Catholicism and American Freedom: A History

by John T. McGreevy

"A brilliant book, which brings historical analysis of religion in American culture to a new level of insight and importance." ― New York Times Book Review Catholicism and American Freedom is a groundbreaking historical account of the tensions (and occasional alliances) between Catholic and American understandings of a healthy society and the individual person, including dramatic conflicts over issues such as slavery, public education, economic reform, the movies, contraception, and abortion. Putting scandals in the Church and the media's response in a much larger context, this stimulating history is a model of nuanced scholarship and provocative reading. 18 illustrations

Genres: History, Religion, Politics, American History, Catholic, Nonfiction, Christianity

432 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

Reviews

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent scholarly work. This work is extremely well written, researched and documented. It sets forth an even-handed and thought provoking approach to the subject matter.

[Mike Mikulski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written 20 years ago when John McGreevy was an Associate Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame. (McGreevy is now the University Provost, the highest lay position in the administration).

Catholicism and American Freedom is an academic work laying out the history of the interplay and influence of American Catholics with the United States from 1848 to the early 2000's. 1848 is pivotal because of European nationalism and many rebellions against aristocracy and the Catholic church. This led to a migration of clergy to the US with a significant number of Jesuits. These Jesuits were apprehensive about a high level of freedom, fearing it could lead to the anti-church attitudes they fled from in Italy, Austria, Switzerland and earlier from France. During this period Catholics were a minority to many protestant groups in the Northeast.

The book lays out how Catholic clerical and lay viewpoints contrasted with the opinions of the general US populace and politicians. The early Catholic Clergy in the US was suspect of a strong national patriotism and how it would interplay with a growing Catholic church. Interesting insights. Catholics were not as strongly abolitionist as the Protestant ministers leading the charge against slavery. While there were pockets of the church supporting emancipation and the Union war effort, they appeared to be in the minority. This attitude was largely due to Catholic and protestant mutual distrust at the time. Thls led to over a century long alignment with Catholics and the Democratic party. As the number of US Catholics grew they became a powerful block representing urban centers and labor. US Catholic viewpoints in the late 1880's supported the need for worker's rights and a living wage that continued into the 1930's.

Following World War II Catholics began to be accepted into US intellectual circles. There was much debate in the press and academia if Catholics had viewpoints open enough to hold meaningful debate and to be open to scientific discovery.

In the post war era, McGreevy lays out the rising church focus on moral theology and a rising church involvement in the issues of contraception in the 50's and abortion and personal autonomy in the 60's. The book finishes with the rising revelation of clergy sexual abuse late in the Century.

McGreevy points out that the Catholic clergy has been too focused on tradition and the importance of the church while coming up short on recognizing the importance of individual human dignity.

McGreevy's history is very balanced. He isn't holding the Church up as an always shining light nor as an evil cabal, instead he calls out players both noble and troubling and ideas both knowing and mis-guided in his history. McGreevy lays out the various ways the Catholic church has branched out in America in the prose of a very knowledgeable theological historian. (Several times I Googled theological terms to better understand what McGreevy was saying, only this kept the book from a higher rating.)

Just as the church has changed dramatically over the 150 years laid out in this book, so have the characteristics of what Americans define as freedom. I kept thinking of Catholicism and American Freedom almost as a DNA helix with parts of the path growing far apart at times and then merging closer together only to depart again, while both chains are bonded together.

[Tomislav · Rating 3 out of 5]

McGreevy’s book tracks how American Catholicism has argued with, adapted to, and occasionally reshaped the country’s public institutions and political norms. It is mostly intellectual and political history. It uses case studies – slavery and emancipation, the public-parochial school wars, the New Deal and Catholic social teaching, and the later battles over contraception and abortion – to examine larger questions about individual autonomy, church-state relations, and the cultural and doctrinal change.

