Things We Have Already Covered• Catholics are Christians: “Christianity” is an
umbrella term, NOT a synonym exclusively for evangelical Protestantism
• Columbus and contact between Europeans and Native Americans– Temporal proximity of contact (1492) and
Reformation (1517)• Virgen de Guadalupe (1532)• California Mission system (1769-1833)• French v. Spanish manner of Catholic
proselytizing
Catholic population in the United States
• 1790: 35,000 (mostly MD & PA)• 1800: 50,000• 1820: 250,000• 1830: 750,000• 1850: 2,000,000• 1860: 4,000,000 (16x greater than 1820)• 1880: 6,000,000• 1900: 12,000,000• 1915: 15,000,000 (≈4x greater than 1860)• 1960: 45,000,000 (3x greater than 1915)• 2000: 60,000,000• 2010: 65,000,000 (.5x greater than 1960)
• The United States currently has the fourth largest population of Catholics in the world, behind
• 1. Brazil• 2. Mexico• 3. The Philippines
• About 25% of U.S. population is Catholic – it is the single largest denomination of Christianity in the U.S.
British Colonies and Catholicism
• Catholics were rare in the British colonies• Small Catholic presence in Maryland• French-settled areas, such as Quebec, had more
Catholics• British colonists afraid of Catholics, due to wars
between England and France, and religious trepidations
• After French and Indian War, Quebec became part of British empire. This angered the colonists, and found a place among the complaints made to King George III
Catholicism in the Early Republic
• French assistance to American revolutionaries led to loosening of anti-Catholic prejudice
• Bishop John Carroll, and his brother Charles Carroll of Maryland, were patriots in the revolutionary cause
• Bishop John Carroll sets the tone for institutional Catholicism in the new nation
Bishop John Carroll (1735-1815)
• Inspired by revolutionary ideas
• Wanted an educated American Catholic population
• Established Georgetown University in Washington DC
• Argued for religious tolerance of all sects
• Based Catholic hierarchy in Baltimore
Bishop Carrol laying cornerstone of Baltimore Basilica
Three Great Waves of Immigration
• Immigration to the United States has ebbed and flowed, due to– Political considerations• Push and pull
– Economic considerations• Push and pull
– Escape from tyranny and oppression• Desire for religious freedom
– Ease or difficulty in transportation technology
First Wave of Immigration
• WHEN: 1820-1850• FROM: Northern Europe: Germany, Scandinavia, British Isles:
Ireland, Scotland, England• PRINCIPAL RELIGIONS INVOLVED:
Roman Catholicism (Ireland, Germany)Judaism (Germany)Mainline Protestants: Presbyterianism (Scotland)Lutheranism (Scandinavia, Germany)Episcopalianism (England)
• STARTED WHEN: U.S. survival and success had been assured• ENDED DUE TO: Impending Civil War in U.S.
Second Wave of Immigration• WHEN: 1870-1924• FROM: Southern Europe: Italy, Portugal, Greece, Eastern Europe:
Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, West Asia (Middle East): Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, East Asia: China, Japan
• PRINCIPAL RELIGIONS INVOLVED:– Roman Catholicism (Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Poland)– Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Syria)– Judaism (Russia, Poland)– Buddhism (Japan, China)– Islam (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon)– Sikhism (India)
• STARTED WHEN: Industrial growth and urbanization needed labor• ENDED DUE TO: Anti-immigrant sentiment and laws (incl. SCOTUS
decision)
Third Wave of Immigration• WHEN: 1964-????• FROM: Eastern Europe: former Soviet Union, former Yugoslavia• East Asia: Korea, China, Philippines• West Asia (Middle East): Iran, Lebanon, Palestine• South Asia: Pakistan, India• Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand• Latin America: Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Caribbean• PRINCIPAL RELIGIONS INVOLVED:• Roman Catholicism (Latin America, Philippines, Vietnam)• Evangelical Christianity (Korea, Latin America)• Buddhism (Southeast Asia, China, Korea)• Islam (Pakistan, India, Palestine, Iran)• Hinduism (India)• Sikhism (India)• STARTED WHEN: President Lyndon Johnson changed immigration law• NOT YET ENDED!
Immigration and the Catholic Church
• The Catholic Church makes substantial gains in each wave of immigration to the United States
• Religion plays key roles for immigrants by providing links to homeland, traditions, language, and educated spokespersons in the clergy
'Emigrants Leave Ireland', by Henry Doyle (1827–1892), published 1868
The First Wave of Immigration 1820-1850s
German Catholics and Irish Catholics• German Catholics
mostly middle-class farmers from southern Germany
• Establish monasteries and institutions of higher learning
• Concentrated in Midwest
• Irish Catholics are very poor due to potato famine
• Concentrated in port cities of East coast (NY, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore)
• Endure extreme prejudice
Irish-American Catholics
• Irish potato famine• Oppression of Irish by
England• Irish Catholicism as a
“badge of ethnicity”– Kept the Irish distinct from
English– Provided articulate
spokespersons in clergy– Most Irish and Irish-
American farm families encouraged at least one son and one daughter to join the Catholic clergy
Irish-American Catholics
• Prejudice against the Irish immigrants ran high• Their clergy became politically active, and helped set
the stage for the political success of the Irish
Bishop John Hughes (1797-1864)
• Born in Ireland• Comes to U.S. in 1817• Becomes Bishop of
New York in 1838• Outspoken advocate of
Catholicism• Supports Irish
immigrants• Opposed to Abolition
Bishop Hughes laid out for burial, 1864Mathew Brady, photographer
Irish-American clergy
• The Irish immigrants included substantial numbers of clergy
• The numbers of Irish, and their command of English, meant that Irish-American clergy quickly came to dominate the American Catholic Church
Los Angeles’ Archbishop Cardinal Roger Mahony
Changes are Happening…in 2011!
