Pilgrims to the Northland: The Archdiocese of St. Paul, 1840-1962

Chapter 18: Prayer and People

c h a p t e r 1 8 Prayer and People 440 All politics, the conventional wisdom has it, is local. And so in the last analysis is the mission of the Catholic Church. The local school or hospital, and particularly the local parish, provides the venue wherein the baptized man and woman work out their vocation. While he recognized the truth of this adage, Austin Dowling often found the fact narrow and constraining. This was why he instituted centralized organization and­ direction of the school system within the archdiocese of St. Paul, why he encouraged broad associations of lay people like the Knights of Columbus and the Daughters of Isabella. The same conviction led him to participate so actively in the national endeavor to bring the ethos of Catholicism to bear on the larger American scene. He applauded the proliferation within the United States of exclusively Catholic societies in the professions, so long as that exclusivity was geared to promote rather than depart from what he saw as genuine American ideals—the Catholic “mold” was the surest instrument to guarantee that what emerged from the melting pot would preserve the best of the American tradition. His considerable contribution to the work of the fledgling National Catholic Welfare Conference was inspired by the same strong commitment to the “second phase” of Americanism.1 His attitude was an amalgam of the religious, the cultural, and the conventionally patriotic. Even so, Archbishop Dowling knew that his primary responsibility lay within his own jurisdiction. Indeed, he realized that any national aspirations he and other Catholics in leadership roles might hope to fulfill would depend at the end on the character of the local churches. In 1923, in preparing the re1 . See chapter 17, above. I Prayer and People 441 quired quinquennial report to Rome, he set down with characteristic candor his analysis of the state of the archdiocese of St. Paul, which, in his mind, was a microcosm of Catholicism in America.2 Dowling had no doubts about the basic faithfulness of his flock. “There is a most admirable frequentation of churches,” he wrote, “an extraordinary willingness to receive the sacraments. . . . It may be truthfully said that our people love the Church.” But that was not the whole story. In the somber temper that he so often displayed, the archbishop confessed that much of the manner in which Catholics lived out their calling remained “unsatisfactory” to him. There often seems to be little depth to their piety. There is the very large number of mixed marriages, there is the dearth of vocations, there is the very slight evidence of Catholic thought or discipline upon the public life of the community. There are many reasons for this condition. . . . In the first place, our people are all immigrants or the children of immigrants . They were poor a short while ago. The only thing they have of their past is their religion. All the things they have to remember are associated with poverty and the disadvantageous position of a foreigner. As they progress in wealth and station, they frequently strive to hide their origins, to change their names, and to affect manners that do not belong to them. Even when they keep up the practice of their religion, they are frequently ashamed of it. Then the overwhelming majority of the population is non-Catholic and frequently prejudiced against the Church. A Catholic could not be elected governor of this state no matter what his good qualities. The Church is very unpopular with a large number, and this unpopularity affects the practice of religion by many Catholics. Americans do not like to belong to an unpopular party, one that has no chance of winning. A third party has never been possible in the political alignment of this country. This sentiment weakens the religion of many Catholics. 2. For what follows, see Ad Limina Report, 1924 (copy), AASPM, Dowling­ Papers. Every five years each diocesan bishop is required to submit a report to the Roman curia, usually in person and always in writing, on the spiritual and material condition of his jurisdiction. The technical term is Ad Limina Apostolorum, to the doorsteps of the apostles, that is, to the Rome of SS. Peter and Paul. Dowling spent the early months of 1924 in Europe. He was received in audience by Pius XI on January 31. 442 Pilgrims to the Northland True as many of these...