-
July 6, 2026As we celebrate our 250th Centennial of our founding as a nation, it is of interest to recognize how the Catholic Church took hold within our country. During the colonial period of the United States most of the Catholic immigrants came from France, England and Germany; nearly 10,000 Irish Catholic immigrants came to America escaping the harsh, repressive laws instituted by England in their rule over Ireland. Maryland saw the settlement of the greatest number of Catholics, though they remained a very small minority. By the end of the American Revolutionary War there were approximately 25,000 Catholics in the United States out of a total population of 3 million.Early on in the history of our nation Catholics were treated with deep suspicion by the overwhelmingly Protestant population. Most likely the effects of the harsh laws instituted by King Henry VIII that persecuted Catholics in England, consisting of: Confiscation all Catholic property, land, monasteries, convents, and possessions; created Henry the head of the newly formed Church of England; outlawed Catholicism in English life; transferred significant wealth from the Catholic Church to the English Crown.Though Baltimore was established as the seat of the first diocese in the United States in 1789, encompassing the entire 13 colonies (and Bardstown, Kentucky the second oldest diocese), suspicion began to grow about the Church in America governed by a distant pope. At first, laws were passed in the Maryland colony allowing religious freedom for all denominations; as the population became predominantly Protestant, the Catholic population was ‘bridled’ by new laws.
Among many early laws discriminating against Catholic worship, one came to pass forcing individuals to take an oath against their religion or forfeit their land. In 1734, Catholic worship was prohibited in Pennsylvania. New York State’s constitution banned Catholics from public office in 1777. With such discrimination priests and religious sisters were sought out and murdered by radicals. In 1844 the growing anti-Catholic suspicions fueled the Bible Riots in which Catholic families witnessed their homes torched, churches destroyed, and numerous deaths. Catholic life throughout the region was often sustained quietly through family networks, informal gathering places, and the ministry of itinerant priests.Stepping back a bit, a Jesuit priest established St. Joseph Church in Philadelphia, the only place in the English speaking world where Mass could be celebrated openly. Nearby St. Mary Church established the first Catholic school in 1782. Pennsylvania, founded by the Quaker, William Penn, rejected the rigid religious restriction incorporated by the other colonies making room for freedom of conscience, (though briefly upheld).It was the Quakers—certain families and communities—who protected Catholics from persecution, and allowed them safe passage to establish homes and livelihoods for their families and practice of faith.In many ways, the early Catholic settlers and communities at the time of the founding of our nation were in fact the“little ones”— marginalized—as last weekend’s gospel described.
Interestingly, as late as 1924 thousands of members of the Indiana Chapter of the Ku Klux Klan gathered in South Bend, Indiana for a rally —purportedly with the message of ‘true Americanism— targeting the Catholic institution of the University of Notre Dame, the young men who attended the university, and the Holy Cross priests who taught there. That weekend, as the students stood up to take down the most vaunted KKK chapter in America, newspapers described their resistance as the “Fighting Irish,”previously applied to the vaunted football team. Commemorating 250 years of American independence, we are invited to remember how religious freedom guaranteed by our Constitution has evolved, allowing our Catholic Church alongside other Christian denominations to thrive—through faith, community, and a renewed commitment to the freedoms that define us. And as a Church, dedicated to the teachings of Christ Jesus—to always protect and enhance the dignity of all individuals, especially the“little ones.”Who we are and continue to be as a people of faith directed by the gospels, will be reflected in our efforts to recognize and safeguard the dignity of all individuals who are no less the‘people of God.’Blessings upon our nation, collectively, a light before others,Fr. TimFYI: “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”(Pope John Paul II)