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Catholics and American Culture: Fulton Sheen, Dorothy Day, and the Notre Dame Football Team
While in the early years of the century Catholics in America were for the most part distrusted outsiders with respect to the dominant culture, by the 1960s the mainstream of American Catholicism was in many ways "the culture’s loudest and most uncritical cheerleader." Mark Massa explores the rich irony in this postwar transition, by examining key figures in American culture in the last century.
278 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1999
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September 23, 2024
A BROAD AND COMPELLING HISTORICAL SURVEY OF CATHOLIC CULTURE AND INFLUENCE
Mark S. Massa is a Jesuit priest who is a professor of Church History at Fordham University; he has also written 'The American Catholic Revolution: How the Sixties Changed the Church Forever' and 'Anti-Catholicism in America: The Last Acceptable Prejudice.'
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1999 book, "It is the contention of this study that, as a result of the cultural embrace begun in the 1930s and 1940s... the 'broad mainstream' in American Catholicism became the culture's loudest and most uncritical cheerleader, with (at best) ambiguous results for its explicitly religious mission by the final decade of the century...
"This 'backing into' modernity by uncritically but enthusiastically accepting American cultural values succeeded SOCIOLOGICALLY in making American Catholics all but indistinguishable as a group from their fellow citizens in terms of ethical values, social mores, and cultural tastes. THEOLOGICALLY speaking, however, American Catholicism's identity ... raises profound questions about its vision and mission." (Pg. 10)
He notes that Thomas Merton, "In accord with the nature of his own conversion... proposed a new intellectual model for American Catholicism, a model in which ideas and serious reflection would have to take the place of memorized 'answers' and 'relying on Father.' Thus, to call Merton a 'popularizer' is hardly to do justice to the crucial role he played for postwar American Catholic culture. And yet he was PRECISELY that... for millions of readers... he recognized... that a vibrant life of the spirit, to be cultivated by businessmen no less than monks, was... exactly what both he and his culture needed... Merton thus made accessible and attractive to millions of mid-century readers a spiritual tradition that had been present but largely unknown in American culture." (Pg. 52-53)
Of Bishop Fulton Sheen, he points out, "The man with the hypnotic eyes who would serve as the host of the longest-running show on prime-time television was no stranger to publicity or to the media: Sheen was already a celebrity 'convert maker' in 1952, having brought into the fold ... the likes of Congresswoman and author-playwright Clare Booth Luce... and motor scion Henry Ford II. Further, Sheen's radio broadcasts for over two decades ... had already made him 'perhaps the most famous preacher in the U.S., certainly the best-known Catholic priest.' Indeed, Billy Graham ... had already dubbed him 'one of the greatest preachers of our century.'" (Pg. 82-83)
He observes, "From the first, [Dorothy Day and] the 'Catholic Worker' addressed social problems that had been either ignored or unpopular in American Catholic journalism: the status of blacks in the work force, in the culture, and in the Catholic Church; the inequities and injustice of laissez faire-capitalism seen in the plight of the urban poor and of farmers, unable to feed their children or keep their jobs; the growing anonymity and bureaucratiztion of a government that appeared to claim ever larger sections of the commonweal as its preserve with ever decreasing accountability to the common person---the 'little ones' loved by Christ whom the 'Worker' claimed as its special object of concern." (Pg. 117) He adds, "unlike other shelters in the neighborhood, the Catholic Worker did not demand any declaration of faith or hymn singing from its clients in return for food: 'they only had to be hungry.'" (Pg. 119)
But he also says, "Certainly, in terms of numbers, the Catholic Worker movement remained (and remains) quite marginal... Day's followers never numbered more than several thousand... the Catholic Worker's several dozen hospitality houses and farms were dwarfed by the hundreds of hospitals, orphanages, and food kitchens operated by diocesan departments of 'Catholic Charity' ... And while Day's and the Worker's protests against nuclear bomb drills were consistently noted and written about, they never drew more than several dozen people annually..." (Pg. 121-122)
This is a fascinating and very informative look at "Catholic Culture" in America in the 20th century, and will be of great interest to anyone studying Catholicism and Catholic culture and influence.
Mark S. Massa is a Jesuit priest who is a professor of Church History at Fordham University; he has also written 'The American Catholic Revolution: How the Sixties Changed the Church Forever' and 'Anti-Catholicism in America: The Last Acceptable Prejudice.'
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1999 book, "It is the contention of this study that, as a result of the cultural embrace begun in the 1930s and 1940s... the 'broad mainstream' in American Catholicism became the culture's loudest and most uncritical cheerleader, with (at best) ambiguous results for its explicitly religious mission by the final decade of the century...
"This 'backing into' modernity by uncritically but enthusiastically accepting American cultural values succeeded SOCIOLOGICALLY in making American Catholics all but indistinguishable as a group from their fellow citizens in terms of ethical values, social mores, and cultural tastes. THEOLOGICALLY speaking, however, American Catholicism's identity ... raises profound questions about its vision and mission." (Pg. 10)
He notes that Thomas Merton, "In accord with the nature of his own conversion... proposed a new intellectual model for American Catholicism, a model in which ideas and serious reflection would have to take the place of memorized 'answers' and 'relying on Father.' Thus, to call Merton a 'popularizer' is hardly to do justice to the crucial role he played for postwar American Catholic culture. And yet he was PRECISELY that... for millions of readers... he recognized... that a vibrant life of the spirit, to be cultivated by businessmen no less than monks, was... exactly what both he and his culture needed... Merton thus made accessible and attractive to millions of mid-century readers a spiritual tradition that had been present but largely unknown in American culture." (Pg. 52-53)
Of Bishop Fulton Sheen, he points out, "The man with the hypnotic eyes who would serve as the host of the longest-running show on prime-time television was no stranger to publicity or to the media: Sheen was already a celebrity 'convert maker' in 1952, having brought into the fold ... the likes of Congresswoman and author-playwright Clare Booth Luce... and motor scion Henry Ford II. Further, Sheen's radio broadcasts for over two decades ... had already made him 'perhaps the most famous preacher in the U.S., certainly the best-known Catholic priest.' Indeed, Billy Graham ... had already dubbed him 'one of the greatest preachers of our century.'" (Pg. 82-83)
He observes, "From the first, [Dorothy Day and] the 'Catholic Worker' addressed social problems that had been either ignored or unpopular in American Catholic journalism: the status of blacks in the work force, in the culture, and in the Catholic Church; the inequities and injustice of laissez faire-capitalism seen in the plight of the urban poor and of farmers, unable to feed their children or keep their jobs; the growing anonymity and bureaucratiztion of a government that appeared to claim ever larger sections of the commonweal as its preserve with ever decreasing accountability to the common person---the 'little ones' loved by Christ whom the 'Worker' claimed as its special object of concern." (Pg. 117) He adds, "unlike other shelters in the neighborhood, the Catholic Worker did not demand any declaration of faith or hymn singing from its clients in return for food: 'they only had to be hungry.'" (Pg. 119)
But he also says, "Certainly, in terms of numbers, the Catholic Worker movement remained (and remains) quite marginal... Day's followers never numbered more than several thousand... the Catholic Worker's several dozen hospitality houses and farms were dwarfed by the hundreds of hospitals, orphanages, and food kitchens operated by diocesan departments of 'Catholic Charity' ... And while Day's and the Worker's protests against nuclear bomb drills were consistently noted and written about, they never drew more than several dozen people annually..." (Pg. 121-122)
This is a fascinating and very informative look at "Catholic Culture" in America in the 20th century, and will be of great interest to anyone studying Catholicism and Catholic culture and influence.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review