Communion of Immigrants: A History of Catholics in America

Rating:
Summary: Or more aptly, a Brief History of Some Catholics in America
Review: My interest in reading this book was to get a better understanding of the Roman Catholic ethos in America. Fisher does a decent job of giving the broad outline of Catholic beginnings in the United States. He alternates throughout the first three chapters by giving equal time to the early French, Spanish, and Irish experience. He then shifts to focus on the more established immigrant church and the then seemingly tension of being Catholic and American. Fisher then moves into contemporary times and highlights the lives of several Catholic social players including Dorothy Day, César Chàvez, and several of the social reform movements.

The book was decent insofar that is a brief survey of the experience and social conscience of some segments of Catholicism in America. I think Fisher's historical brush could have been more inclusive to the conservative elements of Catholic social life.