The book skips Enlightenment-era anticlerical currents and begins in the mid-19th century with the debate over slavery. Despite some internal splits, U.S. Catholics were widely seen as anti-abolitionist. Wary of liberal revolutions, individual freedom, and progressive Protestantism, Catholic intellectuals also defended working-class Irish anxious about labor competition after emancipation. The book traces disagreements between patriotic, liberal Catholics and conservatives closely aligned with Rome. In the nativist debates Catholicism was portrayed as a superstitious, authoritarian, backward faith that threatened American scientific development, industrialization, modern education, and civil society. By contrast, the Protestant tradition – even among secularists – was seen as promoting open inquiry, personal independence, work ethic, and democratic life. Rise of nationalism was generally at odds with the Church’s supranational, conservative, and monarchist stance. Catholics usually voted Democratic, finding common ground with rural southerners who felt threatened by an expanding modern state, although the alliance was shaken by the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.

The twentieth century put Catholics in a complicated political position, combining social conservatism with the communitarian, pro-labor economics associated with Catholic social teaching. They clashed with liberals over free speech, abortion, and contraception, and with conservatives over free-market and eugenics. While many Catholics favored corporatism, economic planning, and a welfare state, Roosevelt’s administration ultimately opted for more restrained deficit spending. As American liberals grew wary of expanding state power, Catholics were suspected of sympathizing with reactionary and fascist regimes. Around World War II, however, many Catholics – especially under the influence of European exiles – sought a more modern articulation of their faith. In the Cold War era, Catholicism was increasingly presented as a democratic religion of human rights, and a valuable ally in the fight against Communism. However, cultural issues – especially abortion – triggered further fractures. Many Catholics shifted toward the Republican party even as they continued to back left-leaning economic policies.

While McGreevy provides balanced views on many controversial issues, the attention given to each topic is uneven. Of course, the book doesn’t aim to be a general history of American Catholicism, but it often reads like a patchwork of brief intellectual biographies, global trends, and major events in American politics. Although it offers a great deal of useful information and makes for an interesting read, it is hardly a comprehensive treatment of the subject.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a very good and nuanced analysis of the developing place of Catholicism in American culture, analogous to that provided by a book about the Italian-American experience titled La Storia, which I have not been able to find on Goodreads, so I can't provide a page link. The book traces currents in both Catholicism and American politics from the 1830s up through the early 2000s and the first wave of the sex abuse crisis. Each chapter focuses on a different issue where Catholicism and the American mainstream intersect.

I enjoy this type of history book because this approach tends to be more nuanced than strait narrative history. The different chapters take on the various currents of Catholic thought on particular issues and how to apply them in the American context. It also looks at mainstream anti-Catholic prejudices and how those played into how Catholics responded to different issues.

Just as a small side bar and summation, hopefully, anyone who buys Dinesh D'Souza's nonsense about the Democratic Party being historically, institutionally racist just needs to read this book. It does a really good job of examining the political nuances that not only historically led Catholics to vote overwhelmingly Democrat, but also gets into the political rearranging of the parties that happened in the later middle part of the 20th century. All in all, I would say that this is a very well done work of cultural history which I think many people would benefit from reading, if only for its well researched discussion of various political issues over time.

[Bryan Fok · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a a great intellectual history of Catholic contributions to American political thought. With recent political developments like the Dobbs case and Nancy Pelosi getting denied communion, it is especially important to understand the context behind those decisions. This book shows just that, and explains how we got here (or at least to 2003) in a Catholic context. While the focus is mostly on intellectuals, McGreevy tries to incorporate how normal Catholics dealt with each development he mentions. The book shows that there have always been Catholics who implored their fellow Catholics to embrace being American and to interact with the modern world rather than being sheltered away in their own milieu. I also liked how McGreevy connects the events in American Catholic history to broader developments around the world. It is important to understand how worldwide developments such as the ultramontane revival and Vatican II affected American Catholicism. I can't wait to read his most recent book "Catholicism: A Global History from the French Revolution to Pope Francis."

[Jason Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is good scholarly work showing how American Catholics dealt with slavery, democracy, religious freedom, birth control and then abortion in this country.

[Nancy Devlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a textbook for my masters in theology class. Great read!

[Neil Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book to read about American Catholicism. Highly readable and fascinating. A model of expert but accessible scholarship.

[Katrinka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good exploration of 19th-20th-century history of Catholicism in the U.S.