The Irish Influence on American Catholicism
In the fifth century A.D., Saint Patrick brought
Christianity to Ireland. Eleven hundred
years later, King Henry VIII divorced himself and his empire – which then included Ireland – from the
Catholic Church. Subsequently, efforts
to extinguish the influence of Roman Catholicism succeeded, to the extent that
by the early 1800s, “only 30 to 40
percent of the population attended Mass and many who identified themselves as
Catholic had virtually no knowledge of the faith’s dogma and practices.”[i]
By the close of the nineteenth century, Irish religious
character was dramatically different: “Into
the vacuum created by the trauma of the Great Famine stepped a more public and
assertive Roman Catholic Church…. Mass attendance increased, devotion to the
rosary flowered, seminaries and convents were built to prepare evergrowing
numbers of men and women seeking to give their lives in service to God”[ii] Armies
of Irish priests, religious brothers, and nuns were soon headed to the United
States, to establish countless parishes, schools, hospitals, and social
services. To this day, we find the
American Catholic hierarchy, clergy, and religious to be more from Irish and
Irish-American backgrounds, than from any other ethnicity. Irish Catholicism has had a profound impact
on American Catholics of all ethnicities.
For all its positives, early twentieth century Irish
Catholicism has also been described as “Jansenistic,” meaning that it was frequently
characterized by excessive rigorism and inattention to God’s
mercy. While such characteristics are inconsistent with authentic Catholicism, they may have a way of “slipping
in.” Among past generations of
Irish-American lay Catholics – as well as
others under the Irish influence – there was certainly a right and just
respect for those offering celibate lifestyles in service to God, be they clergy,
religious brothers, or nuns. Yet, this
respect became warped, in those who simultaneously undervalued the Sacrament of
Marriage. While the clergy and religious
can rightfully be regarded as heroes of the faith, marriage was sometimes seen as
little more than a means for quenching libidinous fires in those who could
not “cut” a celibate lifestyle. At times,
such devaluing seemed to see marriage as barely better than debauchery!
Where distorted views of marriage somehow flourished,
might the stage have been inadvertently set for distortions of authentic
teaching on the grandeur of marriage, family, and human sexuality?
An Underappreciated German Influence: Dietrich von Hildebrand
“The 20th century Doctor of the Church"
In 1929, German philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand first
published "Marriage," which constituted the "earliest orthodox presentation of the
personalistic approach to matrimony which would find its way into Vatican II's
Guadium et Spes, Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae and...the writings of
Pope John Paul II....Pope Pius XII called von Hildebrand `the 20th century
Doctor of the Church.'" [iii]
"Marriage" (1929)
As per von Hildebrand, "there is no greater mystery in the natural order of things than the
fact that this closest of all unions procreates a human being with an immortal
soul (although the soul, in each case, is a direct creation of God), and that
this act brings a new being into existence destined to love God and to adore
Him, a new being made after His image."[iv] "How
terrible to think of man wanting to destroy this unity which God has
established so mysteriously, deeming those united in the highest earthly union
of love worthy to take part in His creative power."[v] "He
alone can understand the horror of the sin of promiscuity who has grasped the
grandeur and sublimity of bodily union as the full realization of conjugal
love, and who realizes that besides the primary end of procreation, the primary
meaning of bodily union lies in the fulfillment of conjugal love."[vi] "Jesus
has invested marriage with a dignity which represents something quite new....He
raised it to the rank of a Sacrament. He made of this sacred bond a specific source
of grace. He transformed marriage - already sacred in itself - into something
sanctifying."[vii]
“Man and Woman: Love and the Meaning of Intimacy”
(1966)
As per von Hildebrand, "Although we hear that sex is overemphasized today, this is not correct.
Rather, we live in a time in which sexuality is no longer understood in its
true nature. People today are generally as blind to its true meaning as are
persons who completely lack sensuality....Today's blatant sexuality conceals a
pathetic sensual emptiness."[viii] "It
was said that Christians are to be recognized by the fact that they love one
another. I would add: Christians should also be recognized by the fact that
they who have received the festival clothes in Baptism shun any superficial,
mediocre approach to the great goods of creation, that they understand more
profoundly than others `how admirable are they works, O God.'"[ix] "As
long as conception and birth are seen exclusively as mere physiological
processes, we cannot understand the impact and seriousness of the making of a
new human being."[x] "Every
active intervention on the part of the spouses, which eliminates the
possibility of conception through the conjugal act, is incompatible with the
holy mystery of the superabundant relation in the incredible gift offered by
God.... To make use of natural family planning is not to imply the slightest
irreverence or rebellion against God's institution and the wonderful link
between the love union and procreation."[xi]
Pope Benedict XVI on Von Hildebrand:
"Dietrich
von Hildebrand was exceptional in many ways. His extensive writings on
Christian philosophy, spiritual theology, and in defense of the Church's
teaching, place him among the great thinkers of the twentieth century. His
steadfast and determined opposition to totalitarianism, whether in the form of
National Socialism or Marxist Leninism, a conviction that would cost him
greatly during his life, illustrates the profound clarity of his moral vision
and his willingness to suffer for what he knew was true."[xii]
An outspoken opponent of Hitler, von
Hildebrand was targeted for assassination and hunted all over Europe. Arriving in New York City in 1940, he taught
at Jesuit-run Fordham University until 1960.
[i]
Edward
T. O’Donnell, The Devotional Revolution,
Irish Echo, April 27-May 3, 2005
[ii]
Judy
Ball, The Famine That Brought the Irish to America , St. Anthony
Messenger, November 1997 http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Nov1997/feature2.asp
[iii]
Cf., EWTN web site
[iv]
Dietrich
von Hildebrand, Marriage, Sophia
Institute, 1997, p. 26
[v]
Ibid,
p. 28
[vi] Ibid, pp. 30,
31
[vii]
Ibid,
p. 53
[viii] Dietrich von
Hildebrand, Man and Woman: Love and the
Meaning of Intimacy, Sophia Institute, p. 3
[ix]
Ibid,
p. 45
[x] Ibid, p. 61
[xi]
Ibid,
pp. 68, 69
[xii] In Alice von
Hildebrand, The Soul of a Lion, 2000
foreward
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