When the Irish men arrived they saw themselves displaced by the French who were occupying their usual pews. This situation did not endure for long, as the French worshippers, offering only minimal resistance, were forcibly dragged out into the aisles. – Philip T. Silvia, Jr., “The Spindle City: Labor, Politics, and Religion in Fall River, […]
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Franco-American Religious Controversies: Cahensly and the Lay Catholic Congress
The importance of Catholic societies, the necessity of union and concert of action to accomplish aught, are manifest. These societies should be organized on a religious, and not on a race or national basis. We must always remember that the Catholic Church knows no north or south, no east or west, no race, no color. […]
Continue readingLa Saint-Jean-Baptiste in New England, 1873-1890
This week, in connection with Quebec’s “national” holiday, la Saint-Jean-Baptiste, we see how budding Franco-American communities celebrated the day in nineteenth-century New England. Until the mass emigration of Catholics to the region, only Masonic lodges had attributed any significance to June 24. The arrival of French Canadians fashioned St. John’s Day into a semi-official holiday […]
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