Recent Episodes
Francis Sampson, Paratrooper Padre Hero of D-Day
“Paratrooper Padre,” Fr. Francis Sampson, parachuted into Normandy on D-Day. He saved lives, was nearly executed, and was nominated for the Medal of Honor.
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St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini overcame odds her entire life to make a huge difference for Italian immigrants in America, through trust in God’s providence, and her own tenacity
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Noel Dube, Hero of D-Day
Noel Dube, Noëlle’s grandfather, was a man of deep faith who made significant contributions on D-Day during World War II.
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Edgar Allan Poe and the Blessed Mother
Edgar Allan Poe is known for horror and suspense, but he showed an understanding of Catholicism in some works, and wrote a lovely poem to the Blessed Mother
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The Apparition of Our Lady of Champion
In 1859, a young Belgian woman in Wisconsin, Adele Brise, had an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary who instructed her to teach the children the faith.
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Joseph Barbera
Joseph Barbera, co-founder of Hanna-Barbera, got his start at his Catholic grade school. He drew Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones, