American Catholic History - Noelle & Tom Crowe

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America's First Cathedral, The Baltimore Basilica of the Assumption of Mary Apr 23, 2026

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The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, more commonly known as “The Baltimore Basilica,” was the first cathedral built in the United States. Archbishop John Carroll conceived of the idea of building a grand cathedral in Baltimore in 1792, but his plans didn’t come to fruition until the early 1800s. And in spite of being a poor diocese, Carroll believed this cathedral was important to build because of “Amplitude.” This cathedral was designed by the great American architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe and is considered his masterpiece — even moreso than the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Listen to learn more.

Blessed Carlos Rodriguez: ¡Vivimos Para Esa Noche! Mar 31, 2026

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Carlos Manuel Rodriguez came from a humble but devout family in Puerto Rico. He suffered from a terrible illness for most of his life. He barely graduated high school and couldn't complete college. But he had a deep love of Christ and of the Liturgy, particularly the Easter Vigil. He would say of that liturgy, "¡Vivimos para esa noche!", "We live for that night!" He engaged in great catechetical works and organized groups at the University of Puerto Rico and in many parishes to discuss the liturgy. He believed that the faithful needed to be helped to learn about the liturgy, so they might know their faith better. He also advocated for small changes to the liturgy, including including the vernacular in places, and making it easier for the faithful to engage in full active participation. His health deteriorated in early 1963, when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died in July 1963. Students who had learned from him carried on his legacy and eventually organized to promote his cause of canonization. A miracle was approved in 1999 which led to Pope John Paul II declaring him Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodriguez in 2001. He is the first Caribbean layman to be beatified, and only the second layman in the western hemisphere

Ben Franklin Taps John Carroll as First Bishop of Baltimore Mar 16, 2026

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Benjamin Franklin and Father John Carroll, SJ became friends on an ill-fated mission to Canada in 1776 during the opening stages of the Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress sent Franklin, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Samuel Chase, and Father John Carroll on a mission to try to persuade the Canadians to join in the rebellion. Franklin was already ill when the trip began, and his condition worsened. He chose to leave Canada early when it was obvious that the mission would not succeed, so Father John Carroll decided to accompany him to help nurse him on the voyage. Franklin credited Carroll's ministrations with saving his life, and he never forgot Carroll's kindness and care. Because of this friendship, when Ben Franklin was the American ambassador to France, and the Church was looking to establish a hierarchy in the new American nation, he was in a position to put in a good word for Carroll. In 1784 Carroll was named "Superior of the Missions," and then in 1789 he was named the first bishop of Baltimore. He became archbishop of Baltimore in 1808, and died in 1815

History of St. Patrick's Day Festivities Mar 03, 2026

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The first St. Patrick's Day Festivities were held, oddly enough, in St. Augustine, Florida in 1600. More than 130 years later the first permanent St. Patrick's Day celebrations as we know them began in Boston, and then 25 years later in New York City, both in the 18th century. The first St. Patrick's Day Parade was held by Irish soldiers in the British army stationed in New York City, who got up on March 17, 1762 and paraded through the streets of Manhattan to a tavern for breakfast. The tradition has stuck. The celebration remained and grew because it was a way for Irish, particularly Irish Catholics, to assert their presence in the New World, and to celebrate their own native culture in this land where they were a minority, not always trusted, but who were intent on staying and being part of this new nation. Since the mid-20th century the American phenomenon of St. Patrick's Day celebrations has both returned to Ireland, where it is a major four-day event, and it has spread throughout the world wherever Irish can be found in large numbers.

The Josephites: Dedicated to Serving Black Americans Feb 25, 2026

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The Josephites, formally the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, were founded in 1892 when priests of the “Mill Hill” priests from England separated from the mother order. The Mill Hill priests had been founded in England in 1866 by Father Herbert Vaughn — later the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster — who desired to establish a missionary society. In 1871 Pope Pius IX gave the Mill Hill priests the mission of evangelizing the millions of blacks in America who were recently freed slaves in the wake of the American Civil War. They did amazing work, but, in spite of fact that the American bishops, led by Archbishop Martin Spalding of Baltimore, had specifically requested aid from Rome to help with the difficult challenge of these newly freed slaves, the Church in America, at all levels, still included many people with frankly un-Catholic understandings of their obligation of charity and justice toward their fellow man. Many black Catholics, and those who helped them, like the Josephites, faced terrible racism and segregation, for decades. However, the persistence of the Josephites, and the good will of a few very important figures, put the Church at the forefront of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. The Josephites are the first, and still one of the few, religious orders that work exclusively to aid black Catholics and preserve and promote a uniquely black voice in Catholicism in America.

