Shaping American Catholicism : Maryland and New York, 1805-1915

Distinguished historian Robert Emmett Curran presents an informed and balanced study of the American Catholic Church's experience in its two most important regions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Spanning the years 1805 to 1915, Curran highlights the rivalry and tension between the northeast and southeast, specifically New York and Maryland, in assuming leadership of the church in America and the Society of Jesus. Slavery, polity, religious culture, education, the intellectual life, and social justiceall were integral to the American Church's formation and development, and each is explored in this book. The essays provide a unique vantage point to the American Catholic experience by their focus on two communities that played such an incomparable role in shaping the character of the church in America. Though Baltimore was half the size of New York in population, until the 1900s it held a significant edge in the number of churches, priests, and religious orders serving the needs of its own immigrant community. By 1900 the place that Maryland had occupied as the premier see of the Church in America was won by New York in actuality if not in title. Based on exemplary archival research and scholarship, the book offers an engaging history of the northward shift in power and influence in the nineteenth century. ABOUT THE Robert Emmett Curran is professor emeritus of history at Georgetown University. He is the author of several books including John Dooley's Civil War, Georgetown A History, and American Jesuit The Maryland Tradition. Contents Abbreviations Introduction Part 1. The Chesapeake 1. Ambrose Maréchal, the Jesuits, and the Demise of Ecclesial Republicanismin Maryland, 1818–1838 2. “Splendid Poverty”: Jesuit Slaveholding in Maryland, 1805–1838 3. From Saints to Secessionists: Reading the Past as Prologue 4. “The Finger of God Is Here”: The Advent of the Miraculous in the Nineteenth-Century American Catholic Community 5. Rome, the American Church, and Slavery 6. The First American Jesuit Province and the Shifting Center of Catholicism Part 2. New York 7. Prelude to “Americanism”: The New York Accadèmia and Clerical Radicalism in the Late Nineteenth Century 8. The McGlynn Affair and the Shaping of the New Conservatism in American Catholicism, 1886–1899 9. “Listen to Our Voice . . . Walk inthe Ancient Paths”: The Episcopacy and the Road to Universal Parochial Education 10. The Church in the Public Square: Archbishop Corrigan and the Crusade against Roman-Sanctioned Liberalism in the 1890s Part 3. Social Justice and the Intellectual Life 11. Confronting “The Social Question”: American Catholic Thought and the Socio-Economic Order in the Nineteenth Century 12. Vying to Be the Intellectual Center: Catholic Higher Education in New York and Washington, 1884–1914 Bibliography Index Pt. 1. The Chesapeake. Ambrose Maréchal, The Jesuits, And The Demise Of Ecclesial Republicanism In Maryland, 1818-1838 -- Splendid Poverty: Jesuit Slaveholding In Maryland, 1805-1838 -- From Saints To Secessionists: Reading The Past As Prologue -- The Finger Of God Is Here: The Advent Of The Miraculous In The Nineteenth-century American Catholic Community -- Rome, The American Church, And Slavery -- The First American Jesuit Province And The Shifting Center Of Catholicism. Pt. 2. Prelude To Americanism: The New York Accadémia And Clerical Radicalism In The Late Nineteenth Century -- The Mcglynn Affair And The Shaping Of The New Conservatism In American Catholicism, 1886-1899 -- Listen To Our Voice...walk In The Ancient Paths: The Episcopacy And The Road To Universal Parochial Education -- The Church In The Public Square: Archbishop Corrigan And The Crusade Against Roman-sanctioned Liberalism In The 1890s. Pt. 3. Social Justice And Intellectual Life. Confronting The Social Question: American Catholic Thought And The Socio-economic Order In The Nineteenth Century -- Vying To Be The Intellectual Center: Catholic Higher Education In New York And Washington, 1884-1914. Robert Emmett Curran. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 285-295) And Index.