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70-762: The 20th-century history of the Catholic Church in the United States was characterized by a period of continuous growth for the Church in the United States, with Catholics progressively evolving from a small minority to a large minority. In 1900 the Catholic population was 10 million, under the control of 14 Archbishops, 77 bishops, and 12,000 priests. The community had built 10,000 churches, of which two-thirds had resident pastors. Catholic schools educated nearly 1,000,000 children and youth. Catholics were heavily concentrated in

140-534: A Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Subsequent decades have seen the USCCB grappling with the fallout, which included dozens of court cases resulting in a financial settlements with the victims in excess of $ 3 billion. Numerous dioceses declared bankruptcy in an effort to manage the financial impact. The USCCB continues to publish an annual report on its progress in addressing concerns. During

210-696: A common American culture. In 1921, the Ku Klux Klan attracted as many as 14,000 members in Oregon, establishing 58 klaverns by the end of 1922. Given the small population of non-white minorities outside Portland, the Oregon Klan directed its attention almost exclusively against Catholics, who numbered about 8% of the population. In 1922, the Masonic Grand Lodge of Oregon sponsored a bill to require all school-age children to attend public schools. With support of

280-559: A fully-fledged member of the Black Church , complete with its own structure, identity, music, liturgy, thought, theology, and appearance within the larger Catholic Church. This would result in the Black Catholic Church traditions seen today in most Black parishes, institutions, schools, and organizations. John J. Burke A central point of Burke's writing and lecturing concerned the supernatural element of charity. Burke told

350-505: A guide for overhauling America's politics, society, and economy based on Pope Leo XIII's Rerum novarum and a variety of influences reflecting the Progressive Era in the U.S.. The Program received a mixed reception both within the Church and outside it. The National Catholic War Council was a voluntary organization with no canonical status. Its ability to speak authoritatively was thus questioned. Many bishops threw their support behind

420-585: A meeting to discuss organizing a national agency to coordinate the war effort of the American Catholic community. One hundred and fifteen delegates from sixty-eight dioceses, together with members from the Catholic press and representatives from twenty-seven national Catholic organizations attended this first meeting. It set up the National Catholic War Council, "to study, coordinate, unify and put in operation all Catholic activities incidental to

490-535: A member of the Christian clergy in the United States is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a Catholic clergyman is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ( USCCB ) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States . Founded in 2001 after

560-421: A view that encouraged the trend towards making of religion "a private and an almost secret matter." Burke was the main force behind the creation of the National Catholic War Council. Burke had long argued for a national outlook and sense of unity among the country's Catholics. In 1917, with the backing of Cardinal James Gibbons and other bishops, Burke called for a meeting of Catholic representatives from across

630-429: A woman's 'right' to an abortion. The Catholic Church was one of the few institutional voices opposing the decision at the time, leading to the abortion issue being construed then and since largely as a religious one. Although a majority of Catholics have agreed with the hierarchy in their insistence on legal protection of the unborn, some—including prominent politicians—have not, leading to perennial controversies concerning

700-546: Is tasked with protecting. The Second Amendment does not stand as a barrier to their safety." As of 2021, the USCCB has been in ecumenical discussion with the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA), as well as discussing the possibility of future theological dialogue between Pentecostalism and Catholicism. The USCCB is a member of Christian Churches Together , an Interdenominational fellowship of Christian denominations and organizations in

770-464: Is widely considered to be an important marker in the history of Catholicism (and anti-Catholicism) in the United States. Kennedy went on to win the national popular vote over Richard Nixon by just one tenth of one percentage point (0.1%) - the closest popular-vote margin of the 20th century. In the electoral college , Kennedy's victory was larger, as he took 303 electoral votes to Nixon's 219 (269 were needed to win). The New York Times , summarizing

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840-793: The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services . It was sued by the ACLU on the grounds that the directive in some cases caused doctors to refuse treatment of women in an emergency medical situation. In March 2012, regarding the contraception mandate issued as a regulation under the Affordable Care Act , which required that employers who do not support contraception but are not religious institutions per se must cover contraception via their employer-sponsored health insurance . USCCB decided to "continue its 'vigorous opposition to this unjust and illegal mandate'". In June and July 2012,

