Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange -- a Black Catholic nun who founded the United States’ first African American religious congregation in Baltimore in 1829 -- has advanced another step toward sainthood.
Under a decree signed by Pope Francis on Thursday, Lange was recognized for her heroic virtue, and advanced in the cause of her beatification from being considered a servant of God to a “venerable servant.” The Catholic Church must now approve a miracle that is attributed to her, so she can be beatified.
