American Catholic literature
Encyclopedia
American Catholic literature emerged in the early 1900s as its own genre. Catholic literature is not exclusively literature written by Catholic authors or about Catholic things, but rather Catholic literature is “defined… by a particular Catholic perspective applied to it’s subject matter.”
, there was a young priest by the name of Fr. Isaac Hecker
. A convert to the Catholic faith, he went around giving lectures with the aim of evangelizing the Catholic faith to both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. In 1865, Fr. Heckler started a periodical which he named the Catholic World and in 1867 he founded the Catholic Publication Society to help publish and distribute them on a national level.
, many American Catholics didn’t think much about their faith on an intellectual level and not many literature works that were decidedly Catholic in nature can be found from that time period. But in 1927, there was a growing curiosity toward the Catholic Culture among the faith community. As Catholic literature was more readily accepted, more and more pieces of literature with Catholic themes and subjects were published.
Beginning of Catholic publications
In the years after the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, there was a young priest by the name of Fr. Isaac Hecker
Isaac Hecker
Isaac Thomas Hecker was an American Roman Catholic Priest and founder of the Paulist Fathers, the North American religious society of men; he is named a Servant of God by the Catholic Church....
. A convert to the Catholic faith, he went around giving lectures with the aim of evangelizing the Catholic faith to both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. In 1865, Fr. Heckler started a periodical which he named the Catholic World and in 1867 he founded the Catholic Publication Society to help publish and distribute them on a national level.
Catholic novels in the United States
In the decades before World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, many American Catholics didn’t think much about their faith on an intellectual level and not many literature works that were decidedly Catholic in nature can be found from that time period. But in 1927, there was a growing curiosity toward the Catholic Culture among the faith community. As Catholic literature was more readily accepted, more and more pieces of literature with Catholic themes and subjects were published.