910-612: The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, under which nearly 800,000 young people had applied for protection from deportation. At the 2018 biannual meeting that was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USCCB president Cardinal Daniel DiNardo issued a statement criticizing the Trump administration's policies of family separation and denial of asylum to women fleeing domestic violence. The USCCB filed an amicus brief in

980-631: The National Catholic Welfare Council in 1919. They also created the first Administrative Committee of seven members to manage daily affairs between plenary meetings, with archbishop Edward Joseph Hanna of San Francisco as the first chairman. Headquarters were established in Washington, D.C. After a threatened suppression of the National Catholic Welfare Council due to concerns that it over-centralized power away from

1050-429: The 1915 graduating class of New York's College of Mount Saint Vincent -on-Hudson that, for two millennia, the Church has pursued as her "one great purpose" to lead souls to the love of God. "Whatever other claims she makes as to her mission," he insisted, "are at best but secondary." Burke warned Catholics about the modern superstition that "experts in the social sciences might well be trusted with our social betterment,"

1120-563: The 2000s by the movement of churches and other houses of worship, to shelter immigrants in danger of deportation. The New Sanctuary Movement is a network of houses of worship that facilitates this effort. In the later 20th century "[...] the Catholic Church in the United States became the subject of controversy due to clerical child abuse of children and adolescents , of episcopal negligence in arresting these crimes, and of numerous civil suits that cost Catholic dioceses hundreds of millions of dollars in damages." Although evidence of such abuse

1190-566: The 2020 George Floyd protests , USCCB president Archbishop José Horacio Gómez issued a statement citing Martin Luther King Jr. 's words that "riots are the language of the unheard". After some conservative bishops were concerned after Gómez congratulated Joe Biden for his election as US president, Gómez announced that he would form a working group to address the "confusion" that could be caused by Catholic politicians who support policies that are against church teaching. On January 20, 2021,

1260-652: The American Law Institute (ALI). New Jersey attorney Juan Ryan served as the organization's first president. NRLC held a nationwide meeting of anti-abortion leaders in Chicago in 1970 at Barat College . The following year, NRLC held its first convention at Macalestar College in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1990 the USCCB hired the public relation firm Hill & Knowlton to launch a campaign to persuade Catholics and non-Catholics to oppose abortion rights for women. The USCCB issued

1330-544: The Faith (CDF), informing the congregation of the USCCB's plans to draft a document regarding Catholic politicians' worthiness to receive Communion. Cardinal Luis Ladaria , prefect of the CDF, replied on May 7, cautioning the USCCB to preserve unity in discussing anti-abortion issues and not to consider that abortion and euthanasia constitute the only grave issues of Catholic moral teaching. Ladaria further said that any new provision of

1400-578: The Greater Houston Ministerial Association on September 12, 1960, "I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President who also happens to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my Church on public matters — and the Church does not speak for me." He promised to respect the separation of church and state and not to allow Catholic officials to dictate public policy to him. Kennedy also raised

1470-739: The Klan and Democratic Governor Walter M. Pierce , endorsed by the Klan, the Compulsory Education Act was passed by a vote of 115,506 to 103,685. Its primary purpose was to shut down Catholic schools in Oregon, but it also affected other private and military schools. The constitutionality of the law was challenged in court and ultimately struck down by the Supreme Court in Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925) before it went into effect. The law caused outraged Catholics to organize locally and nationally for

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1540-558: The Midwestern United States. Student enrollment had increased significantly in the interwar period and many young Polish women were requested to teach in the schools. Polish-born nuns were strongly desired for educating the students. A study in 1932 found that close to 300,000 Polish Americans were enrolled in over 600 Polish grade schools in the United States. Very few of the Polish Americans who graduated from grade school at

1610-843: The National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic Conference. Today it is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). In 1900, the Church supported 3,500 parochial schools, usually under the control of the local parish. By 1920, the number of elementary schools had reached 6,551, enrolling 1,759, 673 pupils taught by 41, 581 teachers. Secondary education likewise boomed. In 1900, there were only about 100 Catholic high schools, but by 1920 more than 1,500 were in operation. For more than two generations, enrollment continued to climb. The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities

1680-498: The Program, while Bishop William Turner of Buffalo and William Henry O'Connell of Boston, among others, opposed it. O'Connell believed some aspects of the plan smacked too much of socialism. Response outside the Church was also divided: labor organizations backing it, for example, and business groups criticizing it. In 1926, Chicago hosted the 28th International Eucharistic Congress , the first international eucharistic congress held in

1750-455: The Supreme Court case of United States v. Rahimi , arguing that protecting the innocent "is a proper consideration" when regulating firearms: As the Church teaches, and this Nation's historical traditions demonstrate, the right to bear arms is not an unqualified license that must leave vulnerable family members to live in fear. Abused victims are precisely the people whom a just government

1820-964: The U.S. border with Mexico in Arizona but was also strong in Chicago, Philadelphia , and California . In 1981, Rev. John Fife and Jim Corbett , among others, began bringing Central American refugees into the United States. It was their intent to offer sanctuary, or faith-based protection, from the political violence that was taking place in El Salvador and Guatemala . The Department of Justice indicted several activists in south Texas for assisting refugees. Later 16 activists in Arizona were indicted, including Fife and Corbett in 1985; 11 were brought to trial and 8 were convicted of alien smuggling and other charges. The defendants claimed their actions were justifiable to save lives of people who would be killed and had no other way to escape. This movement has been succeeded in

1890-725: The USCCB is required to respect the rights of individual Ordinaries in their diocese and the prerogatives of the Holy See. The dioceses of the United States are grouped into fifteen regions. Fourteen of the regions (numbered I through XIV) are geographically based, for the Latin Catholic dioceses and the non-territorial Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (part of Region X). The Eastern Catholic eparchies (dioceses) constitute Region XV. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops had appointed Bishop James T. McHugh during April 1967 to lead

1960-561: The USCCB must receive the recognitio , or approval, of the Roman dicasteries , which are subject to the immediate and absolute authority of the Pope. As of November 2022 , the president is Timothy Broglio , Archbishop for the Military Services, USA . The vice president is William E. Lori , Archbishop of Baltimore . The first national organization of Catholic bishops in the United States

2030-722: The USCCB promoted a campaign of events called the Fortnight for Freedom to protest government activities that in their view impinged on their religious liberty. On June 12, 2020, a committee praised President Donald Trump 's administration for changing a Department of Health and Human Services ruling regarding discrimination based on gender identity , saying it "will help restore the rights of health care providers—as well as insurers and employers—who decline to perform or cover abortions or 'gender transition' procedures due to ethical or professional objections." The USCCB platform on immigration reform includes: In 2017, Bishop Joe S. Vásquez ,

2100-487: The USCCB to revelations in the 1980s of the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy was widely criticized both within and outside the church. The reassignment of clergy accused of abuse, in particular, was considered to have allowed the abuse to proliferate. By the early 2000s, following an explosion of public scandals and investigations by journalists, the USCCB commissioned the John Jay Report and adopted

2170-617: The United States and the second to be held in North America. In 1928, Al Smith became the first Roman Catholic to gain a major party's nomination for president, and his religion became an issue during the campaign . Many Protestants feared that Smith would take orders from church leaders in Rome in making decisions affecting the country. Smith was from New York City, with strong ties to the Democratic machine known as Tammany Hall. To top it off, he

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2240-560: The United States until 1867 and under Jim Crow throughout most of the 20th century, Black Catholics in America began a large-scale revolt in the late 1960s, beginning with the statement from the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus in 1968. The movement that followed helped develop and shap modern Black Catholicism . Roughly until the mid-1990s, Black Catholicism transformed itself from its pre- Vatican II roots into

2310-427: The United States, and to Canada and Britain. Historian John McGreevey notes: "Priests across the country in the 1930s encouraged their parishioners to join unions, and some like Pittsburgh's Charles Rice , Detroit's Frederick Siedenberg, and Buffalo's Monsignor John P.Boland , served on regional labor boards and played key roles in workplace negotiations." The Catholic Worker Movement and Dorothy Day grew out of

2380-639: The United States, named Burke his agent in matters pertaining to the Mexican religious conflict known as the Cristero War . Burke worked closely with Dwight Whitney Morrow , the US ambassador to Mexico, to broker an end to the conflict. Books written about John J Burke Never look back : the career and concerns of John J. Burke by John B. Sheerin located at the Internet Archive This article about

