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The Catholic Historical Review 86.4 (2000) 706-708



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Book Review

History of the Diocese of Toledo

American


History of the Diocese of Toledo. By Lawrence A. Mossing. Volume I: General History prior to and after Its Establishment in 1910. (1983. Pp. xxii, 244.) Volume II: Northern Ohio, West Section: Missionary and Parish History. (1984. Pp. x, 222.) Volume III: Northern Ohio, West Central Section, Toledo and Lucas County. (1985. Pp. xii, 242.) Volume IV: Northern Ohio, West Central and Central Sections. (1986. Pp. xv, 328.) Volume V: Giant in the Diocese of Toledo: A History of Most Reverend Joseph Schrembs, D.D., First Bishop of Toledo. (1987. Pp. xii, 153.) Volume VI: Young Shepherd in the Diocese of Toledo: A History of Most Reverend Samuel A. Stritch, D.D., Second Bishop of Toledo. (1988. Pp. xii, 160.) Volume VII: The Bishop Alter Years in the Diocese of Toledo: A History of Most Reverend Karl J. Alter, D.D., Third Bishop of Toledo. (1989. Pp. xii, 157.) Volume VIII: The Golden Era in the Diocese of Toledo: A History of the Most Reverend George J. Rehring, S.T.D., Fourth Bishop of Toledo. (1991. Pp. xiv, 210.) Volume IX: The Church in Transition in the Diocese of Toledo: A History of the Most Reverend John A. Donovan, D.D., Fifth Bishop of Toledo. (1994. Pp. xiv, 120. All volumes published by the Diocese of Toledo, 1933 Spielbush Avenue, Toledo, Ohio 43624.)

Monsignor Lawrence Mossing notes in the introduction to the first volume that he initially began working on his nine-volume History of the Diocese of Toledo in 1951 while he was writing his doctoral dissertation at the University of Innsbruck. After serving for twenty-eight years on the Diocesan Tribunal in Toledo, he was released from that work and was able to devote himself to historical research and writing. Needless to say, he has produced a massive work which covers the history of the Diocese of Toledo from the beginnings of Catholicism in Ohio down to the resignation of the fifth bishop of Toledo, the Most Reverend John A. Donovan, in 1980. His approach in writing such a history is very logical, and he divides the material into three parts. The first volume gives a general overview of the diocese's history. Volumes II through IV describe the history of the different parishes. Each volume deals with a particular section of the diocese, and parishes are individually listed and treated according to the county in which they are located. Organized according to the terms of the different pastors, the individual parish histories tend to be institutional histories centered mainly on the building of churches and schools. Particularly helpful is the inclusion of the statistics of parish membership at the end of each decade. This enables the reader to see quite graphically a parish's growth or decline over a period of time. Finally, volumes V through IX deal with the reigns of the diocese's first five bishops. It is here that the author describes the development [End Page 706] of high schools, charitable institutions and agencies, as well as the growth or decline of religious orders and congregations. He is particularly thorough in volume IX in his discussion of the implementation of Vatican Council II in the Diocese of Toledo. Each volume of the history contains numerous photographs, primarily of churches, schools, and diocesan institutions. In writing this history Monsignor Mossing relies heavily upon previously published histories (especially for the pre-history of the diocese), parish histories, newspapers (both Catholic and secular), status animarum reports, and the Official Diocesan Yearbook which was published by the Diocese of Toledo from 1913 to 1935 and again from 1939 to 1974. While there is considerable evidence of archival research in terms of official documents, little personal correspondence appears in the text.

As might be expected when an author has written nine volumes, Monsignor Mossing has accumulated an enormous amount of material. Although at times the History of the Diocese of Toledo is rather tedious reading, it is quite obviously a labor...

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