Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

McNamara's Blog

Home
Catholic

Archives

Select a Category African-American Catholics Alabama Catholics American Catholic History American Catholic women American History Anniversaries Anti-Catholicism Arkansas Catholics Benedictines Bishops Blessed John Henry Newman Book Reviews Books Boston College Brooklyn churches Brothers California Catholics Capuchins Cardinals Carlo Carretto Carmelites Catholic authors Catholic Cemeteries Catholic Historians Catholic History in Less Than 5 Minutes Catholic musicians Catholic Poetry Catholic Press Catholic School Textbook Catholic University of America Catholic Worker Catholics and Music Catholics and Race Catholics in Politics Catholics in the American Revolution Catholics in the Military Catholics in the Movies Catholics in the South Catholics in the West Catholics on Stage Catjolic Women Catolic Poetry Charles de Foucauld Children's Masses Christian Brothers Christmas Church Reform Civil Rights Movement Civil War Colleges and universities Converts D.C. Catholics Deaf Catholics Dominicans. Dorothy Day English Catholics Florida Catholics Fordham University Franciscans French Catholics Georgetown University German Americans Good Shepherd Sisters Hispanic Catholics Historians and Archivists Holy Cross Fathers Holy Name Society Idaho Catholics Illinois Catholics Indian Wars Indiana Catholics Irish Americans Irish Catholicism Italian Americans Italian Catholics Jesuits Josephite Sisters Kentucky Catholics Know-Nothings Laetare Medal Recipients laity Liturgical Movement Maine Catholics Manhattan College Maryland Catholicism Michigan Catholics Middle Ages Minnesota Catholics Missionaries Mississippi Catholics Missouri Catholics Monasteries Montana Catholics Native Americans New England Catholicism New Jersey Catholics New York Catholics North American College Ohio Catholics Oratorians Oregon Catholics Parish Mission Parishes Passionists Pat McNamara's Books Paulists Pennsylvania Catholics Popes Presidents Priests Quotations Religious Orders Rhode Island Catholics Saints Salesians Seminarians Seminaries Sermons Servants of God Siisters of Charity Sisters of Mercy South Carolina Catholics Spanish-American War Sports St. Francis of Assiai St. John Henry Newman Suplicians Tennessee Catholics Texas Catholics The year in review Thomas Merton Throwback Thursday Photograph Trappists Uncategorized University of Notre Dame Video Presentations Vincentians Virginia Catholics Visitation Nuns Washington West Point West Virginia Catholics West Viriginia Catholics Wisconsin Catholicism Women Religious World War II

Select a Month December 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 March 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008

December 2020

December 21, 2020

St. John Henry Newman and the “Special Charm of Christmas”

I grew up in the pre-internet age, so I still have a sense of awe...

June 2020

June 08, 2020

American Catholics and Race in 2020: A Church Historian’s Reflection

“Are We There Yet?” Over the past week, we’ve looked at some painful history. While...

June 07, 2020

“It’s About Time They Got Here”: Catholics and the Civil Rights Movement

Charity Not Enough Today we focus on a brighter spot in American Catholic history: the...

June 06, 2020

The Struggle for an African American Priesthood

"The Dignity of the Priesthood" In a sermon on “The True Priesthood,” delivered at Brooklyn’s...

June 05, 2020

A House Divided: The American Bishops and the Civil War

A Hierarchy Divided As we mentioned earlier, some mainline Protestant Churches formally divided over the...

June 04, 2020

Convents White and Black

American Sisters and Social Justice Many today are familiar with the photos of American women...

June 03, 2020

American Catholics and the 1619 Project

American Catholics and Slavery Throughout the centuries leading up to Emancipation, many slaveholders were...

June 02, 2020

White American Catholics and Race: A Church Historian’s Reflection (Part One)

Race in American Life When you look at English history, most scholars would agree that...

May 2020

May 30, 2020

This Week in America: What Would St. Francis Do?

A Drawing in the Middle of the Night Last night, I had trouble sleeping, which...

May 26, 2020

John Wayne and the Catholic Church

John Wayne and the Catholics For me today is a big “OTD” moment. That’s because,...

May 22, 2020

A Great Book for Memorial Day– Catholics and the Civil War

The Best Father’s Day Present Last Father’s Day, I got a book I'd wanted for...

May 21, 2020

General Sherman Speaks at Notre Dame, 1865

The Sherman Family and the Catholic Church For decades, the University of Notre Dame has...

May 20, 2020

McNamara’s Catholic Poets: Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson

What’s Catholic Poetry? It’s poetry imbued with what the late Father Andrew Greeley called “the...

May 19, 2020

Who’s Buried in Catholic Cemeteries?

Brigadier General James Rowan O’Beirne (1839-1917)-- Calvary Cemetery, Woodside, New York. One of the great things...

May 14, 2020

Prayer and Action: The Forgotten History of the Liturgical Movement

If you’ve never heard of the Liturgical Movement, you’re missing out on one of the...

May 13, 2020

Never on This Earth….

Book sales are dear to my heart. Especially Catholic ones. I can spend hours going...

May 12, 2020

A Church Historian’s First Communion

On a sunny Saturday morning in May 1976, I made my First Holy Communion at...

April 2020

April 09, 2020

A Letter from the Desert

Pascal once said that most of our problems as human beings stem from our inability...

April 01, 2020

The Consolation of Poetry

As a human community, we’ve been going through a tough time, to say the least....

March 2020

March 27, 2020

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga: A Reflection for Troubled Times

Friends, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything for McNamara’s Blog, so bear with...

March 05, 2019

Pope Pius XII, the Vatican Archives, and the Holocaust

Pope Francis has just announced that on March 2, 2020, the Vatican Archives relating to...

March 03, 2019

As St. Patrick’s Day Approaches: An Irish American Poem

An Irish Dominican, Thomas Nicholas Burke, O.P. (1830-1882), was one of the premier Catholic preachers...

March 02, 2019

National Catholic Sisters Week 2019: An Appreciation

In ten years of blogging Catholic history, I’ve written a fair amount about women religious....

February 2019

February 28, 2019

The Council of Trent– And Church Reform Today

The late Father Andrew Greeley once called the Catholic Church’s current sex scandals the biggest...

February 24, 2019

Newman, the Scandals, and the Laity

Pope Francis has formally cleared the way for the canonization of Blessed John Henry Newman...

February 20, 2019

Nuns as Sex Slaves: Fact, Fiction, and Maria Monk

Pope Francis raised more than a few eyebrows recently when he addressed the sexual exploitation...

February 19, 2019

Brooklyn’s Prep Seminary Graduates its First Class, 1919

CATHEDRAL COLLEGE HAS COMMENCEMENT. Catholic Preparatory Seminary Sends Forth its First Graduates. The Brooklyn Eagle, June 24,...

February 18, 2019

Looking at the Scandals– A Church Historian’s Perspective

This past Friday, my home diocese of Brooklyn released the names of 108 men accused...

February 11, 2019

“France is Born Anew in Brooklyn”: Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Bushwick

Today is the the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, which offers us the opportunity...

February 04, 2019

“I No Longer Call You Slaves”: Race, Religion, and the Healy Brothers

By any standard, the Healys were an impressive family. Michael, the father, was an Irish...