Xavier University of Louisiana joins the global Catholic community in mourning the loss of Sister Jamie T. Phelps, O.P., Ph.D., Director Emerita of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies (IBCS) and the Katharine Drexel Professor of Systematic Theology. Sister Jamie, an internationally respected theologian, educator, and advocate for racial and social justice, was laid to sacred rest on December 3, 2025, at the Adrian Dominican motherhouse in Michigan.

A pioneering figure in Black Catholic Studies, Sister Jamie guided the Institute for Black Catholic Studies with vision, scholarship, and profound pastoral care. Under her leadership, IBCS continued its work, forming lay and ordained leaders rooted in Black Catholic spirituality, intellectual tradition, and service to the Church and the world. As the Katharine Drexel Professor of Systematic Theology, she helped ensure that Xavier remained a national center for theological study grounded in justice, faith, and the lived experiences of the African diaspora.

“We should thank God who created Jamie T. Phelps uniquely in God's image and likeness, her family who taught her to love the Blackness of God in her and her people, and the Adrian Dominican Sisters who helped form her and turned her loose in the world to share her giftedness with the global Black community and all God's people,” said Kathleen Dorsey Bellow, D.Min., director, of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies and associate professor in Xavier’s theology department.

Sister Jamie’s work challenged the Church to better understand itself through the voices and experiences of Black Catholics and those on the margins. Her scholarship, mentorship, and advocacy transformed countless students and colleagues at Xavier and far beyond, advancing a more inclusive and justice-oriented vision of the Church. A fierce advocate for racial and social justice, she brought her considerable intellectual, administrative, and spiritual gifts to the formation of Christian disciples committed to the Church’s evangelizing mission. Yet in all her accomplishments, she remained a woman of deep humility, faith, and love—continually growing, questioning, and expanding her understanding of God’s call.

“When we saw Sister Jamie walking the campus of Xavier University of Louisiana, we saw God walking tall and proud, and we heard the footsteps of the ancestors moving through her stride—feet trained by the Spirit, feet that carried us back into the dance of God. Wherever she taught, she unfolded the Kingdom of God in our midst,” said Father Roy A. Lee, Ph.D., IBCS administrator and student of Sister Jamie. “Wherever she led, she brought us to the feet of Jesus—inviting us to gaze at the very face of God. She took our living archive—our history, our pain, our resistance, our joy—and showed us the God who has been there all along. She pointed to God in our Black academy, our Black liturgy, our Black songs and dance, our Black history and ritual, our Black drumming, laughter, and tears, our Black culture and sacred community.

And she said, in her life, her ministry, her scholarship, ‘This was always God’s first love.’ ‘This is why I was sent—first to Alabama, then to the Adrian Dominicans, and finally to the IBCS.’

Sister Jamie had been a member of the Adrian Dominican Sisters since 1959. In 2022, the congregation endowed a scholarship in her honor to support full-time students enrolled in the Institute for Black Catholic Studies.

As Xavier remembers Sister Jamie with gratitude, the University also honors the legacy she leaves in the students, scholars, and ministers who continue the work she championed, the pursuit of justice, the affirmation of Black Catholic identity, and a Church ever more reflective of God’s diverse and liberating love. Xavier is profoundly grateful that part of her remarkable journey unfolded here, where her voice, wisdom, and presence helped define theological education for generations.