In 1854, anti-Catholic mobs in Williamsburg threatened to burn down Ss. Peter and Paul Parish. Father Sylvester Malone, his parishioners, and Mayor William Wall defended Brooklyn’s Catholic community against nativist violence.
Catholic History
How a Norbertine Religious Sister’s Visions Led to the Feast of Corpus Christi
In the early 13th century, the church faithful were abstaining from receiving holy Communion. It wasn’t that they were not devoted to the Eucharist, but they believed they were unworthy to consume the body of Christ — a belief that was not discouraged by many of the clergy.
Beyond the Candy: The Spiritual Roots of All Hallows Eve
This holiday’s roots stretch back to the 4th century when Christians sought to solemnly venerate Roman martyrs some 300 years after the resurrection of Christ. In that period, persecution against Christians
came in “waves,” said Father Michael Bruno, dean of seminarians and professor of church history at St. Joseph Seminary and College at Dunwoodie, Yonkers.
Fordham’s Bronx Artifacts Collection Builds on Jewish, Catholic Partnership
A trove of artifacts of local Jewish life — bar mitzvah invitations, high school yearbooks, marriage certificates, receipts from kosher caterers among them — is growing here in an unlikely place: a library in a Catholic university.
Newly Found Maryland Site Reveals Clues About Catholic Colonists
While English colonists who arrived in the New World were looking for greater opportunities, many of the Catholic colonists who arrived in Maryland also were looking to escape religious persecution.
Iraq: Full of Historic Sites Important to Understanding Christianity
Pope Francis hopes to embark on the first-ever papal visit to the biblical land of Iraq in early March in a spiritual pilgrimage of sorts to the place known in Arabic as the “land of the two rivers” — the mighty Tigris and Euphrates — and once renowned as Mesopotamia, the “cradle of civilization.”
A Brief History: The Practice of Sprinkling Ashes
Though American Catholics are used to receiving their ashes from thumb to forehead on Ash Wednesday, this year, ashes will be sprinkled on their heads. The gesture and practice of sprinkling ashes, however, has a longstanding history within Jewish and Catholic traditions.
Catholic Saints, Political Figures, Athletes Among Those to Be Honored in National Garden of American Heroes
President Donald Trump has issued an executive order calling for building a new garden, the National Garden of American Heroes, that will honor a diverse group of individuals whose contributions have enriched American life and history.