Double dose of divinity

Ebony, Jan, 1989 by Roxanne Brown

Double Dose Of Divinity

THE Rev. Charles Smith of San Bernardino, Calif., is a man with a mission. Young and faith-filled, the newly ordained Roman Catholic priest has taken on the formidable mission of uplifting a race. In Chicago, there is a Roman Catholic priest who is equally optimistic and who has the very same mission. In fact, the Rev. Chester Smith shares Rev. Charles' dream, and parents and birthdate. They are identical twins -- the first Black twins to become Roman Catholic priests in the United States.

The 29-year-old Chicago natives were ordained in April, 1988, in Techny, Ill., at the Divine Word Internationial Chapel. Wearing their Blackness likes cloaks of pride and strength, Revs. Charles and Chester may have religious assignments thousands of miles apart, but they appear always to be in perfect sync. To hear Rev. Chester speak of world oppression, spiritual liberation and commitment to the Black community is to know what is on Rev. Charles' mind, as well.

Purposeful and studious even in their youth, the Smith twins have ventured far beyond their childhood home in Altgeld Gardens, a housing project on Chicago's far South Side. After learning about esteemed Black leaders, such as Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey and Rev. Jesse Jackson during Sunday discussions with their mother, May Ruth Smith, young Charles and Chester decided that they wanted to become "leaders of our race." It was not until Mrs. Smith, a social worker, enrolled them in Catholic school that they decided to become spiritual shepherds as well.

According to Rev. Charles, associate pastor of St. Anthony's Church in San Bernardino, in spite of the inner-city deprivation that surrounded them as children, he and his two brothers and sister had no choice but to succeed. He says a big difference was that there were two parents in his home -- a father, who was a soft-spoken provider, and a mother, who was dedicated to education and spirituality, and who taught them that "God is our all and all."

Rev. Chester explains that his mother is a strong woman who was involved socially, politically and spiritually. "By being nurtured in a wholistic environment, it is only natural that we would have that same philosophy," he says. "That was the rule; my mother taught me that I must be a man of character and a man of God -- well-educated and well-rounded," he continues. "If not, she was quick to remind us that she brought us into this world and could take us out of it."

Revs. Charles and Chester enrolled in Catholic school after their mother obseved the disciplined attitudes of the children who attended the one in their neighborhood. Rev. Chester, associate pastor of St. Anselm Catholic Church in Chicago, says he remembers the differences between public and Catholic school: "The Sisters really emphasized academics," he says. If you were not there to gain that type of background, then you were in trouble. That scared me a little bit because I had never seen that type of concern [in public schools]."

Soon after the twins started Catholic school, the Smith family joined Our Lady of the Gardens Church. Encouraged by their mother, they attended Divine Word religious order high school in Wisconsin and college in Iowa. Although they both decided to enter the seminary after college, their affirmations to the priesthood came at different times and in different parts of the world.

Working in the Watts area of Los Angeles in an all-male high school run by the Divine Word Mission, Rev. Chester was reaffirmed of his calling. "Seeing those young men struggling in an inner-city school made me understand that my job was not only to instill Jesus Christ in them, but to enforce that they were good, beautiful young men who had a lot to offer the community," he says.

Rev. Charles was on a two-year assignment in Bolivia when he received affirmation of his calling. While working among a group of Indians, he said he understood that God wanted him to work with all oppressed people. "These people were very warm, caring people, yet they were victimized by a genocidal society," he says. "The educated class considered them to be primitive, ignorant--nobodies."

The twin priests were fortunate enough to enter the Roman Catholic order at a time when there were other Black priests and even bishops to serve as role models. They were trained at St. Augustine seminary in Bay St. Louis, Miss., the brotherhood of some of the first Black priests of the church. "They taught Chester and me to be men who are dedicated to God's work, and men who must educate our people," says Rev. Charles.

For both priests, their work begins by trying to bring about a "spiritual transformation." Rev. Chester has started a "From Boyhood to Manhood" program in Chicago for young Black men to provide the kind of leadership and role models that he has been exposed to. "It's very difficult for a Black male to achieve," he says. "They haven't seen [many] Black men in the community who really feel good about their maleness. We want to say, 'You can achieve, you can be great, you can be a Jesse Jackson or president of the United States.'"