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American Catholic: The Saints and Sinners Who Built America's Most Powerful Church

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This book has been needed for some time. If America has ever been a "Christian nation," it has certainly never been a Catholic nation. In fact, "Christian" by definition (for many Americans) excludes Catholics. (It is still common to hear evangelicals say, "I was Catholic before I became a Christian.")

Morris sheds much light on the hostility and suspicion that Catholics in America have faced. He also illustrates in a masterful way how Catholics have attempted to find a way between the desire for acceptance by the larger, Protestant culture and the desire to retain a sense of Catholic identity. This latter stance has sadly resulted in various forms of isolationism and is characterized by a failure on the part of Catholics to evangelize American culture.

Morris writes clearly and avoids unnecessary Catholic jargon. His insights are often penetrating. Throughout most of the book Morris is fair to various perspectives within American Catholic culture.

I consider this text to be "required reading" for religious studies students and students of theology; it is also highly recommended to anyone who wishes to understand the role of Catholicism in American public life.

Nevertheless, the following omissions make this a less than perfect book: (1) He limits his discussion of Catholicism to the Latin (Roman) Rite; (2) there is a curious silence concerning the questions "what is Catholicism?" or "how does Catholicism differ from Protestantism?"; (3) despite the fact that a good third of the book is devoted to events since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the fact that Morris draws from a variety of theological points of view, he fails to address the Church's own self-understanding as articulated in the documents of Vatican II: communio ecclesiology.

EASTERN CATHOLICS. While Morris duly notes the insensitivity of Irish-American bishops toward Italians, Poles, Germans, and other ethnic groups, there is no mention of the conflict between these bishops and Catholics of other rites (Byzantines, et al). Nor is there mention of how the Irish-American bishops lobbied Rome to prevent Eastern Catholic bishops from ordaining married men (a discipline that is still in place in this country).

WHAT IS CATHOLICISM? Being Catholic, Morris writes as an "insider" and this provides for a richness and depth that would be lacking were he an agnostic or a Christian of another denomination. On the other hand, Morris fails to address many of the fundamental claims of the Catholic Church: her origin as from Jesus Christ (and hence, her claim of universality); the presence of the Church in the world as the continuing presence of Christ for all of humanity; the sacraments of the Church as mediating the love of God in Christ to the world.

Put another way, Morris fails -- sometimes at critical points -- to allow his narrative to be shaped by theology and thus gives a secular, sociological reading of the Church.

I can't recall any statement by Morris concerning Catholic doctrine that was "wrong," but there are numerous points where a better explanation of Catholic theology would have provided the reader with more understanding.

For example, when Morris discusses the encyclical "The Splendor of Truth" and John Paul II's insistence that some actions are always and everywhere wrong (intrinsically evil), Morris says that John Paul II places contracepting couples in the same category as "Hitler and Pol Pot" (p. 367).

Of course, the Pope does no such thing. What John Paul does insist upon is the fact that some actions can never include give glory to God: murder, abortion, theft, and yes, contraception. The Pope is wise enough to recognize the difference between objectively evil actions and one's subjective responsibility for those actions. Morris should have known better than to accuse the Pope - renowned for his Christian personalism - of falling into a crude legalism that equates gravely sinful matter with personal guilt/culpability.

COMMUNIO ECCLESIOLOGY. One rightly gets a sense from Morris that Catholicism since the Second Vatican Council has been interpreted by the majority of Catholics (clerical and lay) through two discrete lenses: liberal or conservative, democratic or authoritarian, the Church as the "People of God" or the Church as hierarchical institution. Both perspectives have an element of the whole truth in them. The difficulty arises (as it does continuously) when people insist on emphasizing one element to the exclusion of the other.

Thus we find some "liberals" questioning whether or not bishops are really part of the Church and "conservatives" resorting to conspiracy theories to explain why the Pope allows (gasp!) female altar servers. It is sad phenomenon that has originated in a selective reading of the documents of Vatican II, especially "Lumen Gentium" (On the Church).

