Catholics in America

Articles 40-41-42

The Church in America• In 17th Century England, after the Anglican Church had

been founded, Catholics were subject to harsh treatment and discrimination under Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603).• King James I (1566-1625) granted Lord Baltimore, a

Catholic, land for an American Settlement, the colony of Maryland, established in 1634, which welcomed anyone who wanted to live there and extended freedom to worship to all. [Many Catholic took refuge there.] • By 1704, non-Catholics in Maryland outnumbered

Catholics, passing laws that discriminated against Catholics and deprived them of the right to have churches and to hold political office.

From Discrimination to Freedom to Worship

• Post-American Revolution, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights gave Catholics in America reason to be hopeful about their place in the new nation.• The Constitution called for the separation of Church and State.• The Bill of Rights gave all Americans freedom of Worship.• Individual prejudices against Catholics did not vanish overnight, and in some

states restrictions remained against Catholics.• At the end of the American Revolution, there were 30,000 Catholics or so with

only a handful of priests available to minister to them.• The church was poor and funding was limited to support priests as well as to

fund building new churches. • John Carroll, a Jesuit & Maryland Priest decided to address the needs of the

Church in America.

A First Bishop for the Church in America

• The church in the United States needed a leader, as bishop.• U.S. Catholics did not want a foreign bishop. They were afraid if

the Pope appointed a bishop from another country it could cause speculation or suspicion about loyalty to the new founded country.• March 12, 1788 a petition on behalf of the American priests was

sent to Pope Pius VI asking that they get first choice of bishops in this instance only. • In July, Pope Pius granted the request. The Pope allowed them to

choose the bishop as well as the city in which the diocese would be located. Once they made their choice they were to present their choice to the Holy See for confirmation & approval.

John Carroll-Bishop of Baltimore

• May 18, 1789- All the priests gathered , and after celebrating Mass, cast their votes.• By a vote 24-2 John Carroll was elected as bishop of Baltimore.

The Vatican approved his appointment, and in November 1789 he was named the 1st Bishop of Baltimore. [Archdiocese of Baltimore is the first diocese in the United States.]• As Bishop his first role was to maintain order and to take back

control of the church in the United States. He needed to take firm control of the church governance without alienating current American Catholics. [This new found democracy- some wanted to apply this to the Catholic Church.]

Challenges Bishop Carroll must address • The Church much like today need priests that speak

multiple languages. [English, French, Spanish, native-American languages, etc.] • He needed to unite the Church and in the process

make it grow and thrive. {Evangelization and education was needed.}• Realize that some priest-less parishes were running

things and expected to do so even after the New bishop was installed.• Despite a constant shortage of priests the catholic

church had grown from 30,000 people during the revolutionary time period to around 200,000 at the time of Bishop Carroll’s death in 1815

Bishop Carroll’s Legacy• With the growth in the Catholic Population in the United States

the people spread from the traditional Catholic stronghold cities [Baltimore & Philadelphia] to establish new communities in new locations.• The shortage of priests remained a persistent problem, the

actual number of priests in America had increased in part due to the newly established seminaries. • In 1786 Father Carroll had established formal plans for an

academy at Georgetown, along the Potomac in Maryland. Then in 1791 Carroll saw his dream of a national college fulfilled, when Georgetown Academy opened its doors to its first students.• Since the opening of Georgetown in 1791, more than 240

Catholic colleges and universities have been established in America making up nearly 20% of Catholic Institutions of higher education in the world.

An Immigrant ChurchWaves of Migration • From 1830 to 1860, Catholic immigrants to America

were predominantly from Ireland. The Irish immigration was the main cause for the jump in the Catholic Population from about a half million in 1830 to more than 3 million in 1860.• From 1860-1890, German Catholics formed the second

wave of catholic immigrants, in about equal numbers to the Irish.• From 1890-1920s consisted of immigrants from Italy

and Eastern Europe. Most of the immigrants lived in neighborhoods, often slums with others from their homeland.

