ABC affiliates air NewGroup Media’s Thea Bowman documentary

SOUTH BEND — The documentary “Going Home Like a Shooting Star: Thea Bowman's Journey to Sainthood” airs locally at 11 a.m. Oct. 2 on ABC57 (WBND).

Produced by the South Bend-based NewGroup Media and the Diocese of Jackson, Miss., the documentary will air nationally on ABC affiliates.

The film tells the story of Sister Thea Bowman, an African American Catholic Franciscan nun who educated and challenged the church and society to grow in racial inclusivity.

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Her preaching, music and teaching moved many Catholics to begin to confront their own racism while she urged her African American brothers and sisters to claim their gifts and share their “fully functioning” personhood.

The film features interviews and commentary from her family, sisters in community, colleagues, friends and former students. Input from African American scholars, clerics and bishops speaks to the ongoing issue of systemic racism in the church and country.

Extensive use is made of archival media that shows Bowman in action — photographs, film, video and audio recordings recorded in locations of significance to her life.

Shooting took place in Jackson and Canton, Miss.; New Orleans; La Crosse, Wis.; Washington, D.C.; San Antonio, Texas; New York City; and South Bend.

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The University of Notre Dame posthumously awarded the 1990 Laetare Medal to Bowman, who died March 30, 1990, at age 52.

In 2018, she was designated a Servant of God, the first of the four steps toward possible sainthood.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend company's documentary on potential saint to air nationally