About This Issue
One of the great pleasures of being co-editor of American Catholic Studies is that my mailbox has become much more interesting. Almost every day brings some excitement. I suppose the greatest joy is a really outstanding manuscript. But a personal treat has been the notes of appreciation and encouragement that have come from scholars around the U.S., and a few from abroad, affirming American Catholic Studies (formerly Records) and sharing their thoughts and ideas. Margaret McGuinness and I see the journal as a broadly collaborative project. We welcome and are grateful for your communication, including any critical remarks.
We think this issue holds pleasures for you. We are delighted to lead with Thomas Shelley's magisterial presentation on the leadership and generosity of Irish-Americans in the Archdiocese of New York. Thomas Jodziewicz then takes us to 1792 and John Thayer, the Congregationalist minister turned Catholic priest, and his series of twelve essays in the Boston Argus (all reproduced for you in the appendix to the article). Dennis Castillo shares how the enduring legacy of Maria Monk is all too enduring, and confusing to some, thanks to the Library of Congress. Lawrence Cunningham takes us inside Tomas Merton, the most widely read religious writer of the twentieth century. Understanding Merton's peacemaking in the context of his search to be faithful to his monastic vision may offer clues to those who share the cause of peace but not as vowed monks. James T. Fisher offers a discussion of how he has taught American Catholic Studies at Rutgers, Yale, St. Louis U. and St. Peter's. The presentation is not just for teachers. Don't miss it. Our review symposium focuses on Dale Light's widely discussed Rome and the New Republic. See what three distinguished reviewers and the author have to say. Clyde Crews reviews Gerald Fogarty's Commonwealth Catholicism: A History of the Catholic Church in Virginia. Margaret Mary Reher shares a warm tribute to the late James J. Hennesey, a giant in the field of American Catholic Studies, and co-editor Margaret McGuinness' cover essay deals with the place of Catholics in the movement for Civil Rights in the 1950s and 1060s.
Rodger Van Allen, Co-editor