American Catholic History

King Charles I of England established the colony of Maryland in 1634 as a haven for Catholics. The colony was created at the request of, George Calvert, the first Baron Baltimore. But he died before his dream could be realized. So his son Cecil Calvert, the second Baron Baltimore, took on the task of settling the colony. He sent his brother, Leonard, over as governor. Four years after the colony was established, three member of the Catholic Brent family sailed over to aid in settling and growing the new Catholic colony. But the English Civil War of the 1640s brought conflict to the shores of Maryland. Margaret Brent, who was one of the largest landowners in the colonies at the time, stepped up in a big way to save the colony from destruction. For her efforts she was denounced by Lord Baltimore to the colonial legislature (who defended her actions), but the opposition from Lord Baltimore was enough for Margaret and her siblings. They all pulled up roots and moved to land they had acquired in Virginia, right across the Potomac River, where they established the first Catholic settlement in that colony. At the time of her death, Margaret Brent controlled a large portion of northern Virginia along the Potomac, including modern-day Old Town Alexandria, Mount Vernon, and Fredericksburg. A 15-foot-high bronze crucifix stands as a marker near the site of the Brent homestead and cemetery in Stafford County, Virginia.

In the 1870s the Sisters of Loretto built a chapel for the school they ran in Santa Fe, New Mexico. But the architect failed to include a staircase to the choir loft 20 feet above the floor. And then he died before he could rectify the situation. The sisters prayed a novena to St. Joseph to find a solution, and on the ninth day of the novena a mysterious carpenter showed up and offered to build them the perfect staircase for free. The accepted his offer. Months later he had completed a spiral staircase, and then he vanished, without leaving a trace of who he was or where he came from. The staircase he built defies explanation: it lacks a central newel post, standing only due to the strength of the two stringers. Those stringers are bent and twisted into helixes, which is a very difficult thing to do to wood. He also built it using no nails or glue, just wooden pegs hold it together. Also, the wood is some variety of spruce, but analysis reveals that it is a species of spruce unknown on earth. Some suggest that the carpenter was St. Joseph himself or an angel whom he sent to help the sisters in their need. Others say it was a highly skilled French carpenter who had moved into the area about that time. Either way, there is little doubt that there was some divine intervention in the construction of this wonderful staircase. The staircase still stands. it was in daily use until the school closed in 1968, and since then the chapel has been a privately held museum. It is among the most-visited tourist attractions in New Mexico, still inspiring awe and wonder in believers and non-believers alike.

Joseph Dutton, born Ira Dutton in 1843, was a good kid, born to protestant parents. He fought in the Civil War as a quartermaster, advancing from sergeant to captain because of his efficiency and ability. The decade after the Civil War he later called his "wild years" due to a bad marriage and a life of dissipation, under the influence of "John Barleycorn." In the late 1870s he changed his ways and became Catholic as he sought a way to do penance for his bad decade. He tried the contemplative life at the Trappist Abbey at Gethsemane in Kentucky, but that didn't work. He stumbled upon an article about Father Damien de Veuster, the priest who lived among the lepers on the Kalaupapa peninsula of the Hawaiian island of Molokai. The plight of those people and the work done by Father Damien inspired him. He joined Father Damien in 1886 and didn't leave Kalaupapa until 1930, when he was 87 years old. During those 44 years he became everything to the lepers. He was administrator, nurse, pharmacist, carpenter, stone mason, and even baseball coach. His work became known around the world, in part because he wrote thousands of letters to anyone. He died in 1931 at 87 years old. In 2022 his cause for canonization was opened, and he is now known as Servant of God.

More than a decade before the Civil Rights Act became national law Bishop Vincent Waters was actively desegregating the parishes, schools, hospitals, and other institutions of the Diocese of Raleigh in North Carolina. Bishop Waters had studied at the North American College in Rome where his friendship with the black cook — who was American, and who wanted to be a priest but was barred due to the color of his skin — helped him realize the deep injustice of racist policies and segregation. As bishop he wrote multiple pastoral letters on racism, calling it a "heresy" in one. 