Morris correctly notes that the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council placed the Mystery of the Church at the forefront of their discussion. It is only after discussing the sheer gratuitousness of God reaching down to save humanity in Christ and continuing this presence through his body, the Church, that the themes of People of God and Hierarchy are broached. The Church's reason for being is to put all of humanity (indeed, the entire cosmos) in touch with, in intimate communion with the God-who-is-love.

So long as one approaches the Church in terms of power and control versus love and service, one will forever misunderstand her. Sadly, Morris fails to grasp the importance of the Church as communion and it negatively affects his discussion of topics such as women's ordination, moral theology, the role of the Pope, etc.

Other books that might help thoughtful readers get to the essence of Catholicism include Alan Schreck's "Catholic and Christian" (very accessible) and David Schindler's "Heart of the World, Center of the Church" (a more academic text, but one that is richly rewarding - especially for understanding the nature of the Church in the modern world).

I put down this book the night before the papal election, exactly at the point where Morris discusses how Ratzinger actually put the rein on some of John Paul II's more forceful moves towards declaring statements blocking women's ordination as infallible; carefully nuanced exegesis by Morris reveals very subtle but nonetheless wiggle room for future movement away from some of the last pope's more dogmatic pronouncements. He fits this into a battle between cardinals and the episcopate promoting a collegial right to establish doctrine based on their accumulated experience as part of the Church's magisterium against the centralisation of papal power. This data which may indicate the new pope's ability to create flexibility despite what on surface may appear to the casual observer only more rigidity, buried inside a footnote on pg. 349, is typical of the wealth of detail--you must read the extensive endnotes as well as the text proper to appreciate how thorough has been the author's research--found in this popular yet scholarly treatment of the Church from about the mid-19 c to the late 1990s.

In retrospect, some of the concerns Morris finds diminishing in his 1997 study have only increased, such as the pedophilia (or more often adolescent boys rather than pre-teens with priests, Morris and many critics parse) scandals that grew more prominent rather than less so in the beginning of the current decade. Vocations appear to keep tumbling at least in the West; non-compliance with Catholic teaching by the rank-and-file grows in the American segment due to democratic tendencies constantly eroding the earlier, pre-assimilationist culture that codified American Catholicism mid-20 c. These tendencies, as Morris shows, created tension from the later 19 c onward, and the battles with Rome by the U.S. bishops are far from new. Also, the role of the Hispanic church seems, despite many references, to be diminished (perhaps reflecting an East Coast orientation naturally taken for the majority of the narrative). As a related correction, St Thomas the Apostle parish in L.A. is not on its Eastside--typical of Morris's scholarship, this was a rare mistake in an admirably solid resource that taught me an enormous amount about everything from John Stuart Mill's liberalism to moral theology to John Ireland's far-reaching impact upon the course of the national Church. However, I was disappointed to find that two sources that would've aided Morris' often moving depiction of life in the triumphal, dogmatic, and secure mid-20c decades were absent from his notes: Garry Wills' "Bare Ruined Choirs," and Jubilee Magazine, a forerunner of the liturgical and cultural renaissance that the post-Vatican II era either expanded or truncated.

When describing how Fulton Sheen lectured, how the old Mass flowed, or how theologians battle it out over birth control, Morris never loses sight of the telling quote to illuminate larger issues. His discussion of subsidiarity and how polarised opposites Dorothy Day and Fr Coughlin could argue from this same basis of natural law and social justice doctrine fascinated me! From the Irish famine to Americanist vs. separatist controversies, through the dispersal of urban ethnics into suburbia, the connection between sex and rural ethos in traditional Catholicism, to current dichotomies in various dioceses in a time of fewer priests and more lay people running parishes, Morris is excellent. He's fair to all sides, although he shows a bit of bias against the hardest right-wing and left-wing factions both. His model is one of adaptation without dilution, certainly a challenge for such a vast institution on the one hand suffering losses to not only non-practicing millions but evangelical sects, on the other struggling to avoid the fate of mainstream Protestantism, which has, according to Morris, seemingly lost its moral and cultural clout in today's nation. Although on the Americanist controversy and the labor movement in the mid 20c, he bogs down in too much detail, at other moments, as in his travels in late-20c American parishes, his mastery of minutiae to explain big issues winningly works well.

