About This Issue

In 2006, the Vatican Archives made available to scholars the documents of the pontificate of Pius XI (1922-1939). In our lead article, Professor Massimo Faggioli (University of St. Thomas, MN) utilizes these newly available documents to show the exchanges between the Vatican Secretary of State and the Vatican’s diplomatic post in Washington, DC, during the time of the presidential election of 1928. His narrative and analysis are rewarding.

Professor Susanna Kelly Engbers (Ferris State University, MI) tells us of Jane Campbell (1845-1928) who maintained leadership roles in both the Catholic Church and the suffrage community (specifically the American Woman Suffrage Association). Jane was, in fact, an important part of the early leadership of the American Catholic Historical Society.

Nicholas Pellegrino, a doctoral candidate in the History Department of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in “John Carroll, American Catholics, and the Making of a Christian Nation” explores how Catholics navigated the links between religion and citizenship.

In “Merton at One Hundred: Reflections on The Seven Storey Mountain,” distinguished contributors Lawrence S. Cunningham, James Martin, SJ, Monica Weiss, SSJ, and Julie Leininger Pycior reflect on the impact of Merton’s memoir on their scholarship and personal journey. Two Merton related books are found in our review section, and our cover article by Jack Downey (La Salle University), with great insight and scholarship, takes us along for Merton’s fateful 1968 trip in Asia.

We are grateful for all of our contributors to this issue.