American Catholic Experience

Jay P. Dolan

Description

Spanning nearly 500 years, The American Catholic Experience describes the Catholic experience from the arrival of Columbus and the other European explorers to the present day. Jay P. Dolan discusses Catholicism as it spread across the New World, transforming—and being transformed by—the land and its people. The book traces the evolution of the urban ethnic communities by examining the vital contributions of the immigrant church to Catholicism. Finally, Dolan examines the controversy of the modern church and the extraordinary changes in the Catholic consciousness as it comes to grips with such contemporary social and theological issues as war and peace, the arms race, abortion, social justice, the ordination of women, and a married clergy.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• HISTORY
• Philosophie et théologie
• Catholic
• Christianity
• United States

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 30 septembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268201142
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 27 Mo

Extrait

T H E A M E R I C A N C A T H O L I C E X P E R I E N C E
A H i s t o r y f r o m C o l o n i a l T i m e s t o t h e P r e s e n t
Dolan ACE 2009:Layout 1 5/28/09 2:35 PM Page 1
D O L A NT H E A M E R I C A N C A T H O L I C E X P E R I E N C E t h e
A H i s t o r y f r o m C o l o n i a l T i m e s t o t h e P r e s e n t
J A Y P . D O L A N
“ F o r a n y o n e i n t e r e s t e d i n A m e r i c a n C a t h o l i c h i s t o r y , D o l a n ’s b o o k i s
p i v o t a l . T h e s o l i d r e s e a r c h a n d e x t e n s i v e c i t a t i o n s m a k e i t a v a l u a b l e
t e a c h i n g t o o l , w h i l e i t s s o l i d w r i t i n g m a k e s t h e i d e a s e a s i l y a c c e s s i b l e .” A M E R I C A N
— S t . A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r
“ I n t h i s w o r k , D o l a n i s c o n c e r n e d l e s s w i t h t r a d i t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n a l
h i s t o r y — o r d e r s , b i s h o p s , c h u r c h e s — t h a n w i t h a b r o a d e r s o c i a l h i s t o r y
o f t h e C a t h o l i c e x p e r i e n c e i t s e l f . A t t h e s a m e t i m e , h e d o e s n o t i g n o r e
s t r u c t u r e s a n d i n s t i t u t i o n s , b u t s e e k s t o p l a c e t h e m w i t h i n t h e c o n t e x t
o f C a t h o l i c l i f e . D o l a n ’s s t y l e i s p r o v o c a t i v e a n d a l l o w s h i m t o h o l d t h e C A T H O L I Cr e a d e r ’s i n t e r e s t w h i l e p r o v i d i n g e n d l e s s m a t e r i a l . T h i s i s a h e l p f u l
v o l u m e , w h i c h s e r v e s a s a n e x c e l l e n t i n t r o d u c t i o n t o C a t h o l i c e x p e r i -
e n c e i n A m e r i c a .” — R e v i e w a n d E x p o s i t o r
“ T h e A m e r i c a n C a t h o l i c E x p e r i e n c e i s a m o d e l o f c o g e n c y , i t s e v e r y s e a m
f a s t e n e d b y r i v e t s o f d o c u m e n t a t i o n . I n i t w e s e e o u r s e l v e s m o r e
c l e a r l y . T h i s i s w h a t w e a s k f r o m h i s t o r y , a n d h e r e o b t a i n .” E X P E R I E N C E— T h e R e c o r d e r
“ T h i s b o o k . . . w i l l q u i c k l y c a p t u r e y o u r a t t e n t i o n , a n d e n g a g e y o u r
m i n d , a n d m a k e y o u t h i n k w h a t i t m e a n t — a n d m e a n s — t o b e ‘ a
C a t h o l i c i n A m e r i c a .’ T h i s b o o k c a n n o t b e ‘ r e c o m m e n d e d .’ I t m u s t
b e l a b e l e d ‘ e s s e n t i a l .’ ” — S p i r i t u a l i t y T o d a y A H i s t o r y f r o m
J A Y P . D O L A N i s p r o f e s s o r e m e r i t u s o f h i s t o r y a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f C o l o n i a l T i m e sN o t r e D a m e , w h e r e h e f o u n d e d t h e C u s h w a C e n t e r f o r t h e S t u d y o f
A m e r i c a n C a t h o l i c i s m i n 1 9 7 5 a n d w a s t h e d i r e c t o r o f t h e C e n t e r u n t i l
1 9 9 3 . H e i s t h e a u t h o r o f , a m o n g o t h e r b o o k s , I n S e a r c h o f A m e r i c a n t o t h e P r e s e n t
C a t h o l i c i s m ( 2 0 0 2 ) a n d T h e I m m i g r a n t C h u r c h : N e w Y o r k ’s I r i s h a n d
G e r m a n C a t h o l i c s , 1 8 1 5 – 1 8 6 5 ( N o t r e D a m e P r e s s , 1 9 8 3 ) .
U n i v e r s i t y o f N o t r e D a m e P r e s s
N o t r e D a m e , I n d i a n a 4 6 5 5 6
u n d p r e s s . n d . e d u
C o v e r d e s i g n b y J e n n i f e r B e r n a ll J A Y P . D O L A NTe Aerican Catholic Experience The American
Catholic Experience
A History
from Colonial Times
to the Present
JAY P. DOLAN
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME PRESS
NOTRE DAME Dolan ACE 2015 pg iv_Layout 1 1/5/15 1:45 PM Page 1
Copyright © 1992 by
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
undpress.nd.edu
All Rights Reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Reprinted in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015
This ebook has been made possible in part by a major grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human
endeavor. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations
expressed in this book do not necessarily represent those of the
National Endowment for the Humanities.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dolan, Jay P., 1936–
The American Catholic experience : a history from colonial times to the
present / Jay P. Dolan.
p. cm.
Originally published: Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday, 1985,