As he warns, the tug of secularism--whatever one's view on the current state of Catholicism--presents a warning to those who want the Church to adjust totally to its surroundings. He takes heed of the fate of Episcopalians--fewer in all of America than Catholics in Los Angeles: "Once a religion assimilates to the culture, it almost invariably diminishes into a social center or a low-cost therapy program." (411)

I greatly enjoyed this well-written history of American Catholicism. The earliest chapters, primarily about the influx of Irish immigrants (and the reasons behind it) were particularly fascinating.

However, this book primarily focuses on America from the Victorian age on. There is almost no discussion of Catholicism in the colonial period (the founding of Maryland, the denial of rights to Catholics, etc.), which I feel should have been included.

This is the best book on American Catholicism I have ever read. It objectively looks at the good, bad and ugly in a way few have ever done. There's a lot of warts in this book, but there also is wonderful anecdotes about our shared Catholic faith and how it evolved into what it is today!

This book told me as much about who I was, where I come from and where I am going as a Catholic as anything I've ever read. I could not put the book down and read it over and over again for the sheer joy of reading. I'm afraid I might have missed something.

The story about Dennis Cardinal Dougherty, Philadelphia's long-time Archbishop, was worth the price of admission alone. The author's story about how Cardinal Doughtery dealt with racial prejudice was compelling as was the anecdotes about the Cardinal's ego, his need to curry favor with ROme and his eccentricities. And the book provides a marvelous look at William Cardinal O'Connell of Boston, alias "Gangplank Bill," for his wintering in warm tropical locales. You sometimes wonder when the next Martin Luther would evolve after reading some of this story.

But this is just part of the story.

The assessment this book brings to contemporary conservative Catholicism was eye-opening. Those who are liberal Catholics might gag at what the book describes as happening in Lincoln, NE, but the story is real and the results quantified and quite positive. The book has considerable advice for the future and talks glowingly of how some Bishops due what we in corporate America have done for years, evaluate priestly sermons, rate them and recommend ways to better reach congregants.

Trust me, this book is not on Pope John Paul II's reading list. But is should be! The Pope could better minister to us and be a much better representative of Christ if he read it and understood who and what we are in America.

Those who criticize the book for ignoring the Catholic Church before the nineteenth century are missing the point, Morris never set out to write a "complete" history -- you can't condemn a book for failing to be what it isn't trying to be. Likewise the review which suggests this is purely about the Irish and ignores Germans, Slavs, Hispanics, rural parishes, etc., is also off the mark. Morris adequately demonstrates that the Irish dominated both the church's hierarchy and culture even after they were in the minority in membership. His discussions of the conflicts over national parishes and non-Irish bishops do address those issues. He actually has quite a lot to say about Hispanics and the church since World War II and also about the rural church, especially in his discussion of the Lincoln, NE diocese. As a recent convert to Catholicism with a strong interest in American history, I found this to be a fascinating tour through the church in the last two centuries. The treatment of modern issues almost became too sociological for my taste, but it provided me with a good perspective to understand where my parish lies along the spectrum of modern Catholicism.

This would be a far better book were it shorter--not because 431 pages is too long for a history of the Catholic Church in America, but because on 288th of those pages, Charles Morris abandons his role as an insightful historian chronicling a little-known but important story and switches instead to far from novel review of the current state of the Church in America, complete with every liberal shibboleth.

Particularly if Morris is as liberal as the latter third of his book suggests, he deserves tremendous credit for writing a balanced history; he rejects as historically inaccurate the usual liberal account of the Americanist controversy and even dares to point out that the loudest contemporary critics of the Vatican's supposed indifference to the horrors of Nazism were leftists who ferociously opposed Hitler from the very moment that Hitler reneged on his pact with Stalin.

His earlier objectivity makes his completely conventional survey of today's Church disappointing. The portion of the book in which Morris sticks to history is well worth the purchase price. The lengthy explanation of how the Catholic Church will prosper by emulating the wildly successful Episcopal Church by ordaining women and abandoning opposition to abortion goes over arguments that had been covered ad nauseum a decade ago. All that has changed since then is the growing body of evidence that those arguments are not only theologically wrong, but a recipe for empty churches and even greater numbers of Catholics drawn to fundamentalist Protestantism.

For those who want to understand the history of Roman Catholicism in America, this book is the answer. Written in an engaging style, "American Catholic" traces the history of the development of the church in the United States beginning with the beginnings of the Irish migration in the 1800's, continuing with the remarkable growth throughout the 20th century. The book is objective (as the title implies) and examines different aspects of catholicism, the church, its clergy and laity with clarity and depth.

In addition to the historical approach, the third portion of the book examines the many social and political issues, including those that many would prefer to ignore. Yet the author does not appear to have any particular biases or hidden agenda.

One may not agree with everything the author says, but his research was extensive and nicely organized into absorbing prose. I recommend this book highly for any student of American history.

As a lifelong Catholic who was born after the Second Vatican Council, I found this book to be an invaluable tool in my quest to understand the Church that I have grown up with. Morris pulls no punches in this warts and all book, highlighting the shortcomings and moral failures of many of the Church's early leaders, and he raises many issues that are relevant to Catholics today. This is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about Catholicism here in the United States.

As Daniel Patrick Moynihan put it, it was Fordham men who checked the anticommunist and patriotic credentials of Harvard men.» So states Charles R. Morris in the introduction to his book, American Catholic. On a purely personal level, the author allowed me to step back in time, on a deeper note, he challenges all Catholics to learn about our past so as to prepare for the future. For those of you born between 1930 to 1960 and seeking a stroll down memory lane, the book, in some ways will bring to life your childhood. Having spent, myself, every school day in my educational career in the Catholic School system, (culminating with 4 years at Fordham University, no less), I can assure you that from the introduction, Morris's book is a real page turner! Set to reminisce, I was quickly enthralled with Chapter One on John Hughes, a name quite familiar to any Fordham graduate, as he was the founder of the Universtiy. After spending 4 years hearing the name and walking in front of the benevolent statue on the Fordham Universtiy campus, I found it most edifying to learn exactly how America's first Catholic strongman wielded his power to lay the foundations of the Catholic Church in the US. To other things related Fordham, it was also (and is always) gratifying to see in print what any Fordham student /graduate knows or remembers: Even today, Hughes's University and its faculty (such as Avery Dulles, the late Father Fitzpatrick among others) remain a force in the American Catholic Church. Additionally, having lived through the American parochial school system, (and survived to talk about it), I also enjoyed learning about the rationale and the inner workings of the Catholic educational system, which I had taken for granted as a boy. In short, Morris shapes and describes what every Catholic sensed or lived through 30 or more years ago as well as the problems facing us today. By placing our religion in a historical context, he not only enables Catholics to gain a keen sense of our past, (subsequently enabling us to get a better grasp on our present), but also prepares us for the harsh realities and challenges in the years to come. A perfect 10! And A must for anyone, irrespective of religion, interested in the American Catholic Church.

This book is an easy, truly engaging 'must read' for Catholics struggling with the the human side of the Church and for all scholars of American History. While Morris does not gloss over some very serious problems in the Church, he does create a sense of realism and hope for the future. I was amazed at how well he covered issues and explored the relationship of those isses to events past and present. Well worth the time spent on reading this book!