It is a spiritual successor to Daniel Rudd's Colored Catholic Congress movement of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Its mission is to improve and enrich the lives of African-American Catholics, operating in close cooperation and coordination with the Black Bishops of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)[1] and receiving funding from the Black and Indian Mission Collection.
Leadership disputes foiled the lay caucus, however, and the NOBC eventually folded as well, giving way to NABCA, an organization made up of all the African-American diocesan front office professionals in the US.
The Congress convened every five years after the inaugural gathering, and in the 1990s funded the construction of the Our Mother of Africa Chapel in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.
One of the main purposes of the inaugural gathering was to discuss and finalize a Pastoral Plan for the Black Catholic community, to be distributed to the country's dioceses and implemented by parishes, priests and bishops nationwide.