1. George Harold Clements was a Black Catholic priest who, in 1981, became the first Catholic priest in the Chicago area to adopt a child.
12 Facts About George Clements
1. 2.
George Clements was instrumental in the Black Catholic Movement, which sought to establish African-American culture in the liturgical and organizational life of the Catholic Church.
3.
In June 1969, Clements became the second Black Catholic priest in Chicago, and was well known for his involvement in civil rights activities from that point onward.
4.
George Clements was born George Harold Clements in Chicago on January 26,1932, to Samuel George, a Chicago city auditor, and Aldonia Clements.
5.
George Clements attended Corpus Christi Elementary School in Chicago, and graduated from Chicago's Quigley Academy Seminary in 1945.
6.
George Clements studied at St Mary of the Lake Seminary, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sacred Theology, and a Master of Arts degree in philosophy.
7.
George Clements became an ordained priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 3,1957.
8.
George Clements died on November 25,2019, at a hospital in Hammond, Indiana, from a heart attack at the age of 87.
9.
George Clements's death was confirmed by his longtime colleague and St Sabina priest Michael Pfleger and all of Clements' four adopted sons.
10.
George Clements started the One Church-One Child program locally in Chicago at Holy Angels Church in 1980.
11.
In 1999, George Clements started a program called One Church-One Inmate, a collaborative effort to help prison inmates and their families.
12.
The Father George Clements Story was produced as a television movie in 1987 by NBC and starred actors Lou Gossett, Jr.