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THE BULLETIN, July 9, 1960—PAGE 3
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The Catholic In America
UNIQUE FACTORY MEMORIAL
By Rev. Peter J. Rahill, Ph.D.
This is the first of a series of
articles revieiving the position
and experience of the practicing
Catholic in the life of the Ameri
can community from Colonial
times. The author holds a doc
torate in American Church His
tory; has been a seminary pro
fessor, and is presently Historian
of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
WHY DOES HOSTILITY
TO AMERICAN CATHOLICS
PERSIST
Why do people hold my Cath
olicity against me. Thank God,
the question does not arise ev
ery day in the life of an Ameri
can Catholic.
But it will be
asked by the
man who was
passed over
for promotion
when his re
ligion was ap
parently or
openly the de
factor.
A woman will be dismayed
at the tension sensed in a social
gathering when she announces
her membership in the Church.
Even those who have no per
sonal affronts are reminded that
the question is being asked.
ANIMOSITY LESSENS
Both consolation and strength
come from the knowledge that
this is not an affliction peculiar
to our own today. A century
and a quarter ago Bishop John
England declared that a deadly
hostility existed in many places
against Catholics. Then an ac
knowledged spokesman for the
Church in the United States, the
Bishop of Charleston warned
that “in denouncing Catholicity
throughout the length and
breadth of the land, there is
found a common ground upon
which the discordant camps can
meet and bend in amity.”
Resistance as well as for
bearance will come from great
er familiarity with what has
been successfully surmounted in
the past. Immediately it should
be noted that the position of
Catholics has improved vastly
during the years; conversely an
imosity toward members of he
Church has lessened.
Present charges of double al
legiance, subjection to a foreign
power, and unfitness of Cath
olic candidates for high office
are irritating. But they do not
foment the heat inherent in
these epithets heard by Bishop
England and his fellow Catho
lics: “Papists,” “Popery,” and
“priest-ridden!”
Sometimes well-meaning in
dividuals express admiration for
the Church’s doctrines but de
cry the authority of the Pope.
They laud her strong influence
for good but bemoan the ex
istence of her hierarchy. Such
praise is no praise! From the
first it should be understood
that no actual favor is tendered
by making an invalid distinc
tion. In establishing His church
Jesus Christ selected Peter and
the other Apostles to guide and
lead its members. A body with
out a head is a corpse; our loy
al defense is of a living Church!
Today “dialogue” is popular
both as word and as an aspira
tion. Expressed thus or simply
as conversation it becomes in
creasingly fruitful as the speak
ers are well-informed. Hence
this review of the trials and tri
umphs of the Church in the
United States is intended pri
marily to provide additional
knowledge for “over-the-fence”
talks. On the bus or at the club,
after the farmers’ co-op meeting
or from the backyard to a
neighbor, a Catholic will help
the Church and himself by be
ing informed about her.
Were differences merely im
aginary there would be no need
for this account. Yet the com
mon ground which exists for
those inside and out of the
Church is far broader than
many realize. A hundred mil
lion and more Americans pro
fess religious affliction. The
great majority are Christians,
and thus all of them profess be
lief in Jesus Christ. Moreover,
all are spiritual descendants of
God’s Chosen People. Accord
ingly the common ground is
broadened farther to encompass
Jews as well as Christians. But
why do so many entertain su
spicions, if not hostility, toward
us Catholics?
PROTESTANT REVOLT
The principal decisive factor
unsuestionably was the Protes
tant Revolt of the 16th Century.
Mistaken the leaders were in
quiting their ancestral fold; yet
recent Catholic writers have
softened the harshness of prior
judgments of them as individu
als.
For its part the Presbyterian
Church, U.S.A., has stricken
from its creed the traditional
damning of the Pope as “anti-
Christ.” The findings of scho
lars, however, are long delayed
in reaching the majority of mor
tals. Meanwhile doubts and dis
trust of Catholics by their
neighbors do not vanish.
To exaggerated nationalism
may be attributed much of the
blame. Love of country is in
deed a virtue but—in the words
of Theodore Roosevelt ■— “no
man is a true American who
hates another country more
than he loves his own.”
