During the early 1830’s a movement began in the Church of England known as the Oxford Movement. It was an attempt to reassert the Church’s claim to valid dogmatic authority and to reassess its relationship to the government. Ultimately the movement’s goal was to reclaim the Church’s prophetic role and its Catholicity (in the sense of universality). The Church of England, its members felt, was being turned into just another government agency. Bishops were being appointed who had no regard... Read more

James Frederick Wood, Philadelphia’s first native-born bishop, has been overshadowed by his predecessor, St. John Neumann. Raised a Unitarian, Wood was one of the first converts to be named an archbishop in America. Just before the War of 1812 his parents emigrated from England to Philadelphia. When he was a teenager, his family moved to Cincinnati, where he became a bank clerk. In Cincinnati, the young man befriended Bishop John Purcell, who encouraged his interest in Catholicism. In 1836, Wood... Read more

In The History of Black Catholics in the United States (1990), Father Cyprian Davis writes: The story of African American Catholicism is the story of a people who obstinately clung to a faith that gave them sustenance, even when it did not always make them welcome. Like many others, blacks had to fight for their faith; but their fight was often with members of their own household.Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin holds a unique place in African-American Catholic history. During the... Read more

THE MISSIONARYBy Robert Southey (1774-1843) Behold him on his way! The BreviaryWhich from his girdle hangs, his only shield.That well worn habit is his panoply;That cross the only weapon he will wield.By day, he bears it for his staff afield,By night it is the pillow of his bed.No other lodging these wild woods can yieldThan Earth’s hard lap, and, rustling overhead,A canopy of deep and tangled boughs far spread. Robert Southey was England’s Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death... Read more

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: ITS ORIGIN; ITS CONSTITUTION; ITS ATTRIBUTES AND PREROGATIVES WHAT does the Catholic Church say of herself? Stand forth, O great and mysterious Catholic Church! Answer this solemn question. Stand forth and tell us who thou art, and whence thou hast come; tell us why thou art here; we call thee forth, not as Samuel called forth Saul from the dead ; because we know, and every one in the world knows, that thou art living and strong,... Read more

The Fordham University football team, as seen in the early 1900’s. Read more

“If anyone says you love darkness, point to your colleges. Was it the love of darkness that stimulated a poor population to establish those institutions of learning? If anyone says you are disloyal to the country, point to every battle from the commencement of the country, and see if Catholics were not equal in the struggle, and as zealous to maintain the dignity and triumph of the country as those with whom they fought! Nor was it in the contest... Read more

St. Louis, Brooklyn, N.Y. — On July 18, 1869, Bishop Loughlin laid the cornerstone of a church in Siegel Street near Ewen Street, in the Eastern District, for the French-speaking Catholics of Brooklyn. It was dedicated to St. Louis and placed under the care of Rev. Jules Jollon who had done missionary service in Africa as well as in America and who was signally honored by the French Government. In 1889 Father Jollon abandoned the old church on Siegel Street... Read more

On May 25, 1872, three young men, members of the Paulist community, were ordained priests at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Manhattan. This was a unique ordination class in that all had been profoundly affected by the recent Civil War. One had been a Union soldier, the other a Confederate, and the third was the son of a prominent general. Father Walter Elliott (1842-1928) served in the Union Army during the war. Born in Detroit to Irish immigrants, he... Read more

I was once a Protestant, and I became a Catholic. My parents were Baptists; but until the age of thirty-two, I was not a believer in the truth of Christianity. My own observation of men and things, as well as the arguments of others, at length satisfied me that the system was divine; and I at once acted upon my convictions, and joined myself to the Disciples, in 1840. In 1843 I removed with my family to Oregon. After my... Read more