Receiving a lukewarm reception from the Catholic hierarchy, Turner began communicating with the Apostolic Delegation on a number of issues, including the absence of African-American clergy, discriminatory practices of the Josephites and Catholic Universities, and the need for greater African-American representation on the boards of various Catholic welfare organizations.
It was led by Nil of Sora and later Maximus the Greek and others and was opposed to the Josephites led by Joseph of Volokolamsk and later Archbishop Theodosius II of Novgorod.