Ajl Christendom recognizing
the Pope as supreme head gave
way to political sectioning em
bittered by religious friction. Of
ten, unjustified, popular fancy
persisted in fashioning credal
molds for nations or peoples. A
North German or Scandinavian
was presumed to be Lutheran,
while a Frenchman or a Span
iard must belong to the Catho
lic Church.
Geography preserved the sep
aration for three long centuries.
In this era of jet mobility how
difficult it is to realize that
most people never ventured
more than walking distance
from the place they were born.
Misbeliefs about distant and un
seen Catholics assumed the rigi
dity of the language spoken or
the number of furrows to an
acre.
HOSTILITY INHERITED
In Scotland the extermina
tion of Catholicism was much
more complete than it ever was
in England. Conformance to the
church established by Henry
VIII never approached total re
alization, and there were Cath
olics during the darkest days of
suppression. The valiant Catho
lics who persevered were not
considered allies by the multi
ple English dissenters. With
their own opponents within the
Anglican Church these separat
ists found — to repeat the
words of Bishop England about
the United States—“a common
ground upon which the discord
ant camps can meet and bend
in amity.”
Physicists teach that a certain
amount of heat or energy is lost
in transmission. Not so with
Old World animosity toward
Catholics! That it was frequent
ly intensified rather than reduc
ed or mitigated will be seen in
later articles.
Even to this day the conse
quences are felt. The eminent
Jesuit, John Courtney Murray,
has said that we are all in some
way the product of our histo
ries. Red hair or blue eyes may
be ours from an unknown great
grandfather. Likewise the hos
tility expressed by some fellow-
American may have been un
knowingly inherited by him.
Through kindly explanation we
may help him cast off a gar
ment unbecoming to his citizen
ship.
Fortitude and patience are
not contradictory virtues, and
the American Catholic of 1960
may have frequent occasion to
call upon his reserve of both
qualities. Because of the possi
bility of personal advantage,
statements by living figures of
whatever prominence may not
be accepted readily by those
outside the Church.
It is heartening, then, to re
call the profession of faith of a
churchman who was outstand
ing in both the 19th and in the
20th centuries. Himself an im
migrant, Archbishop John Ire
land uttered the words which
all American Catholics are
proud to repeat today.
Lacking only the music of
his powerful voice, the words
ring forth as: “My religious
faith is that of the Catholic
Church — Catholicism, integral
and unalloted, unswerving and
soul-swaying . . . My civil and
political faith is that of the Re
public of the United States —
Americanism, truest and bright
est, yiedling in strength and
loyalty to the Americanism of
none other American.”
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ruled by the Queen.
The Pilgrims who landed at
Plymouth in 1620 were a divi
sion of the Separatists, or In
dependents.
Soon they were followed and
gradually absorbed by the larg
er group of Puritans. The New
England settlers were not of a
common religious cause with
those in the first successful Eng
lish foundation at Jamestown.
There the Established Church
was accepted without discussion
and no concern expressed for
non-existent Catholics.
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EUROPEAN ENMITY TO
CATHOLICS TRANSMITTED
TO THE ENGLISH COLONIES
A universal Christendom tin
der the suzerainty of the Pope
was shattered by the Protestant
Revolt. Not that this ideal of the
Middle Ages ever had been ful
ly realized. But the goal of the
future was wrecked completely
on the shoals of private ambi
tions and exaggerated national
ism.
Carlton J. H. Hayes, the con
vert historian, has expressed
well the contrary spirit. In one
of his many essays he pointed
out that anti-Catholicism has
chiefly been based upon the in
herent dread Protestantism has
for the super-national influence
which radiates from Rome.
ELIZABETH I
To no one country or religion
was the antagonism limited.
And most Americans today,
much less the Catholics among
them, do not claim English an
cestry. Notwithstanding, partic
ular attention must be given to
England because the colonies
along the Atlantic seaboard
were under her rule and laws.
In the mother country that
had meant outright persecution
of Catholics almost immediately
from the accession of Elizabeth
I in 1558. Reneging on her
promise to Mary Tudor to re
main a Catholic, the new queen
militantly espoused the Angli
can Church established by her
father, Henry VIII.
