RIP Fr. Norman Fischer - Priest Dies Suddenly who was President of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus - while on Sabbatical

A Lexington, Kentucky priest, Fr. Norman Fischer Jr., president of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, died in Delaware July 14th, 2024. He was 50 years old and had been on sabbatical.

The news was first announced by Lexington Bishop John Stowe, who noted that Fischer was at the Catholic Heart Work Camp in Wilmington at the time of his death.

Fischer recently celebrated 24 years as a priest and spent his final weeks in New Orleans at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies, where he was a student in the continuing education program.

No cause of death was announced, but Fischer's family was known to have a history of heart problems.

"We gather today with a profound sense of loss … with more questions than we have answers," Stowe said during a standing-room-only memorial Mass July 15 at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in Lexington, the historically Black parish where Fischer had served since 2006.

"[There's] a lot of heaviness in our hearts," Stowe said. "A lot of concern about so many people that have been touched by Fr. Norman's life, by his unique way of touching people and reaching people and healing people and involving people and bringing grace to their hearts."

Fr, Fischer was raised in rural Perryville, Kentucky, Fischer answered the call to the priesthood after attending Centre College in Danville, where he majored in psychology and art. He received a Master of Divinity from Mundelein Seminary in Illinois and was ordained in 2000 as the first Black or Filipino priest in the Diocese of Lexington.

Fr Norman Fischer was the president of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.

“To God be the glory,” said President Fischer, “I remain a humbled priest son, always keeping before me how I was lifted up by the wisdom of so many great priests—many since deceased—of the NBCCC.”

Himself an Afro-Asian American—Fischer praised the diversity of his parish, which now includes “Filipinos, Africans, African Americans, Anglo, Germans,” and various other ethnic groups.

The Kentucky native has also served as chaplain of Lexington Catholic High School for more than a decade, ministering to students in the Mass and through his directorship of the school’s Spiritual Life Center.

Fischer credits much of his success in ministry to the support he received from the various organizations with which he will now help convene each year as part of the Black Catholic Joint Conference. He specifically mentioned the influence of the Black women religious who prayed for him during his time in seminary.

“I must say it is crucial to me that the NBCCC be in solidarity with the phenomenal sisters and nuns of the National Black Sisters’ Conference,” he said.

“I’ll never forget how so many of them literally prayed for me and with me at every joint conference leading to my ordination.”

Fischer has previously served as an officer of the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association (NBCSA), which collaborates with the NBCCC as a constituent organization and as a member of the Joint Conference.

“I believe I am called to be a bridge connecting the strong wisdom of our elders to the dynamic vision of our youthful Black Catholic religious, ordained, and lay leaders… I look forward to seeing where the Holy Spirit leads us together.”
Sources: NCR and NBCCC