Faherty presents a lively history of the American Catholic Church from colonial days to the present. He appraises Vatican II, especially in terms of changes that council brought to the pursuit of religious liberty. Will Catholics ever build a truly America Catholic Church? Can the Church constructively influence a nation threatened by moral decline? American Catholic Heritage gives the historical context that will shape the answers to these questions.

Over 3 million copies sold! Essential reading for Catholics of all walks of life. Here it is - the first new Catechism of the Catholic Church in more than 400 years, a complete summary of what Catholics around the world commonly believe. The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. The word catechism means "instruction" - this book will serve as the standard for all future catechisms. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.

In this Book David L. Schindier and Nicholas J. Healy Jr. promote a deeper understanding of the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom - Dignitatis Humanae - which Pope Paul VI characterized as one of the greatest documents of Vatican II. In addition to presenting a new translation of the approved text of the Declaration, they make available for the first time in English the five schemas (drafts) of the document that were presented to the Council bishops leading up to the final version. The book also includes an original interpretive essay on Dignitatis Humanae by Schindier and an essay on the genesis and redaction history of the text by Healy. Book jacket.

In this comprehensive history, Fr. Charles Connor details the life of Catholics in the American Colonies. It’s a tale that begins with the flight of English Catholics to religious freedom in Maryland in 1634, and continues through the post-Revolutionary period, by which time the constitutions of all but four of the first 13 states contained harsh anti-Catholic provisions. Catholic readers will be proud to learn from these pages that despite almost two centuries of ever-more-intense religious persecutions and even harsher legal prohibitions, American Catholics in the colonies simply refused not to be Catholic. These pages show that from the Jesuit manor houses that planted the seeds of faith in Maryland to the solitary missionary priests who evangelized the New York regions, Catholics kept the faith . . . even unto death. Pioneer Priests and Makeshift Altars is indispensable reading for souls interested in the deep roots of Catholicism in America, and in the holy courage of scores of Catholics who kept remorseless forces from snuffing their faith out. Among other things, you’ll learn here: Why Catholics left the old world for America: their reasons were often not religiousThe tale of The Ark and The Dove that carried the first settlers to MarylandThe Puritan ascendancy that too soon outlawed Catholicism in MarylandThe sole Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence: Can you name him?The surprisingly powerful anti-Catholic sentiments of most of the Founding FathersThe friend of George Washington who became the first Bishop of BaltimoreThe great Catholic post-Revolutionary War migration from Maryland to KentuckyThe cosmopolitan colony whose robust religious liberty was more favorable that Maryland to CatholicismThe Quaker/Catholic alliance that promoted both religionsThe role of persecuted Catholics in the Revolutionary WarWhy, in that War, many Catholics favored the anti-Catholic BritishThe French Jesuits who evangelized New York and its frontier areas, and the saints who were martyred thereThe Iroquois maiden who converted and became a saintThe years in which, throughout the colonies, Catholics became an endangered speciesPlus: much more to acquaint you with the proud heritage of Catholics in the earliest years of our nation!