Father Alonzo Cox was an altar boy at his home parish in Queens when Sunday mass changed his life.

“I never met a priest who was Black until I met Father Carter," said Cox, who is the pastor at Our Lady of Victory Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

As Father Martin Carter spoke to the church, Cox said he felt God calling him to the priesthood.

“I remember meeting Father Carter and thinking, ‘If he can do it, I can too,’” Cox said.

What You Need To Know

  • Martin Carter died on Christmas Day at the age of 91

  • Born in North Carolina, he was turned away from seminaries due to his race, but through faith and persistence was ordained in 1975

  • He was the first Black pastor of Our Lady of Victory

  • Carter welcomed Mother Teresa to Our Lady of Victory in 1995

 

Martin Carter served as pastor at Our Lady of Victory for 13 years. On Christmas, he died at the age of 91.

“He wouldn’t have wanted anything better than to see Jesus on Christmas Day,” Cox said.

Born in North Carolina, Carter was turned away from seminaries because he was Black. He wanted to become a priest but had a hard time convincing a diocese of his vocation. Through faith and persistence, he ultimately was ordained in 1975.

“He was a pioneer. He paved the way for priests like me to do what I do,” Cox said.

Twenty years later, Carter became the first Black pastor of Our Lady of Victory. He believed Black Catholics must understand their history in order to achieve equality.

Although the church had long been a Black parish, many were not welcoming of him. Sometimes, his trailblazing efforts caused an uproar, like when he asked a nun to repaint a statue of Mary and Jesus to represent Black Catholics.

“He wanted people to realize you don’t have to come into a church and see a white figure of Jesus," Cox said. "You can see a figure that speaks to your heart, to who you are a Black Catholic.”

Father Carter led Our Lady of Victory during several historic moments.

“Mother Theresa had brought the first group of sisters to the Diocese of Brooklyn, and he welcomed Mother Theresa right here to Our Lady of Victory,” Cox said.

Carter retired in 2007, but remained an active member of the church.

“I remember getting a letter from Father Carter," Cox said. "He congratulated me on my ordination and he said, ‘We may be brothers by the diaspora, but now you’re my brother priest.’”

Cox got the offer of a lifetime, to take over as Pastor at Our Lady of Victory in 2014. He hopes to carry on Carter’s legacy of acceptance and empowerment.

He says their last conversation is something he will never forget.

“I remember asking him, ‘Do you have any regrets?’ And he said, ‘None. None whatsoever. I would do it all over again,’” Cox said.