Los Angeles’ Archbishop Cardinal Roger MahonyNew bishop, José Horacio Gómez
The Second Wave of Immigration1870 to 1924
Southern & Eastern Europe, Philippines
• Second Wave of Immigration creates– Vast increase in Catholic population– Vast increase in Catholic ethnic diversity– National Catholic Parishes– Schisms among Catholics over ethnicity– Disputes among Catholics over lay control– Disputes over labor politics– Americanism heresy
Some Catholic Ethnicities in Second Wave
• Italian-Americans• Polish-Americans• Portuguese-Americans• Hungarian-Americans• Slovenian-Americans• …among others
Italian-American Immigration
• Largely from southern Italy
• Catholicism celebrated in cultural festivals and loyalties
• Some political distrust of magisterium, and some cultural disregard for magisterium
• Poor upon arrival• Staying in East Coast port
cities• Earn the ire and contempt
of Irish-American clergy
Portuguese-American Immigration• From communities used
to fishing and maritime trades, from the Azores as well as Portugal
• Widespread national religious festivals help Portuguese immigrants retain their culture in the U.S. – Festival of the Holy Spirit– Festival of the Blessed
Sacrament
Polish-American Immigration• Polish immigrants were
escaping from the constant warfare that marked their unfortunate homeland
• They had a fervent desire to maintain their culture– Polish-Americans saw
themselves as virtually a culture-in-exile
– Polish language particularly important to maintain
– Searching for political alternatives
Assimilation v. Maintaining Culture
• The Irish-American clergy urged new immigrants to assimilate– Learn English– Eat American food– Obey the clergy
• Irish and Italians clash because of their constant proximity
• Many arriving immigrants in the Second Wave had good reason to resist the call to assimilation– Political– Economic– Barriers to assimilation
• Polish immigrants so resent the Irish-American call to assimilation, that they move to other regions
The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC)
• Polish immigrants in Scranton, Pennsylvania, form their own Catholic church, separating from the Vatican but maintaining Catholic ritual and theology
• Their leader, Francis Hodur (1866-1953), received “Apostolic Succession” to mark this schism, 1897
The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC)
• Polish immigrants wanted US civil rights to also be spiritual rights
• PNC is run democratically– parish advisory board
votes on many matters, including doctrinal ones
– PNC laywomen could vote on church matters prior to suffrage!
– even the Bishop is elected by the people Parish priest at PNCC in Stratford, CT
Oh NO!• The Catholic church DETESTS schism! The Catholic
church works like a family, trying to keep all parties together in the discussion, even when there are differences
• The Irish-American Catholic clergy and hierarchy were terrified by the PNCC schism, because what if *every* ethnic group did this?– They weren’t about to, because most groups were not
as politically motivated or well-organized as the Polish-American immigrants, but the Catholic magisterium did not know that for certain at the time
Catholic National Parishes• The answer: organize churches around ethnic
communities– Priests who speak the language– Support for immigrants during life-cycle moments,
employment searches, education, etc.• U.S. bishops went to European places from
which immigrants were leaving, to recruit young priests
• U.S. magisterium had to abrogate a rule from the Council of Trent (1565!) concerning geography and parish membership
Catholic National Parishes
• Became centers of cultural distinctiveness, giving way to very gradual assimilation
• Story of Holy Cross Slovenian Catholic Church in Fairfield, CT
Holy Cross Slovenian Catholic Church
• Story of Holy Cross Slovenian Catholic Church in Fairfield, CT• They have a Facebook page: Holy Cross FB page
Five Wounds Portuguese Catholic Church, San José
• Established by the community 1914
• Used wood from Portugal exhibit at San Francisco world’s fair
• Celebrates Portuguese mariners in anteroom!
• Still operating as a Catholic National Parish because of the ongoing arrival of Portuguese-speaking immigrants…though this is an endangered status
Important American Catholics for Further Discussion
• Dorothy Day – Left-wing Catholic social worker, newspaper editor, and pacifist
• Father Coughlin – Right-wing Catholic radio personality in the 1930s
• Thomas Merton – American Catholic monk and mystic• Fulton Sheen – American Catholic bishop, intellectual,
and media star in the 1950s• Vatican II – general conference of the Catholic church,
held in the early 1960s, that brings reform and ecumenism to the fore
Important American Catholics and Issues for Further Discussion
• John F. Kennedy – Irish-American politician; first (and, to now, only) Catholic President of the United States
• The Berrigan brothers • Cesar Chavez • Right v. Left split politically– Abortion– Birth Control– Foreign Policy and Militarism
• Third Wave of Immigration– Asian Catholics (Vietnamese, Filipino)– Increase in Latino Catholics
Current Supreme Court (2011)
• Seated, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Standing, Sonia Sotomayor, Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan
Current Supreme Court (2011)
• Seated: Clarence Thomas (RCC), Antonin Scalia (RCC), Chief Justice John Roberts (RCC), Samuel Alito (RCC), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Judaism)
• Standing: Sonia Sotomayor (RCC), Anthony Kennedy (RCC), Stephen Breyer (Judaism), Elena Kagan (Judaism) – first time ever no Protestant!