Msgr. Patrick J. Molloy, a retired parish pastor and a leader in the black and interracial apostolates in the archdiocese, died March 12 at Mary Queen and Mother Center in Shrewsbury.
Msgr. Molloy is remembered as a key figure in the fight for racial justice. One example was when a CYC team at Visitation Parish was prohibited from playing in the Muny League because it included five African-merican players. Msgr. Molloy, assistant pastor of the parish and team manager, encouraged the CYC leadership in fighting the rule.
After an extended debate, the CYC pulled its 60 teams from the Muny League and formed CYC senior and high school leagues. The incident occurred in 1946, one year before Jackie Robinson became the first African-merican player to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
Documents at Most Blessed Sacrament Parish noted how black Catholics once experienced segregation and incivility. St. Nicholas and St. Elizabeth Parishes were established for black Catholics. When African-American Catholics began attending mass at their local parishes, they were often told to go elsewhere or sit in designated areas.
Things changed when Msgr. Molloy arrived as pastor in 1957. By the next year, Most Blessed Sacrament had become a “uniquely integrated Catholic parish, in school, altar servers, scouts, ushers and parish organizations.”
Msgr. Molloy was a religion teacher, athletic director and coach at St. Joseph High School in St. Louis from 1941-48. He started the first athletic program there and organized a football game against Christian Brothers College High School, the first interracial game. He later fought and won integration in the state high school athletic association.
He was best known for his work in the black and interracial apostolates, serving as co-founder and moderator of the St. Louis Catholic Interracial Council and director of the 1963 Council on Religion and Race.
Thank you for this article. I wish there was a photo. Baptised as an infant at Blessed Sacrament three years before Msg. Malloy arrived, I attended school at Blessed Sacrament where Msg. Malloy celebrated every day, I can still hear his voice and see every detail of his face, biretta, cassock, red sash, and shoes. We heard many a sermon and had a general sense of a welll-respected man who cared about his congregation and wielded authority that was admired by many.