The Angelus - May/June 2022: Catholicism and the American Imagination

In all walks of life, Catholics have had a powerful impact on American culture, from baseball to the Supreme Court; Catholicism is an integral part of this great country.

Dear Reader,

The history of Catholicism in America is complex. We commonly speak of the “American Founding” with the English in mind, though Catholic missionaries and settlements were present throughout the land. That story has been largely obscured. Similarly, the strong Catholic populations in colonies such as Maryland may be better known, but that, too, tends to get lost in the liberalized narrative of how the story of the United States unfolded.

What is better known, and certainly known to traditional Catholics, are the numerous attempts to suppress Catholic influence throughout the country, not to mention the sad compromises Catholics felt they had to make throughout the years to better “fit in.” The increase of immigration from Europe expanded Catholicism in America, but that also was met with bitter resistance by those informed by Protestant and Enlightenment prejudices. Yet Catholics, fueled by the spirit of their faith and the formation that came with it, persevered. In all walks of life, Catholics have had a powerful impact on American culture, from baseball to the Supreme Court; Catholicism is an integral part of this great country.

In this issue we explore a taste of the influence Catholicism has had in America. Despite protestations to the contrary, Catholicism is as much a part of this country as any other faith and, indeed, the best parts of its development come from those who took their faith and interwove it in their participation in this land’s rich political, social, and cultural environment.

As always, I ask you to pray for Angelus Press, which continues with your support as the publishing apostolate of the Society of Saint Pius X. Please pray for the Society’s priests and religious, and trust that we are all praying for you as well.

Fr. John Fullerton
Publisher

Contents:

FEATURED:

  • Walker Percy’s Search
     - Paul Guenzel
  • The Redemption of Lydia Longley
     - 
    Dr. William Edmund Fahey
  • Innovation & Isolation: Charles Ives and the American Voice
     -
    Dr. Andrew Childs

CULTURE:

  • Context: Russell Kirk’s Catholic Mind
      - Mr. and Mrs. Michael Warren Davis
  • Commentary: The Cogitation of Henry Adams
     
    - Michael Warren Davis
  • Literature: The Blood-Shot Eyes of Tradition: Cather’s Catholic Imagination
     
    - Jonathan Wanner
  • Literature: Flannery O’Connor: Vulnerability and Hope
      - William Gonch, Ph. D.
  • Art: Gothic Revival: How a 12th Century Abbot Influenced America
     
    - Andrew Latham
  • History: Catholicism, the American Imagination, and the Pluralist Beast
     - John Rao, D. Phil. Oxon.
  • Saints: Two of America’s Best
     - Bridget Bryan
  • Review: Nick Ripatrazone’s Longing for an Absent God
     - Katy Carl

FAITH:

  • From the Archbishop: Direct Our Hearts to Mary
     
    - Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
  • Theology: Who Then Can Be Saved?
     - Pauper Peregrinus
  • Scripture: Meditations on St. John’s Gospel—Chapter Thirteen
     - Pater Inutilis
  • Questions & Answers
     - 
    Fr. Juan Carlos Iscara, SSPX

THE LAST WORD - Fr. David Sherry, SSPX

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