of young basketball players, including some who went on to become NBA players. Over the years, its summer league also attracted NBA players. St. Cecilia’s Gym, in partnership with the Detroit Pistons, the Archdiocese of Detroit, and Belfor Property Restoration, are raising funds to expand and renovate the facility.
laguilar@detroitnews.com
