The Springfield Catholic Diocese has announced plans to establish of shrine for the first publicly recognized black priest in the United States.
The priest is Father Augustine Tolton, and the shrine will be located at St Boniface Church in Quincy.
The church is currently closed, but will be re-opened as a shrine to Father Tolton a by order of Bishop Thomas Paprocki in Springfield.
Father Tolton was born into slavery in 1854. His family made a daring escape across the Mississippi River in 1862. He became a priest in Quincy, before dying of a heatstroke in 1897. Pope Francis declared him venerable in June of 2019, the second in four steps to becoming a saint.
Father Tolton first offered mass at St Boniface. He is buried in Quincy.