Oak Park church honors America's 1st Black Catholic priest who served in Chicago

OAK PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- An Oak Park church is honoring the life and legacy of a former Chicago priest during Black History Month.

Father Augustus Tolton was the first Black Catholic priest in the United States.

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Saint Giles Catholic Church showed a documentary Sunday named "Tolton Speaks: The Life and Letters of Father Augustus Tolton."

Father Tolton was born a slave.

He was a devout Catholic, and eventually became an ordained priest.

"He is one the most obscure Catholic names, and in history, and an important one, because his cause is pending in Rome for possible canonization as a Saint," Bishop Joseph Perry said.

Due to racial tensions, he had a hard time establishing himself in Quincy, Illinois during the late 1800s.

Father Tolton ended up moving to Chicago, where he served on the city's South Side.