American Catholic : The Saints and Sinners Who Built America's Most Powerful Church

Rating:
Summary: A stunning and thorough history of Catholicism in America
Review: As a lifelong Catholic who was born after the Second Vatican Council, I found this book to be an invaluable tool in my quest to understand the Church that I have grown up with. Morris pulls no punches in this warts and all book, highlighting the shortcomings and moral failures of many of the Church's early leaders, and he raises many issues that are relevant to Catholics today. This is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about Catholicism here in the United States.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent view of the Church in America
Review: I greatly enjoyed this well-written history of American Catholicism. The earliest chapters, primarily about the influx of Irish immigrants (and the reasons behind it) were particularly fascinating.

However, this book primarily focuses on America from the Victorian age on. There is almost no discussion of Catholicism in the colonial period (the founding of Maryland, the denial of rights to Catholics, etc.), which I feel should have been included.

Rating:
Summary: Great history, so-so analysis of present church
Review: I had never seen a book that tackled the growth of the Catholic Church in America before, especially a book that looked at the Church's most influential period in America. Morris' analysis of the growth of the American Church, especially the Irish influence on the Church, was excellent.

Attending Catholic school for 16 years in a Post-Vatican II Church, I would have liked more anecdotal stories about powerful Church leaders, Parish priests, nuns, etc. Morris mentions a few, but I was left wanting more.

The biggest disappointment of the book was the disproportionate amount of pages given to the modern American Catholic Church (post-Vatican II). Morris really didn't provide much detail about the decline of the Church between 1960 and the 1990s. It appeared that one minute, Kennedy's election was the high point for American Catholics, and the next section, we're looking at the Church in the 90s.

If I wanted to read about conservative dioceses, liberal Catholic theologians, and how the Church in America is struggling and thriving at the same time, I can pick up any major Catholic newspaper, or glean some insight in publications that occasionally look at these issues -- Newsweek, Time, NY Times, etc.

Morris is an excellent historian. Since I was raised in a less influential Church that has changed remarkably in the past 50 years, I would've preferred more *history* and less "current events."

Recommended as a highly readable and information-filled book, but take the above caveats into account.

Rating:
Summary: For all Catholics and American History buffs
Review: This book is an easy, truly engaging 'must read' for Catholics struggling with the the human side of the Church and for all scholars of American History. While Morris does not gloss over some very serious problems in the Church, he does create a sense of realism and hope for the future. I was amazed at how well he covered issues and explored the relationship of those isses to events past and present. Well worth the time spent on reading this book!

Rating:
Summary: An excellent history of the modern church
Review: Those who criticize the book for ignoring the Catholic Church before the nineteenth century are missing the point, Morris never set out to write a "complete" history -- you can't condemn a book for failing to be what it isn't trying to be. Likewise the review which suggests this is purely about the Irish and ignores Germans, Slavs, Hispanics, rural parishes, etc., is also off the mark. Morris adequately demonstrates that the Irish dominated both the church's hierarchy and culture even after they were in the minority in membership. His discussions of the conflicts over national parishes and non-Irish bishops do address those issues. He actually has quite a lot to say about Hispanics and the church since World War II and also about the rural church, especially in his discussion of the Lincoln, NE diocese. As a recent convert to Catholicism with a strong interest in American history, I found this to be a fascinating tour through the church in the last two centuries. The treatment of modern issues almost became too sociological for my taste, but it provided me with a good perspective to understand where my parish lies along the spectrum of modern Catholicism.