Mary Brackett Willcox and Catholicism in the Suburbs
A New England Puritan becomes a prominent and influential Catholic in the Diocese of Philadelphia. An unlikely story but one that happened to Mary Brackett. Mary was born in 1796 in Massachusetts to Captain James Brackett and Elizabeth Odiorne.[1] In 1819, she married James Mark Willcox from Ivy Mill, PA.[2]
Catholic Interracial Council
In the 1930s, there was a growing interest in cooperation between white and black Catholics to work against prejudice and towards interracial justice. This led to the creation of the Catholic Interracial Council of New York in 1934 by Father John LaFarge, S.J.[1] LaFarge hoped that local chapters would be
Irish Catholics and Secret Societies
The Catholic Church has a long history of opposing secret societies, partly because of the oaths of loyalty involved in such groups. Nevertheless, during the 1800s there were two major organizations that attracted numbers of Irish Catholics: the Fenian Brotherhood and the Molly Maguires. The Fenian Brotherhood was founded in
Catholic Philopatrian Literary Institute
The oldest Catholic lay educational society in America was founded on December 22, 1850 by Father Edward Sourin (later a member of the Society of Jesus).[1] Named, Catholic Philopatrian Literary Institute, it was organized as a fraternal setting in which young Catholic men could “cultivate and improve the minds… and