Today marks the death of Paul Rhode (1870-1945), the first Pole to be named a Roman Catholic Bishop in the United States. Born in Werowo, an area of Poland under Prussian rule, he came to Chicago with his family at age nine. By the turn of the century Chicago had more Poles than Warsaw. Rode’s childhood parish, St. Stanislaus Kostka, was reputedly the world’s largest, with 50,000 parishioners. Ordained a priest for the Chicago Archdiocese in 1894, during his early... Read more

The first sizeable number of Catholics to settle in the thirteen colonies were in Maryland, beginning in the 1630’s. While the colony was not officially Catholic, its large Catholic population and the high number of Catholics in public office made it seem that way at times. Among the prominent Maryland families were the Brents. Giles Brent (1600-1672) was Deputy Governor during the 1640’s. His sister Margaret (ca. 1601-ca. 1671) was among Maryland’s larger landowners. From an early age, she showed... Read more

Avery Dulles wore numerous hats in his life: scion of a distinguished American family, Harvard grad, Catholic convert, World War II veteran, Jesuit, theologian, Cardinal. In addition to all of this, he was featured in Treasure Chest, the Catholic comic book distributed in parochial schools between 1946 and 1972. The article featured his conversion story. For the whole article read here. Read more

Today marks the unanimous election of Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (1876-1958) to the papacy as Pope Pius XII. Pacelli was Pius XI’s announced choice for successor. Born Eugenio Pacelli to a noble Roman family, he entered the diplomatic service as a young priest. From 1917 to 1929 he was nuncio to Germany. He then came back to Italy as Pius XI’s secretary of state. Much has been made of his alleged silence during World War II regarding the Holocaust. However, this... Read more

Since March is dedicated to St. Joseph, this is a good chance to highlight a local parish dedicated in his name. St. Joseph parish, located in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights section, was founded in 1853 to meet the needs of Irish immigrants flocking to the area in large numbers. Soon it became what today we call a “megachurch.” In its heyday during the early 1900’s (when this photo was taken), a handful of Josephite nuns ran a parochial school of nearly... Read more

John Adams wasn’t the biggest fan of the Catholic Church, but there was something he found undeniably fascinating about it. In October 1774, while he was in Philadelphia on Continental Congress business, he stopped in to visit an unspecified Catholic Church. He wrote about the experience to his wife Abigail: This afternoon, led by Curiosity and good Company I strolled away to… Mother Church, or rather Grandmother Church, I mean the Romish Chappell. Heard a good, short, moral Essay upon... Read more

Much of the Catholic growth in nineteenth century America was due to Irish numbers and Irish leadership. Father John Lancaster Spalding, a future Bishop of Peoria and the driving force behind the founding of The Catholic University of America, had this to say in his 1880 book The Religious Mission of the Irish People: The general truth is that the Irish Catholics are the most important element in the Church of this country… Were it not for Ireland, Catholicism would... Read more

This story seems like a good way to start Women’s History Month. For all four years of the American Civil War, the French-born Jesuit Louis-Hipployte Gache (1817-1907) served as a Chaplain with the Confederate Army. His letters, written between May 1861 and July 1865, describe his experiences with the Tenth Louisiana Infantry. In 1981 Father Cornelius M. Buckley, S.J., collected Father Gache’s wartime letters together in a book titled A Frenchman, A Chaplain, A Rebel. During the Civil War some... Read more

Today marks the death of Dr. William S. Lofton (1862-1919), a prominent African-American layman and dentist in Washington, D.C. As a young man he emigrated to the District from Batesville, Arkansas. In 1886 he graduated from Spencerian Business College and two years later from Howard University’s Dental College. His dental practice, located on M Street in the District of Columbia, thrived for thirty years. In addition he was a well known leader in the African-American community and a Civil Rights... Read more

This wonderful photo, dating back to 1917, shows the community that Henriette Delille founded. The caption reads: “COLORED SISTERS OF THE HOLY FAMILY. The Holy Family Convent at New Orleans has eight Catholic schools in Louisiana and two in Texas. The students are taught Industrial Art, Embroidery, Music, etc., and become very efficient.” Read more