Father Andrew McNair will share the incredible story of Saint Josephine Bakhita and her journey from slave to saint.
Father Andrew McNair is a native of Swansboro, North Carolina. He entered the seminary in 1985 and was ordained a priest in 1997 in Rome, Italy. He studied classical humanities in Salamanca, Spain, and philosophy and Theology in Rome. Before ordination, he served as a missionary for three years in the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico, working with the Mayan natives.
After finishing his graduate studies in Dogmatic Theology, Father Andrew taught Theology at Mater Ecclesiae College in Greenville, Rhode Island, for eight years. During this time, he was a columnist for the National Catholic Register. In 2008, Father Andrew was assigned to parish ministry and appointed chaplain for the Office of Black Catholic Church Ministry in the Diocese of Providence, R.I. He served as assistant pastor of Holy Spirit parish in Central Falls, R.I., for two years and as associate pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption in Providence, R.I., for one year. In 2012, he was appointed pastor of SS John and James Parish in West Warwick, R.I.
In 2014, Father Andrew was appointed pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Southern Pines, North Carolina, for a term of 6 years. In 2016, he was installed as Chaplain for African-American Catholics for the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, for three years.
On April 18th, 2021, Bishop Olmsted appointed Father Andrew as Chaplain for the African-American Community for the Diocese of Phoenix. In addition to this, Bishop Olmsted appointed Father Andrew as Spiritual Advisor to the Kolbe Mission Project for the incarcerated.
On October 3, 2023, Bishop John Dolan incardinated Father Andrew into the Diocese of Phoenix and invited him to serve as Director of the Black Catholic Ministry for the Diocese of Phoenix. Moreover, Bishop Dolan has asked Father Andrew to serve as pastor of St. Josephine Bakhita Mission Parish in Phoenix, established last year for the pastoral care of African Americans and Black Catholics.