Mother Mathilda Beasley: Fearless Black Educator and Foundress Feb 19, 2026

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Episode 36

Mother Mathilda Beasley was born Mathilda Taylor in New Orleans, Louisiana in either 1832 or 1834. Her mother was enslaved, and her father was not known, though he may have been James Taylor, her mother's slave owner. She may have been baptized in the Cathedral of St. Louis in New Orleans, and she was educated as she grew. By 20 years old she was a free woman of color and had moved to Savannah, Georgia. There she worked as a seamstress and took the very risky step of educating the children of slaves. This was forbidden by George law, and it carried harsh penalties. After the Civil War she married Abraham Beasley, but when he died she donate all of her money to the Catholic Church — perhaps because her husband, though he was black, had made money in the slave trade. She went back to working as a seamstress, but she wanted to educate children and to become a religious sister. She eventually founded one of the first Catholic religious orders for Black women in the US, and it was the first in Georgia. She died in 1903 while praying before a statue of the Blessed Mother. Her funeral was packed with Catholics and Protestants alike.

Daniel Rudd, Journalist, Publisher, Civil Rights Pioneer Feb 02, 2026

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Daniel Rudd was born a slave in Bardstown. His family was Catholic, as was the family who enslaved them. They all worshiped God together at St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, the first cathedral of the Diocese of Bardstown which had become the Diocese of Louisville by the time he was born. St. Joseph was right across the street from the house where he grew up. He reflected later in life about how at St. Joseph he learned that in the sacraments of the Church, all were equal before God, regardless of race or class. He was freed after the Civil War and went to live with his brother in Ohio. He worked for civil rights for blacks beginning in the late 1860s. He founded the first newspaper published by a black man for black people. His paper eventually went national. He had the approbation of many bishops and cardinals in the USA and from abroad. Eventually he worked with Father Augustus Tolton to establish the Colored Catholic Congress, the precursor to the modern National Black Catholic Congress. Daniel Rudd died in 1933 in his childhood home in Bardstown, and he is buried in the graveyard at the Proto-Cathedral.

Annie Moore, the First Immigrant Through Ellis Island Jan 08, 2026

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Ellis Island opened on January 1, 1892, and the first immigrant to be welcomed was Annie Moore, who was either a 15 or 17 year-old Catholic girl from Ireland. She and her younger brothers traveled over from Cobh, County Cork to join their parents who were already in American. Moore went on to marry a German and have a bunch of kids in New York City, contrary to some popular myths. Twelve million immigrants passed through Ellis Island during its 62 years of service, most of them from historically Catholic countries. Ellis Island was the first central immigration point set up by the federal government after nearly 100 years of immigration being controlled by the states.

The Founding of Regina Laudis Abbey: A Story Made for Hollywood Dec 23, 2025

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Mother Benedict Duss hid from the Nazis in her French Benedictine monastery during World War II. After General Patton's Third Army liberated her abbey she pledged to return to the United States to establish a Benedictine monastery to pray for and bless her homeland. Through the assistance of two future popes — both of whom would eventually be canonized — and a number of other providential happenstances, the Abbey of Regina Laudis was finally established in Bethlehem, Connecticut. The story of the founding eventually became the basis for the acclaimed movie Come To The Stable, which was nominated for eight Oscars, including for the screenplay written by Clare Booth Luce. Regina Laudis has been the home of Mother Dolores Hart since she left a budding Hollywood acting career in the 1960s, and it was the place where the actress Patricia Neal found solace and healing after her tumultuous life.

Fr. Aloysius Schmitt, Hero of Pearl Harbor Dec 11, 2025

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Father Aloysius Schmitt was a Navy Chaplain assigned to the USS Oklahoma at the outset of World War II. He had just finished the 7 a.m. Mass on the Second Sunday of Advent when the first torpedoes from the surprise Japanese attack struck the ship. He aided men to escape, at the cost of his own life during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the first chaplain to die in World War II.

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