From the Archives

Feisty, firebrand, aristocrat and champion of the oppressed, are words and phrases used to describe Father Joseph Anciaux, and quite accurately as he was all those things and more. 

In the pantheon of characters who have served in Oklahoma, Father Anciaux ranks easily in the top five.

Born in Namur, Belgium, in 1860, he was of noble blood and never tired of making that fact known, especially in dealing with southern bishops. His uncle was Cardinal Van Rossum, prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. Throughout his time in the United States, he upbraided priests and bishops alike for their prejudice, and would drop the names of his friends such as Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore and Cardinal Ryan of Philadelphia. 

Father Anciaux arrived in Oklahoma in 1902 to be chaplain at Saint John’s School in Hominy Creek. He was assigned to Langston (which was an African American enclave) to be pastor in 1903. He became an advocate for the people of Langston and developed a true devotion for the people he served. 

Appalled by a southern bishop’s disdain for the possibility of black clergy (not Oklahoma as he spoke of his friends in Oklahoma throughout his life with affection), he wrote, “I speak to you as a man that if you despise sacred orders for colored men, if you deny the supernatural order and if you believe more in your southern customs than in the Holy Church, then you are not fit for office.” 

Such scathing remarks are not designed to win friends and influence and that was most assuredly not his goal. However, the insights he gained did influence a very important person, Pope Leo XIII. 

In a letter to the Holy Father, he lashed out at the innate prejudice of the Church in America. As a result, the Vatican formed the Catholic Board for Mission Work among the Colored People in 1907. His uncle’s connections didn’t hurt in making this happen, but it was primarily Father Anciaux’s persistence that helped to bring about the formation.

In 1904, seeing his vocation being steered toward African Americans, he joined the Josephite order whose apostolate was to the black community. Father James White, historian, relates, “He was something of an embarrassment to the Josephites because of his volatile tongue and his habit, when writing letters to American bishops, of comparing their ancestry unfavorably with his own.”

Father Joseph Anciaux returned to Belgium in 1920 as he battled health issues, and some southern bishops undoubtedly breathed a sigh of relief. It is important to note, however, that regardless of how difficult he could be, he was a necessary thorn in the side in reminding the Church that Jim Crow laws and blissful ignorance of the situation were simply not Christian. With his mark made, he passed from this life on Feb. 23, 1931.