2450-428: The United States. The budget for 2018 was US$ 200 million. Most money is raised through national collections, government grants, and diocesan assessments. The list of presidents of the USCCB, who are elected by their brother bishops, the diocese or archdiocese they led during their tenure, and their dates of service as president: The list of vice-presidents of the USCCB, who are elected by their brother bishops,

2520-879: The bishops in the six dioceses form their own episcopal conference, the Puerto Rican Episcopal Conference . The bishops in U.S. insular areas in the Pacific Ocean ;– the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the territory of American Samoa, and the territory of Guam – are members of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific . The organization is a registered corporation based in Washington, D.C. As with all bishops' conferences , certain decisions and acts of

2590-548: The chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, issued a statement disagreeing with the first Trump travel ban , Executive Order 13769 , which restricted people from several predominantly Muslim nations from entering the US and also imposed a temporary ban on Syrian refugee admissions. Later that year, the USCCB president, vice president, and committee chairmen issued a statement condemning the Trump administration's cancellation of

2660-610: The country at Catholic University to establish a National Catholic War Council. Burke was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal by the U.S. War Department for his service as chairman of the Committee on Special War Activities (CSWA) of the National Catholic War Council. When the National Catholic Welfare Council superseded the National Catholic War Council, Burke was appointed its general secretary. In 1929, Archbishop Pietro Fumasoni-Biondi , apostolic delegate to

2730-461: The date of President Joe Biden's inauguration, when he became the second Roman Catholic U.S. president, the USCCB sent him a letter authored by President Gómez, which was described as "stinging" by America . While congratulating Biden on his election and stating the Bishop was "praying that God grant him wisdom and courage to lead this great nation and that God help him to meet the tests of these times,"

2800-515: The discussion late in November, spoke of a "narrow consensus" among the experts that Kennedy had won more than he lost as a result of his Catholicism, as Northern Catholics flocked to Kennedy because of attacks on his religion. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States announced its decision in the Roe v. Wade case, finding that a constitutional right to privacy prohibited interference with

2870-657: The early formation of what was later to become the National Right to Life Committee. The NRLC was itself formed in 1968 under the auspices of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to coordinate information and strategy between developing local and state Catholic anti-abortion groups and is the oldest and the largest national organization against legal abortion in the United States with NRLC affiliates in all 50 states and over 3,000 local chapters nationwide. These NRLC affiliate groups were forming in response to efforts to change abortion laws based on model legislation proposed by

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2940-516: The fact that there is seemingly no precedent for doing so, the statement, critical of President Biden, came as a surprise to many bishops, who received it just hours before it was released." By April 2021, the working group that was announced by Gómez proposed the drafting of a new document addressing the issue of Communion. On March 30, 2021, Bishop Gómez wrote to the Congregation for the Doctrine of

3010-442: The impetus to initiate these efforts. The Catholic hierarchy was eager to show its enthusiastic support for the war effort. In order to better address challenges posed by World War I, the American Catholic hierarchy in 1917 chose to meet collectively for the first time since 1884. In August 1917, on the campus of The Catholic University of America in Washington, Burke, with the backing of Cardinal Gibbons and other bishops, convened

3080-569: The individual bishops, the administrative board decided to rename the organization to be the National Catholic Welfare Conference, with the purpose of advocating reforms in education, immigration, and social action. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops took its present form in July 2001 with the consolidation of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic Conference. The initial response of

3150-644: The industrial and mining centers of the Northeast; few were farmers and only a small fraction lived in the South, chiefly in Louisiana. Catholics comprised less than one in 7 of the national population of 76 million. It was John J. Burke , editor of the Catholic World , who first recognized the urgency of the moment. Burke had long argued for a national outlook and sense of unity among the country's Catholics. The war provided

3220-510: The late 20th century the hospitals increasingly closed their training programs and relied on paid graduate nurses who had college degrees in nursing. In the 21st century, as the cohorts of nuns aged, they turned their hospitals over to lay boards thus allowing the last generation of sister administrators to retire. The Catholic Worker movement began as a means to combine Dorothy Day 's history in American social activism, anarchism, and pacifism with