Father Francis Duffy was a priest of New York who started as an educator at St. Joseph seminary at Dunwoodie, in Yonkers, New York, before he was made founding pastor of Our Savior Parish in the Bronx. He also volunteered to be an Army chaplain, and was assigned to the New York 69th regiment, known as the Fighting 69th and the "Fighting Irish." With the 69th he was deployed to fight in World War I, where he acquitted himself well, and was beloved of his men and revered by his peers and superiors. After the War he returned to being a parish priest in New York City, as pastor of Holy Cross parish on West 42nd Street, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. There he was a true pastor to the workers of all sorts, even getting permission from the Vatican to offer a Mass at 2:15 a.m. on Sundays for those workers who could not make the regularly scheduled Sunday Mass times. He died in 1932, and just five years later a monument to him was erected in Times Square, just blocks from Holy Cross Parish.

Betty Hutton was "The Incendiary Blonde" of Hollywood in the 1940s and 50s. She was known for her high energy and her big singing voice. But her biggest roles, in "Annie Get Your Gun" and "The Greatest Show On Earth," also proved to be her undoing professionally. Her personal life, filled with trauma and rejection from her earliest days, deteriorated to drugs and poverty, until a Catholic priest came along and saved her life.

Lawrence Welk was raised in a sod house on the plains of North Dakota, but after his appendix burst when he was 11 he was smitten by music. He made a deal with his dad for a brand new, very nice accordion that kept him on the family farm until his 21st birthday. After that date he was on the road, making his way in life with his accordion and his ability to craft arrangements of popular tunes that were easy to dance to, easy to listen to, and helped people feel good. One thing led to another and his "champagne music" became a hit in Santa Monica, where a local television station broadcast his set live. The Lawrence Welk Show was born, and it woudl run for an amazing 31 years, even through the cultural craziness of the 1960s and '70s. Welk died ten years later, with his wife of 62 years, Fern, by his side.

Daniel Barber came from good Puritan stock and was a fine upstanding Congregationalist minister. Until some Episcopalians convinced him that Apostolic Succession matters when it comes to ministerial Orders. So he became an Episcopalian priest. He was a fine, upstanding Episcopalian priest for many years. He and his wife, Chloe, raised three children as good Episcopalians. But eventually the question of Apostolic Succession came back to him, and he realized that Episcopalianism didn't satisfy the question of Apostolic Succession — the Catholics actually had it, and the Episcopalians didn't. Meantime, his son Virgil had also become a fine, upstanding Episcopalian priest. He and his wife, Jerusha, were in charge of a good school and had a comfortable life with their children. But a chance encounter with a pamphlet on the life of St. Francis Xavier fired his heart to seek the faith that motivated a man like St. Francis to do what he'd done. Eventually, Virgil and Jerusha became Catholic. Then Chloe converted, along with a number of other members of the family. And finally, Daniel also became Catholic. The entire affair was very upsetting to fine, upstanding New England Protestant sensibilities, and caused a sensation. But the sensations didn't end there. The rest, however, is a tale for another time.

Discover the fascinating journey from a short book to a beloved film, 'Lilies of the Field.' Explore how Sidney Poitier took a risk for a meaningful role, leading to his historic Oscar win. Delve into the creative adaptations that transitioned the narrative into a Cold War context, while maintaining its heart. Uncover the miraculous staircase in the Loretto Chapel and its significance, and reflect on the enduring themes of race relations, generosity, and faith that continue to resonate today.

Born in 1910, Mary Lou Williams was a child prodigy. She played piano concerts in the homes of her neighbors in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh as early as five years old, and was touring by her teens. After a meteoric rise as an arranger for the biggest names in jazz she became a mentor and mother-figure to many of the great jazz musicians of the 20th century. She was a remarkable pianist and composer in her own right — one of the most important of the 20th century. But she also saw the suffering and grief of those around her as drugs and lives of loose morals wreaked havoc on friends and loved ones. Eventually, in her 40s, she had a crisis and walke off the stage in Paris, vowing to never play music again. She instead did everything she could to help everyone she could, but she didn't know how to. She found refuge in a Catholic church in Harlem that she found was not kept locked, so she was able to go in to pray — though she was not Catholic. But her friend Lorraine Gillespie, wife of jazz great Dizzy Gillespie, was considering becoming Catholic. Together they met with the priest and eventually were received into the Church in 1957. After her conversion to Catholicism she returned to the jazz scene, seeing her music as a way to praise God and to evangelize. Her music found new depths of meaning in the prayers, devotions, and themes from Scripture that saved her. She believed that jazz was one of the most pure art forms, and wrote heart-wrenchingly beautiful music over the last few decades of her life, including three different Mass settings. She died in 1981 of cancer and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Pittsburgh.