Not especially attractive per
sonally but certainly efficient,
Elizabeth quickly brought both
church and state under the sway
of her scepter. The Act of Su
premacy of 1559 completely out
lawed the Catholic Church, to
which the majority of English
men Still belonged.
Elizabeth’s ex-communication
by Pope Pius V had a negative
result. Though most Catholics
never wavered in their loyalty
to the crown, they became
“second-class citizens” in the
eyes of their fellowmen. They
were further stigmatized as a
group of John Foxe’s Book of
Martyrs. Now fully discredited,
for several centuries this single
book caused thousands of Eng
lish readers to detest Catholics.
For opposite reasons two
groups in England came to op-
' pose Elizabeth. The Puritans
wanted to purify Anglicanism
of “the trappings of Popery.”
The Separatists, on the other
hand, objected not to the cere
monial but to the church being
DEATH PENALTY
The Massachusetts Bay Colony
was equally destitute of Cath
olics. But “No Popery” from the
very first acted as a cohesive
influence for the settlers. The
severity of treatment experi
enced by Hester Prynne, as con
ceived by Nathaniel Hawthorne,
today appalls. But her scarlet
letter was mild compared with
the tortures proposed for any
Catholics venturing into the
colony.
Prosperity came to replace
theology as the primary concern
of the New Englanders. Yet the
imprecations against the Cath
olic Church and her members
increased rather than lessened.
Far to the north Samuel de
Champlain had founded Quebec
in 1608. Being both French and
Catholics, these people were
considered enemies by the Puri
tans. As early as 1647 death was
the penalty prescribed for offer
ing Mass or even for the pres
ence of a priest in the area con
trolled by the. Massachusetts
Bay Colony.
Three years later a curious
relaxation occurred in the rigor
of this law. An Indian mission
ary, Father Gabriel Druillettes,
came down the Kennebec River
to propose an alliance of the
English with the French against
the Iroquois Indians. Not only
was the priest cordially re
ceived, but in the home of Gov
ernor William Bradford he was
served fish on Friday.
Though the missionary re
turned a year later, no league
was effected. Yet it may be said
that temporarily self-preserva
tion triumphed over hatred of
Catholicism among the Puritans.
The colony of Maryland will
be treated in the next article. It
should be noted here that the
presence of Catholics on Chesa
peake Bay aroused the anti-
Catholicism of their neighbors
to the south. Virginia imitated
Massachusetts Bay in fierce en
actments against Catholics.
“A Papist” was even pro
hibited from owning a horse
valued at more than five pounds.
Apparently this statute had
only a nuisance value, but it is
indicative of the calculated
antipathy for members for the
Catholic Church.
A colony was successfully es
tablished in the Carolinas under
Charles II. Though the King
was at least sympathetic to
Catholics from the beginning of
his reign, the Church of England
was established by law. Hence
no inducement existed for Cath
olics to emigrate here nor to
Georgia in the next century.
Protestant dissenters were per
mitted in both colonies, but the
liberty thus granted specifically
excluded “Papists.”
HATRED PERSISTS
The bitterness of anti-Catho-
olicism was not mellowed by
the passage of a century and
more. Almost 150 years after
the settlement at Jamestown,
the Acadians were deported
from Nova Scotia. Because of
war with France the actions
could be labeled political and
military.
But the dire consequences suf
fered by the exiles were due to
their known Catholicity. No
sanctuary would be granted
them as they drifted southward
in their boats. Refuge finally
was found in the bayous of
Louisiana. Evangeline had a
Longfellow to lament her heart
break. How many more Gabriels
were there who searched for
their loved ones in vain?
Catholics did fight in the
American Revolution. To ex
plain how they existed at all
until 1776, separate treatment
will be given to the colonies of
Maryland a n d Pennsylvania
particularly.
Monsignor Peter Guilday, late
historian of the Church in the
United States, contended that
the War of Independence saved
the few colonial Catholics from
complete extermination. Though
the freedom gained was neither
complete nor immediate, the
vise of intolerance never again
came so near to closing on the
very bone and blood of Ameri
can Catholics.
Next issue: MARYLAND:
SANCTUARY AND THEN
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