Philadelphia’s First Catholic Cathedral

...races its history to 1763, when a second church was needed for the growing number of Catholics in the city. Built on land originally bought to serve as a cemetery for Old St. Joseph’s, Old St. Mary’s was referred to as “Mission Number 1” as St. Joseph’s was seen as

Continue reading

World War One Army Chaplains

...chbishop Prendergast in 1906, Father Wolfe served as assistant pastor to a number of parishes including St. Patrick’s and Assumption B.V.M.[4] When the United States entered World War I, Father Wolfe applied to be an army chaplain, being first assigned to Camp Meade in Maryland. In May 1918, he was

Continue reading

Catholics in WWII

...ives under somewhat difficult circumstances.”[8] Larkin often wrote that many non-Catholics would attend Mass and he had high numbers of confessions. He did complain about the difficulty in attending to all the men under his care as he had no transportation to get to those stationed away from the main

Continue reading

Thomas Nast Anti-Irish Cartoons

...ngs stemmed from the allegiance of the Irish Catholics, who were seen by many Americans as loyal to the pope over the United States. Indeed, many believed that Catholicism was incompatible with democracy and that it threatened the established Protestant culture in the country.[7] “Something that will not "blow over."

Continue reading