Anti-Catholicism on the Rise• Starting in the 1830s, as the number of immigrant

Catholics in the United States increased, groups of Protestants who called themselves nativists protested against the influx of immigrants.• In the 1850s, anti-Catholic sentiment developed into a

political party nicknamed the Know-Nothings (so called because its members evaded questions about their organization by answering, “I don’t know”). They circulated rumors that the Vatican and Catholic immigrants were conspiring to take over the United States.• They incited riots in New York & Lousiville, fixed elections

in Baltimore & other places, and harassed convents in Boston & Providence.

Prejudices begin to Wane• By the Late 1800s, anti-Catholic prejudice had declined, and the Know-Nothings ceased to be a powerful anti-Catholic force. • During the Civil War, Catholics fought on both sides, with Union and Confederate Catholic soldiers making heroic sacrifices.• This kind of loyalty helped to ease doubt regarding Catholic Patriotism.• Still Catholics continue to experience bigotry even in the 20th century, including in 1960 when John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, was campaigning for president, he had to defend patriotism and quell the fears of those who thought he may be subject to the undue influence of the Pope.

The Real “Fighting Irish”

• Fr. William Corby (was the son of an Irish immigrant Daniel Corby & mother, Elizabeth was Canadian) was an American priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, and a Union Army chaplain in the American Civil War attached to the Irish Brigade.

• He is best known for giving general absolution to Irish Brigade on the 2nd day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

• Of the original 3,000 Irish-Americans, roughly only 500 survived the war and over 1,000 were killed or wounded in Gettysburg.

• The “Irish Brigade” was compromised of initially infantry from New York, but overtime comprised of groups from Boston & Philadelphia.

• Realize that many of these soldiers, especially the leaders were revolutionaries that were Imprisoned and/or kicked out of Great Britain as they wanted a Free Ireland so joining the Union Army was one way to fight against tyranny & oppression from England.

Ethnic Parishes • With the wave of Catholic immigration into the United States from non-

native & non-English speaking countries caused for continued need of multi-language speaking priests.• So the immigrants were wanting to practice their faith just as they had

learned it. {Do we see this today? This seems reasonable, right?}• The problem is the German priests resented the English speaking

priests, which were usually Irish and they preceded the German wave of Immigrants and they had already established Irish Churches and now the Germans were forced into English speaking churches & well they wanted their own German Churches. • Most major cities in the United States had German, Polish, Italian, and

Irish Parishes, among others. Within a block from one another you might find several different ethnic parishes, and this was the norm in the cities. These parishes provided safety & security, a sense of the old country, and a sense of community for them and their families.

American Saints and Missionaries

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton- 1809 was invited by Bishop Carroll to start St. Joseph’s Academy a Catholic School for girls in Baltimore. She then later founded the Sisters of Charity. [First religious order founded in the U.S. and they also started a number of schools throughout the country, which became the pattern for the parochial school system in the United States.]Augustus Tolton- was the first black priest ordained for ministry in the United States. He was forced to go to Rome for his training and his ordination. After finally getting to Chicago he was able to open, develop, and administer the black “national parish” of St. Monica’s. The Church grew almost overnight to 600+ parishioners.

Saint Theodora Guerin- French missionary who led a group Sisters of Providence to the United States. She established the Academy of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, the 1st women’s liberal arts college in the United States, as well is given credit for establishing a number of schools throughout Illinois and Indiana. Saint John Neumann- Redemptorist missionary from Bohemia, and became the 4th Bishop of Philadelphia. He is credited as being the First Bishop to establish a diocesan catholic school system. Also he is the first American Bishop to be canonized.Saint Katherine Drexel- Established the religious order, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. She dedicated her life and inheritance to the care of Native Americans and African Americans. She is credited to being the foundress of over 60 missions in the U.S. as well as Xavier University in Louisiana, Catholic University with a mission to serving African American students.