3290-430: The letter also expressed concern that his policies "would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences." The letter was contested by several bishops, including Cardinal Blase J. Cupich , the archbishop of Chicago, who said

3360-542: The merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (USCC), it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic hierarchy (i.e., diocesan , coadjutor , and auxiliary bishops and the ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter ) in the United States and the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands . In the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,

3430-511: The message was drafted without consultation of the USCCB's administrative committee; and described it as an "institutional failure" that the bishops did not harmonize their message prior to its release. In what America called a "rare rebuke," Cupich released two statements, one of which said "Today, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued an ill-considered statement on the day of President Biden's inauguration. Aside from

3500-466: The opening wedge for federal invasion of individual and parental rights, that would threaten parochial schools. Many church leaders had also opposed woman suffrage. When it passed in 1920 they called upon Catholic women to start voting. Most of the Catholic women actually started to vote in 1928, when there was a Catholic on the presidential ticket. Polish Americans boosted membership in the Catholic church and expanded parishes previously non-existent in

3570-538: The question of whether one-quarter of Americans were relegated to second-class citizenship just because they were Roman Catholic. Even so, it was widely believed after the election that Kennedy lost some heavily Protestant states because of his Catholicism. His address did not please everyone: many non-Catholics remained unconvinced that a Catholic could be president without divided loyalties; and many Catholics thought he conceded too much in his profession of belief in an "absolute" separation of church and state . The speech

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3640-609: The responsibilities of Catholics in American public life. Sanctuary of refugees from Central American civil wars was a movement in the 1980s. It was part of a broader anti-war movement positioned against U.S. foreign policy in Central America. By 1987, 440 sites in the United States had been declared "sanctuary congregations" or " sanctuary cities " open to migrants from the civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala. These sites included university campuses. The movement originated along

3710-643: The right to send their children to Catholic schools. In Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), the United States Supreme Court declared the Oregon's Compulsory Education Act unconstitutional in a ruling that has been called "the Magna Carta of the parochial school system." By the mid-1960s, enrollment in Catholic parochial schools had reached an all-time high of 4.5 million elementary school pupils, with about 1 million students in Catholic high schools. The enrollments steadily declined as Catholics moved to

3780-445: The right to send their children to Catholic schools. In Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), the United States Supreme Court declared the Oregon's Compulsory Education Act unconstitutional in a ruling that has been called "the Magna Carta of the parochial school system." The Catholic leadership in 1924 mobilized to defeat a constitutional amendment that, they feared, would mean not just federal control of child labor, but also would be

3850-514: The same impetuses to put Catholic social teaching into action. The Catholic Conference on Industrial Problems (1923–1937) was conceived by Fr. Raymond McGowan as a way of bringing together Catholic leaders in the fields of theology, labor, and business, with a view to promoting awareness and discussion of Catholic social teaching. Its first meeting was held in Milwaukee. While it was the venue for important discussions during its existence, its demise

3920-429: The suburbs, where the children attended public schools. As cities grew rapidly in the late 19th century, all major religious denominations built hospitals in urban areas. Catholics led the way for a large proportion of the patients were Catholic immigrants. In 1915, the Catholic religious orders for women operated 541 hospitals. They were open to patients regardless of religion. Costs were minimized by relying heavily on

3990-479: The tenets of Catholicism (including a strong current of distributism ), five years after her 1927 conversion. The group started with the Catholic Worker magazine that staked out a neutral, pacifist position in the war-torn 1930s. This grew into a " house of hospitality " in the slums of New York City and then a series of farms for people to live together communally. The movement quickly spread to other cities in

4060-603: The time pursued high school or college at that time. High School was not required and enrollment across the United States was far lower at the time. Polish Americans took to the Catholic private schools in great numbers. In Chicago, 35,862 students (60 percent of the Polish population) attended Polish parochial schools in 1920. Nearly every Polish parish in the American Catholic Church had a school, whereas in Italian parishes, it

