Commonwealth Catholicism

Gerald P. Fogarty

Description

Commonwealth Catholicism is the first comprehensive history of the Catholic Church in the State of Virginia. Distinguished historian Gerald P. Fogarty tells the story of Virginia's Catholics in the state's history, from the colonial period to the present. Using archival resources, Fogarty brings to life the events and characters that comprise the Church's colorful and often turbulent history.

Catholics in Virginia, as in other parts of the South, were a tiny minority from the beginning and remained so for much of their history. They gathered into small, isolated communities, often without a resident priest. The Catholic population in Virginia was so small, in fact, that there was only one diocese until 1974.

Catholics were often suspected of unpatriotic sympathies by their Protestant neighbors and tried to remain unnoticed, blending in, as far as possible, with the prevailing Protestant culture. Full religious tolerance for Virginia Catholics did not come until the Revolution. Reconstructing the available documentary evidence, Fogarty tells the story of these early communities in full detail.

Fogarty also brings to life many of the prominent actors in the unfolding drama. Father Matthew O'Keefe, the pastor of the Norfolk region from 1852 until 1886—a period of intense Know Nothing activity—is one example. O'Keefe was asked by two men calling at the rectory door to minister to a dying man. Reaching the Elizabeth River on the edge of Portsmouth, Virginia, the two said that the dying man lay further on. O'Keefe "took a pair of revolvers from his coat, placed the men under citizen's arrest, and marched them into Portsmouth where he turned them over to the sheriff. They subsequently confessed that they had been hired to assassinate him."

Commonwealth Catholicism, a considerable accomplishment from one of the most prominent historians of American Catholicism, will remain for many years the definitive study on the subject of Virginia's Catholic heritage.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Histoire
• Religión
• State
• United States
• History
• Local

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 25 septembre 2001
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268070663
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

COMMONWEALTH

CATHOLICISM

A History of the Catholic Church in Virginia 8

gerald p. fogarty, s.j.

Commonwealth Catholicism

COMMONWEALTH

CATHOLICISM

A History of the Catholic Church in Virginia 8

gerald p. fogarty, s.j.

university of notre dame press Notre Dame, Indiana

Set in10.8/13.2

University of Notre DamePress Notre Dame, Indiana46556 www.undpress.nd.edu All Rights Reserved

Designed by Wendy McMillen Stempel Garamond by Stanton Publication Services, Inc.

Copyright ©2001byUniversity of Notre Dame

Published in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fogarty, Gerald P. Commonwealth Catholicism : a history of the Catholic Church in Virginia / Gerald P. Fogarty. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-268-02264-8(cloth : alk. paper) isbn978-0-268-07064-9(pa. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-268-07066-3 (web pdf)

1. Catholic Church. Diocese of Richmond (Va.)—History. 2. Richmond (Va.)—Church history. I. Title. bx1417.r5 f64 2001 282'.755—dc21 00-011711

∞This book was printed on acid-free paper.

To the Catholics of Virginia who, from colonial times, have handed on the faith

Preface xv Introduction xxi

c o n t e n t s 8

p a r t 1 Creating Catholic Space in a Protestant Wilderness1

c h a p t e r 1 Catholicism in Colonial Virginia The Spanish Jesuit Mission in Virginia6 Virginia as an English Colony8 The American Revolution and Virginia’s Catholics19

c h a p t e r 2 Post-Revolutionary Virginia Catholicism Virginia Culture in the Early Republic24 Jean Dubois in Richmond24 The Origins of Martinsburg and Alexandria27 Richmond on the Eve of Becoming a Diocese:1811–1820 Rise of Trusteeism in Norfolk33

c h a p t e r 3 Richmond Becomes a Diocese,1820 The Trustee Legation to Rome39 The Movement Toward Making Richmond a Diocese41 Norfolk Trustees Call Carbry as Pastor43

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Appointment of Patrick Kelly as First Bishop of Richmond45 Kelly’s Sojourn in Norfolk48 Kelly Is Transferred to Waterford and Lismore52 Bishop Kelly’s Final Report on the Diocese of Richmond53 A Corollary to Lay Trusteeism: Clerical Trusteeism in Alexandria55 Marechal’s Views on the Nomination of Bishops56

c h a p t e r 4 A Diocese without a Bishop,1821–1841 Richmond Reverts to the Archbishop of Baltimore58 Richmond’s Quest for a Permanent Pastor59 Development of Norfolk and Portsmouth69 The North and West73

c h a p t e r 5 Richard Vincent Whelan, Second Bishop of Richmond: 1841–1850 Plans for a Seminary in Richmond81 Recruitment of Seminarians from All Hallows83 Whelan’s Hopes for the West: The Floyds of Tazewell85 Canals and Railroads: The Beginnings of Lynchburg and Staunton88 Whelan’s Mission to Wheeling91 Richmond: The Founding of St. Mary’s Parish for Germans93

c h a p t e r 6 Division of Richmond and Wheeling,1850: John McGill, Richmond’s Third Bishop Division of Wheeling and Richmond99 John McGill, Richmond’s Third Bishop101 Distribution of the All Hallows Priests102 McGill Comes to Richmond and O’Brien Leaves104 McGill’s Role in the Appointment of Kenrick as Archbishop of Baltimore108 McGill Outlines His Plans for European Benefactors,1852 111 Matthew O’Keefe Takes Charge in Norfolk113 Getting a Priest for Petersburg115

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c h a p t e r 7 The Diocese on the Eve of the Civil War Plans to Make Washington a Diocese119 Know-Nothings in Virginia121 McGill as Apologist against the Know-Nothings125 The Yellow Fever Epidemic in Norfolk,1855 127 The Founding of St. Vincent’s Hospital128 O’Keefe Builds His New Church131 The First Synod of Richmond132 Problems with Clerical Discipline133 Convert Priests and the Teeling Law136 Alexandria Becomes Part of the Diocese of Richmond137 Storm Clouds of War139

c h a p t e r 8 The Civil War: Virginia’s Catholics Rally to the Cause The Bishops on the Eve of the War142 Virginia’s Catholics Go to War148 Chaplains, Confederate and Union152 Confederate Overtures to Pius IX162

c h a p t e r 9 Nursing on the Battlefield and a Diocese Divided by War The Daughters of Charity in Military Hospitals164 The Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy in Montgomery White Sulphur Springs170 Pastoral Life in a Diocese Divided by War176 Choosing the Archbishop of Baltimore178 McGill’s Efforts to Visit Rome179 Parish Life in Richmond during the Civil War181 The End of the Confederacy184 McGill’s Postwar Report to Rome186

p a r t i i Post-Reconstruction Catholicism Takes Root189

c h a p t e r 10 The Diocese Faces Reconstruction McGill as Apologist193

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