Frontiers of Faith: Bringing Catholicism to the West in the Early Republic

2. A Central Role for Priests

19 chapter 2 A central Role for Priests Passing through the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania in the fall of 1807, traveling along rough roads and trails, Father Badin “found catholics almost every where,” not only those he saw with his own eyes, or with whom he talked and prayed, but “many more . . . known or scattered about” in between the ohio and the Monongahela rivers. in reporting to Bishop carroll about his trip through a region that remained a frontier for the catholic church, he described the hazards, burdens, and obstacles the faithful faced. Unfortunately , he observed, some of the catholics he encountered “do but faintly acknowledge what they are, others sink into heresy or latitudinarianism.” the problem, Badin noted, was that they were without clergy; “there is no rallying point, or priest to commune with.”1 these conditions were familiar after his fourteen years missionizing in the West. they would remain typical for several more years in Pennsylvania, as well as in ohio, Kentucky, and indiana, and then be repeated in the western states beyond. What was needed was evident—more priests. Badin knew it, Bishop carroll and later bishops and archbishops struggled to address it, and settlers in the backcountry dealt with it year after year. But what kind of priest would suffice in the West? Getting the right kind was another perennial problem. Badin had an answer during his journey through Pennsylvania in 1807. After years of working alone in Kentucky, putting up with all kinds of privations, he outlined for Bishop carroll the most important characteristics a frontier priest should possess, particularly in a place like southwest- 20 Frontiers of Faith ern Pennsylvania where there were already many active Protestant churches. the successful backwoods missionary must be “indefatigable ,” “dexterous,” and extremely hardy, resistant to “disagreeable weather, cross-rides, disappointments, and even insults,” exhibiting an outward assertiveness able to subdue troublemakers, both within the catholic community and from outside. this latter point he stressed. Rather than masking their catholic identity or avoiding confrontations and riding past potential trouble, Badin urged his brethren “not to be backward in acknowledging anywhere or rather in making known their sacerdotal character.” Frontier priests, in “the spirit of the ancient Jesuits,” he concluded, “should be always ready to give a sermon an exhortation or a controversial speech publicly or privately.”2 Priests in trans-Appalachia had a central role in catholic community , not only as spiritual leaders, but in other spheres as well. Frontier clergy tried to control access to the sacraments, foster piety and spirituality, and provide religious instruction, but they were influential figures for additional reasons. in some cases they sought to guarantee the general moral and political order of settlements. clergy also could be entrepreneurs in land development and business , and focal points of sectarian controversy or cooperation. they worked to make themselves crucial to the catholic march inland and to become the central points of interaction with non-catholics— organizing parishes, helping to establish schools, raising money for churches and building them, collecting decorative and devotional items for these houses of worship, and even traveling to Europe to gather additional support. central as they tried to be, clergymen often felt overstressed by the demands placed on them in ministering across such extensive areas to lay catholics who were often either too poor or too parsimonious to assist the clerics make anything but a meager living . Priests, however, were not completely at the mercy of their parishioners. they were mobile and could be recalled to the East or transferred farther west. they were empowered to provide or withhold sacraments, and this helped to structure the lives of lay catholics. in an environment of short supply and high demand for sacraments, therefore, clergy readily found opportunities to adopt more welcoming parishes farther into unsettled regions of the West. Moreover, priests in frontier areas took on multiple roles as A central Role for Priests 21 social, economic, and sectarian leaders in their communities, which strengthened their position. Seeing the needs of their parishioners, priests tried to answer them in ways that sustained their personal authority and that of the catholic church. Few Good Men Because catholic clergy, like their Protestant and evangelical Protestant counterparts, were in short supply in the trans-Appalachian West, they were often separated from their colleagues and superiors for long stretches of time. As a result, missions and parishes on the recently settled frontier were exhausting...