Dougherty’s Movie Boycott
On May 23, 1934, Cardinal Dougherty called on all Catholics living in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to boycott motion picture theaters.[1] By doing so, Dougherty declared it sinful for any of the area’s 800,000 Catholics to enter a movie theater. In his letter to the priests of the Archdiocese, Dougherty
An “Un-American Invention”?: Catholics and the Issue of Prohibition
The 18th Amendment which outlawed the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol was ratified on January 16, 1919. The amendment was passed with the belief that by banning alcohol many of the negative aspects associated with drunkenness would be removed from society. For this reason, many Protestant religions embraced the
Victory Mass
With the outbreak of World War II, the Catholic Church in America declared their support to the American war effort. Nowhere was this more evident than in Philadelphia, when Cardinal Dougherty held a Mass to “obtain from the mercy of God our country’s victory.”[1] The Mass was scheduled for
World War One Army Chaplains
With the upcoming 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, this month’s blog post looks at the contribution of Catholic chaplains. The history of chaplains in the United States date back to the American Revolution when the Centennial Congress created the Chaplain Corps; however, Catholic priests would not