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 13: 978-0-268-00639-610: 0-268-00639-3
1. Catholic Church—United States—History. 2. United States—
Church history. I. Title.
BX1406.2.D637 1992
282'.73—dc20 92–50409
CIP
∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper.FOR PATRICK AND MARK Contents
PREFACE 9
THE COLONIAL PERIOD, 150-1780
I Conquest and Conversion in the New World 15
The Spanish and French Indian missions in North America
II Catholicism and Native Aerican Cultures 43
Wat happened when Catholics came into contact with the world of the Indians
III Catholics in the English Colonies 69
Wat it meant to be Catholic in colonial Marland
A REPULICAN INTERL UDE, 1780-1820
IV A New Beginning 101
The attempt to form an American verion of Roman Catholicism
THE IMMIGRANT CHURCH, 1820-1920
V Immigrant Catholics: A Social Profle 127
The ten major Catholic immigrant groups and their patter of settlement
work and economic mobilit
VI The Parish and the People 158
The oraniation of the loal churh and the strugle for contrl 455
93 4
8 CONTENTS
VII The Neighborhod and Its Gods 195
The relationship between neighborhood, parish, and religion
VIII The Catholic Ethos 221
The four mark of devotional Catholicism: authorit, sin, ritual, and the
miraculous
IX Handing on the Faith 241
The educative role of family, churh, school, and the press
X Schools 262
Te emerence of the parochial school along with the high school and the
college
XI Religion and Society 294
Confict among immigrant groups and the debate over the role of the church in
the modem world
XII Toward a Social Gospel 321
The Catholic response to the Industrial Age
THE END OF AN ERA, 1920--0
XIII Changes in Church and Nation 349
The organization of the institutional church, the persistence of immigrant
Catholicism, and the challenges presented by Black and M exican newcomers
XIV Religion, Education, and Refrm 384
The golden age of devotional Catholicism, the expansion of the educational
network, and the move toward social refor m
THE CATHOLIC RFORMATION, 1960-84
xv A New Catholicism 421
Bringing the church up to date, and the efects of this change
NOTE
INDEX Preface
EVERY GENERATION OF HISTORIANS seeks to rediscover the past in a new
and enlightening manner. The present generation is no exception. During the
past twenty years, historians have reclaimed the history of the fmily,
women, and blacks; in the 1980s they are askng new questions of labor,
politics, and economics. Inspiring much of this work is a desire to write a new
social history of the United States, a history that goes beyond politicians and
power brokers and urges a broader historical vision of American society and
its people. Such impulses have also infuenced the writing of religious history,
most espeially European religious history.
As regards the history of Roman Catholicism, another major infuence is at
work, namely a new understanding of the church. This new understanding of
the church, prolaimed at the Second Vatican Council, incorporates the peo­
ple-lay men and women-into the defnition of the church. To outsiders,
such a development may sem quite harmless. But fr Roman Catholics the
efects have been profund. By proclaiming the church to be first and fre­
most the people of God, the Second Vatican Council sought to revise the
more traditional view of the church as a hierarchical institution in which the
Pope and his clergy reigned like monarchs. Such a revision stod Roman
Catholic theology on its head, and the fll implications of this theological
development remain to be seen. As Pope John XIII said more than twenty
years ago, a new day is dawning fr Roman Catholicism. Toay it is still early
moring.
One obvious efect of this change is the desire to write a new history of
Roman Catholicism. The spirit of Vatican II and the new vision it inspire 10 PREF ACE
has had a prof und efect on the study of the Bible, theology, ethics, and
church law. L e s publicized but no less real is its efect on the study of
history. A n ew understanding of the church demands a new history of Ro
man Catholicism. Reinf rcing this development is the current emphasis on
the need f r a more social history of the past. Tee two developments, one
within the historical academy and the other within Roman Catholicism, have
shaped my thinking about the past and persuaded me to write a so ial history
of the A merican C atholic peple f om colonial times to the present. H aving
said this, it is nece sary to explain what I mean.
By soial history I mean the history of a society that fc uses on the ordi­
nary p ople and their culture; some historians have labeled this "history f om
the bottom up" or "people's history." Attempting to write a so ial history
that spans more than three hundre years pree nts problems, a principal one
being that f r some eras of history the necesary reear ch and source are not
yet available. Thus, some sections of this book f llow the traditional narrative
style of history; other chapters concer themselve s with i tellectual history or
institutional history. Obviously, bishops are par of the history and so are
prie ts and other church personnel. But my main concer in this book was to
fc us, as much as it was p ssible, on the people and not just the prelates, on
the experience of religion and not just the development of the i stitution. I
wanted to look at the A merican Catholic experience f om a new angle, f om
the bottom up if you wish, and write what I believe is a new history of Roman
Catholicism in the U nite S tates.
In writing this history I have sought to as