I can’t recall the first time I met Dr. Patrick McNamara. When he worked as assistant archivist for the Diocese of Brooklyn, he often had lunch at the Immaculate Conception Pastoral Center in Douglaston, where I reside. McNamara and I occasionally had lunch together and when we did, McNamara would always turn the conversation to films, new and old.

There have been a number of film directors in the history of Hollywood who were able to make great art, but also have their films be commercially successful.

John Ford, whom some film historians consider the greatest American film director ever, made terrific films that were commercially successful. Invariably when McNamara and I discussed film, he would mention Ford and sing the great director’s praises.

In the Feb. 4, 2013 issue of the Jesuit magazine America, McNamara had an insightful essay on Ford titled “John Ford’s Faith in Community.”

In my course on philosophy and film at St. John’s University, Jamaica, when it was time to discuss Ford I would invite McNamara in to give the lecture.

These memories are on my mind right now because I am reading a terrific book that McNamara has written: “New York Catholics: Faith, Attitude & the Works” (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2014, pp. 211, $24).

In the book’s introduction, McNamara talks about his own background as both a Catholic and a New Yorker. He writes:

“New York Catholics are a special breed. We live in the craziest city in the world. There’s little we haven’t seen, and little surprises us. We’re
proud of our faith and our city, pardonably proud. We’re surrounded by a rich heritage that few of us ever really take the time to explore: the hospitals and schools, the churches, and the colleges, the statues and the stained-glass windows. We pass them every day, but do we really ponder their history and the work that went into these institutions? …

“So what does it mean to be a Catholic New Yorker?

“I think it means, first of all, to know that you’re part of something bigger than yourself, and I mean that in both the geographical and theological sense. New York City and the Catholic Church have much in common. Both have people from every corner of the earth. Queens alone has over a hundred nationalities speaking some 138 languages. Its churches have been described as a ‘second Pentecost.’”

McNamara divides his book into two parts: Part 1 (Historical Voices) covers 42 Catholic New Yorkers from the past and Part 2 (Contemporary Voices) covers 34 Catholic New Yorkers from today. The book need not be read by starting from the beginning. My guess is that many readers will do what I did: choose to read about the Catholic New Yorkers in whom they have special interest. I read about Father Isaac Hecker, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Governor Al Smith, Father Patrick Francis Duffy, Dorothy Day, George Nauman Shuster, Catherine De Hueck Doherty, Frank Sheed and Maisie Ward, Thomas Merton, Cardinal John O’Connor, Msgr. Bryan Karvelis, Dr. Pamela Shea-Byrnes, Tablet Editor Ed Wilkinson, Paul Moses, Peter Quinn, Martin Scorsese, Jimmy Fallon, Regis Philbin and Mary Higgins Clark.

A Page-Turner

The book is interesting, informative and because of McNamara’s writing style, a delight to read. I would never guess that a book with brief treatments of 76 people could be a page-turner, but this is.

I envy McNamara’s knowledge of history and his skill in doing research. What is especially admirable is his honesty. When one of the persons about whom he is writing has well-known flaws, McNamara doesn’t hesitate to mention them but always does so with charity and understanding that even very good and attractive people are not perfect.

In reading “New York Catholics” I really could sense McNamara’s delight in writing the book. For me, reading the book was a delight as well.

Father Robert Lauder, philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica, is the author of “Pope Francis’ Spirituality and Our Story” (Resurrection Press).