The History of Catholic America
Changing America

The 1950s brought back memories of other decades. War erupted in Korea - except it was officially known as "a police action." Racial prejudice came under government fire, with President Truman's Executive Order, in 1948, ending segregation in the armed forces and then the outlawing of segregation in public schools in 1954. This was also the year in which "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Confraternities of Christian doctrine and decent literature committees assumed new importance. Parish-to-servicemen publications and holiday-gift-package programs were revived. And, in 1959, two new states, Hawaii and Alaska, joined the Union.

But, for the Church, the country, and the world, the sixties embraced an astonishing number of turning-points. The decade opened with John Kennedy, a Catholic of Irish heritage, being nominated for the presidency, and again there were some Ku Klux Klan rumblings. But an era of great openness and instant communication was in full swing, and would be enforced and emphasized by the fresh, clear spirit of "Aggiornamento" provided by Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council. The American people sought to be well informed and, as historian Francis J. Lally states in The Catholic Church In A Changing America:

"The characteristic fairness of Americans saw to it that in unfriendly areas where Catholics and the Catholic position seemed to be under attack, equal time and equal space were provided for Catholic rejoinders and for explanations of the true position of the Church on vexing questions. No one can estimate the direct fruits of this exposure in terms of votes, but one thing is sure: many ancient illusions were dispelled simply by the dissemination of authentic information on religious matters into areas formerly closed against it."

One of Pope John XXIII's first concerns when he ascended the pontiff's throne in 1958 had been the convening of an Ecumenical Council. One of John Kennedy's first acts as president of the United States was the creation of the Peace Corps. The world was moving ever closer to unity and brotherhood. Ecumenism was the upcoming byword.

The post-war building boom had started a population movement that carried over into the sixties. A typical shift would see an inner-city parish, in the span of a decade, evolve from Irish step-dancing to Spanish fiestas and African-American soul food. As various ethnic groups fled city ghettoes and immigrants of other nationalities refilled them, as younger people married and moved up and out into new subdivisions, while their Social Security-supported parents remained rooted, as whole parishes seemed to come and go, merge and separate, with the shifting sands of time and fortune, Catholic building and refurbishing programs alternately suffered and prospered. In some areas, Catholic schools - even modern, not-yet-paid-for facilities - closed down as teaching orders dwindled, costs rose, and enrollments dropped. But even now, other congregations are constructing institutions of learning for their sons and daughters. And some of the over-ambitious "white elephants" of the past (seminary buildings, schools, and churches in dilapidated inner city areas) are being adapted to new uses.

The entire world joined in mourning as the two Johns left this mortal life in 1963. The pope was taken in June. An assassin's bullet claimed President Kennedy in November. Surely, John XXIII had spoken for both of them when he said earlier that year:

"All human beings ought to reckon that what has been accomplished is but little in comparison to what remains to be done... Organs of production, trade unions, associations, professional organizations, insurance systems, political regimes, institutions for culture, health, recreation, or sporting purposes... must all be adjusted to the era of the atom, and of the conquest of space: An era which the human family has already entered, wherein it has commenced its new advance toward limitless horizons."

Here was a decade in which churches - their priests and their people - became actively involved in projects such as the building of community centers, work programs, urban renewal, participation in marches and picket lines, census taking, interdenominational councils, summer day camps, vocational training, surveys, recreational programs, senior citizens' facilities and activities, Head Start and Montessori schools, classes for the retarded and handicapped, Red Cross bloodmobile visits, sponsorship of sports programs for youngsters - programs available to those of all races and creeds.

This is not to say that the Catholic Church has not always been involved in missions to the community. In fact, the record of Archbishop James Quigley, who came to Chicago from Buffalo, New York, in 1903, is not unusual, even though impressive. He not only founded seventy-five new churches and ninety schools during his thirteen-year administration, but he opened the Cathedral College in 1905 as the nucleus of the archdiocesan seminary, founded the Working Boys' Home on Jackson Boulevard, the Ephpheta School for the Deaf, St. Joseph's Home for the Friendless, and developed Archbishop Feehan's project, St. Mary's Training School. These were similar to the works of the sixties, but with one important difference. Today's Church and her services are missions of parishioners. To be first in extending a helping hand is no longer the duty of the religious alone.

On January 11, 1964, Pope Paul VI said:

"We must give the life of the Church new attitudes of mind, new standards of behavior; make it rediscover a spiritual beauty in all its aspects - in the sphere of thought and word, in prayer and methods of education, in art and canon law. A unanimous effort is needed in which all groups must offer their cooperation. May everyone hear the call which Christ is making to him through our voice."

And God's people responded. Even in the midst of murder and mayhem. Sometimes in answer to the murder and mayhem.

In 1964, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. conferred with Pope Paul and Archbishop John Dearden. In the face of racial tensions, he organized the Archbishop's Committee on Human Relations. But it was also a year of racial disturbances in Harlem.

In February of 1965, the United States bombed North Vietnam and Malcolm X was shot as he addressed his Afro-American Unity organization in New York City. In August, the Watts riots cost thirty lives. Massive anti-war demonstrations rocked the Capitol. Then Pope Paul, on a mission of peace, visited New York - the first Supreme Pontiff to come to these shores.

On that one day, October 4, 1965, Pope Paul inspired a nation in person and through the miracle of television, as he conferred with President Johnson, spoke to representatives of the world in his message to the United Nations, attended an interfaith meeting at Holy Family Church, celebrated a Papal Mass for Peace at Yankee Stadium, and visited the Vatican Pavilion at the World's Fair. Those who heard were encouraged and enlightened for Pope Paul's words were echoes of the Ecumenical Council, bringing joy not only to those of the Catholic faith but to all peace-loving peoples:

"Peace must be built; it must be built up every day by works of peace. These works of peace are, first of all, social order; then, aid to the poor, who still make up an immense multitude of the world population, aid to the needy, the weak, the sick, the ignorant. Peace must be like a garden, in which public and private beneficence cultivates the choicest flowers of friendship, of solidarity, of charity and love."

But not all people listened. Not all hearts were opened.

On Sunday, July 23, 1967, six days of rioting began in Detroit. During those terror-filled hours, forty-one died, five thousand were rendered homeless, and property damage mounted to five hundred million dollars. The pale stone statue of Christ at Sacred Heart Seminary was painted black - with the careful application of jet black paint to its face and hands. Other riots continued to erupt throughout the country - racial, anti-war, antidraft. In the following year, both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy were victims of assassins' bullets.

But it was in 1969 that the man-made miracle of the century occurred as the world watched and waited. Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr., took a giant step for mankind - onto the moon.