When we think of the Fourth of July, I would venture to say that our Catholic faith does not immediately pop into our minds. After all, it is a secular holiday. Although at daily Masses throughout our country we offer prayers for the United States, the day is given over to parades, cookouts, and fireworks. Yet on this day, we may wish to reflect on how our faith has contributed to the nation we are today.
It’s hard to say who was the first Catholic to walk the shores of what would become the United States. But, it is clear that Catholics were here from the beginning, from the Spanish missionaries who established the first Catholic Church in what would become the United States in St. Augustine, Florida and along the Californian coast, to the French missionaries who helped establish the faith throughout what would become much of New England and along the Mississippi River. Many of us may not be aware that it was a small group of Polish Catholic glass makers who settled Jamestown in 1608 and that the colony of Maryland, established in 1632, was a haven for Catholics facing persecution in England. From Maryland would come Charles Carroll, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence.
While Catholics came to the colonies, their numbers remained small. Laws were made in almost every colony that limited the freedoms of Catholics. However, it was during the American Revolution that Catholics began to gain acceptance and respect. Prominent Catholics during the American Revolution such as John Barry, Head of the Navy, and Mary Waters who established hospitals in Philadelphia for wounded soldiers, helped our fellow Americans see that Catholics were committed to Independence.
Following the American Revolution, Catholics still only made up about 2% of the total population but that began to change in a dramatic way because of two events in Europe. The wars in Germany and the potato famine in Ireland caused millions of Catholic immigrants to flood into the United States in the early years of the nineteenth century, forever changing the very nature of our country.
Even though their population was growing, Catholics faced many difficulties which would spark anti-Catholic sentiments and even violence in many American cities. Yet, Catholic immigrants continued to flow into our country. In the final years of the nineteenth century and the opening decades of the twentieth century, the floodgates were open and millions of Catholic immigrants came into the United States from eastern and southern Europe. They brought with them unique culinary and cultural traditions that would be woven into the fabric of American life.
Throughout the twentieth century, new Catholic immigrants from Asia, Africa, and South America continued to come to our shores searching for freedom and religious tolerance. With each successive generation, Catholics continue to contribute to the fabric of our nation. Today, nearly one-fifth of our population is Catholic. Some studies suggest that Catholics serve at a higher level than any other religious group in politics and our military.
Our Catholic forbearers brought with them the beauty of our Catholic faith and helped ensure that the ideals of freedom and equality would be more than just words on the pages of our founding documents.
As we celebrate the Fourth of July, let us also remember and give thanks to our Catholic forebearers who helped establish Catholicism in this beautiful country and let us, with our fellow Americans, offer up the prayer, God Bless America.
Fr. Steven Shott, OSFS
Pastor
St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Glen Mills, PA
