CAMBRIDGE -- As a journalist, Sheila Hodges wants to tell the stories of people who have often been misunderstood -- prisoners, homeless people, immigrants, and the like. Pope Francis called them those on "the peripheries."

Black Catholics like herself, she said, are also often misunderstood. As a group, they are more diverse than most people realize, including immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean among their numbers. Their liturgical traditions, including Gospel music, dancing, and verbal outcries during Mass, are equally diverse.

Hodges said almost all Black Catholics can relate to the experience of talking about their faith to non-Catholic Black people who are surprised that Black Catholics even exist.

"In general, I think there can be a misunderstanding, or lack of understanding the experience of being Black and Catholic," she said. "I think there historically have been a lot of challenges living within the intersection of those two identities."

Hodges, 24, is the new CEO and editor of the Black Catholic Messenger, an independent nonprofit online publication written by and for Black Catholics. Founded in 2020, the Messenger, according to its website, wants to "reiterate that Black Catholic advocacy is entirely compatible with Church teachings," while challenging the stereotype of Black Catholics as "exotic or even pitiful."

Hodges has always dreamed of heading her own media company. As an elementary schooler, she was a TV host for the school news crew and idolized Oprah Winfrey. Eventually, her dream evolved to heading her own Black Catholic media company.

"It's honestly so surreal to see the fruits of my prayer and that God, he recognizes that I have this desire and he fulfilled it," she said.

Boston, Hodges said, was where she received her formation. She attended Harvard Divinity School and received a master's degree in theological studies in 2026. She took classes with seminarians at St. John's Seminary in Brighton. At the Harvard Catholic Center, she was surrounded by people of every description -- students, professors, young professionals, and families -- all wanting to understand their faith.

"They're constantly having reading groups and various talks on very nerdy theological topics, but once again, I think what's cool is, no one finds these things weird," she said.

She led the HCC Women's Group and started the Verbum Dei Gospel reflection group for people in their 20s. Both of those ministries inspired the kinds of stories she wants to tell in the Messenger.

"I have been exposed to so many riches within the Catholic Church, and I think my desire is for everyone to have access to those things," she said.

Hodges will soon be moving from Boston to Washington, D.C., to be close to Catholic institutions like the USCCB, Catholic University of America, and Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Her "deepest regret" has been not getting to visit St. Katharine Drexel, the Archdiocese of Boston's Black Catholic parish in Roxbury. She hopes she can visit it before she moves to D.C., or when she comes back to Boston. She wants the Messenger to feature the testimonies of Black Catholics -- how they found the faith and how they are living it.

"I want to hear from Black Catholic FOCUS missionaries," she said. "I want to hear from the Black Catholic lawyers, the Black Catholic moms. How are they living their faith day by day?"

She also wants to start a regular faith formation column featuring spiritual reflections by Black Catholic priests and religious, especially for Black Catholics who don't have access to their own parishes and communities. The priests and religious would also answer common questions non-Catholics have about the faith.

"I think, particularly given the history of race relations in this country, I think it's very inspiring that Black people have clung to the Catholic faith despite all the difficulties and despite all the obstacles," she said.

When she first came to Boston, the only Black people she saw were doormen. She was shocked, so she went up to one of the doormen and asked, "Where are all the Black people?" The doorman explained that high rents and gentrification have effectively segregated the city.

"Despite all of that, I genuinely have felt so loved by the Catholic community here," she said.

Hodges grew up in Orange Park, Florida. She attended St. Catherine of Siena Parish there. The parish was diverse, with large Hispanic and Filipino communities. She also attended St. Pius V, a historically Black Catholic parish in Jacksonville, where she was an altar server.

"I grew up in a single-parent household," she said, "and although that came with its challenges, I would say the biggest gift in that is that I had my mom, who was such a role model of how one ought to connect the Catholic faith with their daily lives."

Her mom taught her to see God every day and everywhere. While studying communications at the University of Pennsylvania, Hodges was the West Philadelphia beat reporter for the student newspaper.

West Philadelphia has a reputation for violent crime, but Hodges wanted to go deeper than that. She wrote about Black-owned businesses and other topics that humanized the neighborhood's residents. When reporting on gun violence, she didn't want to simply write "this person got shot." She focused on community members trying to stop the violence, and reframed shootings as a public health epidemic. Her goal was to bring "a bit more empathy and nuance" into the conversation.

"There was a strong desire in me to connect my gift for storytelling with Catholicism," she said.

She interned with Ascension Press and contributed to Penn Epistle, the university's Christian journal. In 2023, she met Nate Tinner-Williams, co-founder of the Black Catholic Messenger, at a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops listening session for Black Catholics in New Orleans. Tinner-Williams invited her to join the Messenger's Board of Directors.

"I think he saw all the wonderful ideas I had and the passion I had for the publication, and I think that ultimately led everyone to have a lot of confidence in nominating me for the position," she said.

Hodges spoke to The Pilot on Aug. 1, her first day on the job. To handle the responsibility, her spiritual director gave her this advice: when talking about her life, instead of saying "I" or "me," to say "we."

"God is doing this with me, and so that has made all of this a lot less daunting," she said.