4130-431: The war ended liberals hoped that a new commitment to social reform would characterize the ensuing peace. The Council saw an opportunity to use its national voice to shape reform and in April 1918 created a Committee for Reconstruction. John A. Ryan wrote the "Bishops' Program of Social Reconstruction." It was issued to the public on February 12, 1919, through a carefully planned public relations campaign. The plan offered

4200-421: The war." An executive committee, chaired by Cardinal George Mundelein of Chicago, was formed in December 1917, to oversee the work of the Council. The mandate of the newly formed organization included the promotion of Catholic participation in the war, through chaplains, literature, and care for the morale of the troops, as well as (for the first time) lobbying for Catholic interests in the nation's capital. As

4270-466: The work of women students who paid tuition and nuns who had taken a vow of poverty. In 1945, there were 685 Catholic hospitals with a bed capacity of 87,000. Fifteen years later, there were 800 hospitals with 137,000 beds. Between 1960 and 1970, the number of patients nearly doubled. By 2000, however, mergers reduced the number of smaller hospitals, while patient admissions continued to grow rapidly, with heavy federal funding from Medicare and Medicaid. In

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4340-476: The young". Major lawsuits emerged in 2001 and subsequent years claiming some priests had sexually abused minors . The prosecutions of priests sexually abusing children were widely reported in the news media. Some commentators, such as journalist Jon Dougherty, have argued that media coverage of the issue has been excessive, given that the same problems plague other institutions, such as the US public school system, with much greater frequency. Held in bondage in

4410-404: Was a wet who strongly opposed national prohibition. The National Catholic Welfare Council (NCWC) began in 1919 as the annual meeting of the American Catholic hierarchy and its standing secretariat. It consists of a staff of clergy as well as committees of bishops who discussed and sometimes issued statements on matters of national policy such as education, welfare, and health care. It split into

4480-465: Was due in part to lack of participation by business executives who perceived the dominant tone of the group as anti-business. The 1960s marked a profound transformation of the Catholic Church in the United States. Religion became a divisive issue during the presidential campaign of 1960 . Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts was vying to become the nation's first Catholic president, Using his base of support among urban Catholics. A key factor that

4550-431: Was founded in 1899, In 1904, Catholic educators formed an organization to coordinate their efforts on a national scale: the Catholic Educational Association which later changed its name to the National Catholic Educational Association. After World War I, some states concerned about the influence of immigrants and "foreign" values looked to public schools for help. The states drafted lawsdesigned to use schools to promote

4620-421: Was founded in 1917 as the National Catholic War Council (NCWC), formed to enable U.S. Catholics to contribute funds for the spiritual care of Catholic servicemen during World War I . In 1919 Pope Benedict XV urged the college of bishops around the world to assist him in promoting the labor reforms first articulated by Pope Leo XIII in Rerum novarum . In response, the U.S. Catholic episcopate organized

4690-459: Was hurting Kennedy in his campaign was the widespread prejudice against his Roman Catholic religion; some Protestants believed that, if he were elected president, Kennedy would have to take orders from the pope in Rome. When offered the opportunity to speak before a convention of Baptist ministers, decided to try to put the issue to rest. To address fears that his Roman Catholicism would impact his decision-making, John F. Kennedy famously told

4760-536: Was typically one in ten parishes. Even as late as 1960, estimates of Chicago's students attending Polish parochial schools was about 60% of the Polish American population. In 1922, the voters of Oregon passed an initiative amending Oregon Law Section 5259, the Compulsory Education Act. The law unofficially became known as the Oregon School Law. The citizens' initiative was primarily aimed at eliminating parochial schools, including Catholic schools. The law caused outraged Catholics to organize locally and nationally for

4830-504: Was uncovered in other countries, the vast majority of sex abuse cases occurred in the United States. One estimate suggested that up to 3% of U.S. priests were involved. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned a comprehensive study that found that four percent of all priests who served in the US from 1950 to 2002 faced some sort of sexual accusation. Some priests resigned, others were defrocked and jailed, and there were financial settlements with many victims. The Church

4900-447: Was widely criticized when it emerged that some bishops had known about abuse, and reassigned accused priests after first sending them to psychiatric counseling. Some bishops and psychiatrists contended that the prevailing psychology of the times suggested that people could be cured of such behavior through counseling. Pope John Paul II responded by declaring that "there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm

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