A History of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio. Volume I: The Mussio Years (1945-1977) By Francis F. Brown (review)

BCX)K REVIEWS 469 enees for its membership. Their involvement and integration in the world shifted their views toward the state and led Mennonites away from a separated church-and-state vision to a new emphasis on their moral responsibility in the world. The meek and mild became active peacemakers seeking ways to resist oppression and social injustice. The theological brokers found ways to turn the nonresistant tradition on its conceptual head to sanction civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance. Driedger and Kraybill are fearful that these changes "have resulted in a pleasant veneer of contemporary peacemaking that will crack under the stress of harsh political conditions." It is the old story of a Christian community trying to do good and ending up doing well. This is a highly readable book which provides not only a basic history of the Mennonites and their current status, but also provides a thorough understanding of the theological transformation from nonresistance as church doctrine to active nonviolent peacemaking with respect for individual conscience within their historic peace church tradition. Thus, today's mainline Mennonites and Brethren in Christ have pasted the label of peacemaking on such wide-ranging efforts that only a few congregations have been willing to require a firm commitment to peacemaking as a requirement for church membership. This theological transformation that the authors examined would have had greater significance if they had placed it within the context of comparative studies in American religion. Regrettably, they made no such attempt. Patricia McNeal Indiana University, South Bend A History of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio. Volume I: The Mussio Years (1945-1977). By Francis F. Brown. (Lewiston, New York: The Edward Mellen Press. 1994. Pp. lxi, 504. «119.95.) In the volume under review, Father Francis F. Brown has written a firstperson account of the foundation of the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, and the ensuing three decades of Bishop John King Mussio's tenure as ordinary. Father Brown himselfwas active in the diocese for most of this period, usually in some official diocesan position. It is important to realize that the work is more of a memoir with historical material than a history of the diocese following strict historical methodology. In the introduction the author admits that he does not consider himself to be an historian but rather "a journalist with some sense of history." He relies primarily upon his own memory, the diocesan newspaper ofwhich he had been the editor, and extensive interviews with more than one hundred persons involved in the life and the work of the diocese during its first thirty-two years. The author states explicitly that he has avoided the diocesan archives, in part because of the destruction of the 470 BOOK REVIEWS priests' confidential files by the second bishop of the diocese, Albert Ottenweller . Given this approach, the work lacks the historical objectivity that one would expect to find in a work entitled a History of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio. Conjectures and opinions are given about episcopal motives, some of which might be quite valid, but without the backing of archival material they often remain simply in the realm of conjecture and opinion. The reader learns a great deal about how others perceived the actions of Bishop Mussio but not necessarily why the bishop acted as he did. This is not to say that the work does not have value. Father Brown gives a great deal of factual material about the diocese and the oral testimony that he presents is of genuine value. He strives for objectivity in presenting views other than his own and is generally successful in this endeavor. The Diocese of Steubenville encompasses an area that has long been depressed economically and at times the very continuance of the diocese has been questioned. The story is rather inspiring in terms of the sacrifices made by the priests, religious, and laity of the diocese. The author writes with an engaging style that displays his journalistic background. Often he shows a sense of humor such as when he describes how he himself was relieved of the title of Monsignor . The book could have benefited from a more thorough editing since there are...