You must clear my name -- Full of animal life and spirit -- Sister coming for remains -- We are not sleeping -- That no injustice may be done -- A wider forum -- A serious and grave affair -- An officer said it -- Sutton mystery deeper -- The best of my recollection -- Sacred reputations -- Every scrap of evidence -- The ferocity of a tigress -- The court, the corps and public opinion -- Jimmie Sutton's body and soul -- Politics and the paranormal.

A collection of essays providing an extensive history of Catholicism in America from numerous perspectives. Roman Catholicism in the United States: A Thematic History takes the reader beyond the traditional ways scholars have viewed and recounted the story of the Catholic Church in America. The collection covers unfamiliar topics such as anti-Catholicism, rural Catholicism, Latino Catholics, and issues related to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the US government. The book continues with fascinating discussions on popular culture (film and literature), women religious, and the work of US missionaries in other countries. The final section of the books is devoted to Catholic social teaching, tackling challenging and sometimes controversial subjects such as the relationship between African American Catholics and the Communist Party, Catholics in the civil rights movement, the abortion debate, issues of war and peace, and Vatican II and the American Catholic Church. Roman Catholicism in the United States examines the history of US Catholicism from a variety of perspectives that transcend the familiar account of the immigrant, urban parish, which served as the focus for so many American Catholics during the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. Praise for Roman Catholicism in the United States “All of the essays are informative and written in a style suitable to both novices and scholars of American Catholic history.” —Choice “Any scholar currently writing books or articles on American Catholic history would do well to pick up this volume.” —American Catholic Studies “I’ve seen the future of American Catholic studies, and it is in this superb collection of consistently engaging, provocative, and well-written essays. This is now required reading for scholars and students of the Catholic experience in the United States.” —Mark Massa, S.J., Director, The Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, Boston College

The Catholic Church remains one of the oldest institutions of Western civilization. It continues to withstand attack from without and defection from within. In his revision of American Catholicism, Monsignor Ellis has added a new chapter on the history of the Church since 1956. Here he deals with developments in Catholic education, with the changing relations of the Church to its own members and to society in general, and especially with arguments for and against the ecumenical movement brought about by Vatican Council II. The author gives an updated historical account of the part played by Catholics in both the American Revolution and the Civil War, and of the difficulties within the Church that came with the clash of national interests among Irish, French, and Germans in the nineteenth century. He regards immigration as the key to the increasingly important role of American Catholicism in the nation after 1820. For contemporary America, the author counts among the signs of the mature Church an increase in Church membership, the presence of nine Americans in the College of Cardinals in May, 1967, and the expansion of American effort in Catholic missions throughout the world.

Cardinal James Gibbons' famous and eloquent defense of Catholicism stands as one of the finest religious documents of his era, employing the Bible and devotional wisdom much more than arcane or complex theology. Writing in the 19th century, Cardinal Gibbons was moved to author this book after working for years in the priesthood. Seeking to remind readers of the vitality and merits of Catholicism, Gibbons attempts to both clarify the principles of the faith and spurn unjust criticisms. Religious concepts such as The Holy Trinity, and the important relationship the Bible has to the life of the church is investigated. The festivals and ritual sacraments that Catholics undertake, such as the taking of bread and wine to symbolize the flesh and the blood of Christ, are described in detail for their founding principles. Other traits of Catholicism, such as celibacy among the priesthood and the customs of matrimony, are explained.

Introduction : les confrères et les pères in American Catholic history --Missionary formation and French Catholicism --Missionary experience and frontier Catholicism --Missionary revival and transnational Catholicism --Missionary politics and ultramontane Catholicism --Slavery, Civil War, and southern Catholicism --Conclusion.