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Class 36: Church in America 20 th C

Class 36: Church in America 20 th C. Ann T. Orlando 26 April 2006. Introduction. Early 20 th C Catholic Labor Movements New Immigrants: Italians, Central Europeans US Catholics in WW II and mid-Century Rise of Catholic America Nearly complete assimilation

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Class 36: Church in America 20 th C

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  1. Class 36: Church in America 20th C Ann T. Orlando 26 April 2006

  2. Introduction • Early 20th C Catholic Labor Movements • New Immigrants: Italians, Central Europeans • US Catholics in WW II and mid-Century • Rise of Catholic America • Nearly complete assimilation • Sex abuse scandals and financial crises

  3. Early 20th C Catholic Labor Movement • Spurred by Rerum Novarum and poor Catholic immigrants working in factories • Three different Catholic approaches • Fr. John Ryan (1869-1945) • William Cardinal O’Connell (1859-1944) • ‘Mother’ Mary Harris Jones (1830-1930)

  4. Fr. John Ryan • Professor of Economics and Theology at CU • Concerned about effect of economic liberalism on working classes • Computed first ‘minimum’ living wage • Supported bans on child labor • Very active in early years of Franklin Roosevelt administration; economic and labor policies of New Deal

  5. William Cardinal O’Connell • Archbishop of Boston, 1907-1944 • Argued against Fr. Ryan on child labor laws; O’Connell believed banning child labor was an unnecessary intrusion into family life by government • In general, O'Connell was suspicious of Government; concerned about Government sanctions against Catholics • Banned Sulpicians from St. John’s Seminary as part of Modernist controversy

  6. ‘Mother’ Jones • Born in Ireland, 1830 • Started in labor unions by supporting wives of striking miners in West Virginia • Like O’Connell, suspicious of Government; but believed that Government would always side with rich • Encouraged laborers to organize and strike • Founder of Industrial Workers of World (Wobblies) in 1905 • Opposed to capitalism, favored socialism • Wrote her autobiography at 88

  7. New Immigrants: Italians • Over 2 M Italians immigrated between 1880 and 1920; peaked in 1907 • Mostly unskilled laborers; • Many brought over under contract by companies who returned to Italy (Sicily) when contract completed • Regular yearly migrations between southern Italy and Sicily and US • Poverty of immigrants contributed to rise in crime and activities in socialists and anarchists politics • Sacco and Vanzetti trial of 1921 for killing two guards for payroll in South Braintree, MA; executed in 1927 • Still question as to guilt or innocence; Gov. Dukakis set aside conviction in 1977; several new books in last 2 years • Prohibition contributed to growth of Mafia

  8. Assimilation and the Children of Immigrants • After about 1920 (due mostly to strict immigration laws), many more native born Catholics than immigrants • Irish for several generations • Military service by Catholic citizens in World War II • GI bill after the war allowed many, many Catholic men opportunity to go to college and enter middle class • Catholic baby boom children of the 50s led to extensive Catholic church and school building programs • Church and US had a common enemy: Communism

  9. Growth of Importance of Church in 20th C American Society • Catholic Institutions grow in stature and recognition after WWII • Catholic politicians become increasingly prominent in Democratic Party • John Kennedy election in 1960 • Catholics aligned with ‘liberals’ as defined in mid 20th C on many social causes (Democrats) • Economic justice • Civil rights • War in Vietnam • Prominence of women in education, medicine, media, social activism

  10. www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,871923,00.html Did for American-Catholic politics what John Ryan did for labor economics Emphasis on social justice First priest on cover of Time, 12 Dec 1960 John Courtney Murray

  11. Church in America at end of 20th Century • As Catholics become more accepted as mainstream Americans, less incentive to maintain Catholic identity as primary social identity • Church increasingly at odds with ‘liberals’ over personal ethics • Sex abuse scandals have significantly hurt image and influence of Church in America since 2000 • With what long term impact?? • History indicates that the Church will clean up the abuses, but reinforce underlying doctrines and practices • However, financial crisis has resulted in some ‘unbuilding’ of Church that occurred in 50s and 60s • In some ways Church now where it was in 19th and early 20th C • Attacked in press • Viewed as being alien to American values • Catholic schools under pressure • Distrust of connection between hierarchy and Rome • Some of strongest members of Church are recent immigrants (Latin American, Vietnamese, Haitian)

  12. Assignments • From Tracy Ellis Packet • #15 Junipero Serra’s Report (p 34-47) • #115 Bishop McQuaid describes Vatican I (p 389-395) • # 139 Pope Leo XIII Longinqua oceani (p 499-511) • John Courtney Murray, We Hold These Truths, Ch. 1 and 2 (p 27-78)

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