The Seventy-Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association

MISCELLANY THE SEVENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Report of the Chairman ofthe Committee on Program The Association met along with the American Historical Association at a cluster of downtown hotels in Atlanta betweenJanuary 4 and 7, 1996. Catholic historians arriving from freezing northern cities marveled at the mildness of the air, the feeling of spring, and the ferment of Olympic fever that has seized the city. By the end of the conference they were intellectually uplifted but meteorologically downhearted. A night of heavy rain and a sudden freeze turned the city into a treacherous ice rink, closed the airport, and compelled members to spend a great deal longer waiting to get home than they would have chosen. But at least this enforced leisure gave them the chance to reflect on the papers they had heard in the foregoing days. The first session, held on Friday morning, addressed "Vatican Diplomacy and the Dictators." Professor Stewart Stehlin of New York University presided. Professor William Roberts of Fairleigh Dickinson University spoke first, on "Ercole Cardinal Consalvi and Napoleonic France." Next, Professor Frank Coppa of St. John's University, NewYork, spoke on "Pietro Cardinal Garparri and Mussolini's Italy," and third Professor Joseph Beisinger of Eastern Kentucky University addressed "Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli and Hitler's Germany." Each of these papers considered the role of leading Vatican diplomats and showed that these three Vatican Secretaries of State were able to negotiate an advantageous position for their Church despite having to work under difficult and sometimes hostile conditions . Questions from the commentator, Dr. Richard Wolff, and from the audience centered on the relationship of trust between the Secretaries and their respective pontiffs, and on the moral dilemmas inherent in negotiating compromises with these dictatorial regimes. At the same time, nearby, a second group went "In Search of Southern Catholic Parish History," under the chairmanship ofProfessor Michael Namorato of the University of Mississippi. The session featured three presentations on different approaches to studying parish history in the South. The first was an overview of existing Southern parish histories by Dr. Charles Nolan, the Archdiocesan Archivist of New Orleans, who also offered the example of St. Mary's Parish in Natchez, as a theological and historical model for study. Second, Professor RichardTristano of St. Mary's College of Minnesota presented his study of 225 226 MISCELLANY the Holy Family Parish in Natchez as a case study in microhistory, and third, Professor Virginia Meacham Gould of De KaIb College, Georgia, presented her study of Catholic families and communities of free creóles of color in antebellum Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida. The commentary, from Professor James M. Woods of Georgia Southern University and from the audience, emphasized the papers' innovative, scholarly perspectives and the need for additional sound historical studies of Southern congregations in general. That afternoon the ACHA and the American Society of Church History held a joint session on "The Varieties of American Catholic Politics," chaired by James T. Fisher, Danforth Professor of Religion at Saint Louis University, before a large and enthusiastic crowd. Presenting papers were Jeffrey Marlett of Saint Louis University, Professor Paula Kane of the University of Pittsburgh, and Professor Timothy Sarbaugh of Gonzaga University. In "Ascetical Romanticism: Revisioning Isaac Hecker's Political Theory," Mr. Marlett argued that Isaac Hecker, long after his conversion, remained deeply influenced by Methodist-inspired reform politics as well as by the romantic spirituality of Transcendentalism. Ms. Kane, in "Our Bodies Politic:American Catholic Women and Their Histories,"provided a Lacanian reading of recent church documents concerning the role of women and argued for greater attentiveness to theoretical insights linking gender and religious studies. Mr. Sarbaugh's paper,"John F Kennedy and the Politics ofReligion , 1946-1960," presented an interpretation of the "religious issue" as it was understood both by Kennedy himself and by non-Catholic pundits and political figures in the years leading up to his election to the Presidency in I960. The commentator, Professor Roy P. Domenico of Northeast Missouri State University , skillfully linked these papers together thematically, while providing fresh perspectives from the history of European Catholicism. The members of the association gathered at 4:45 to discuss business and hear...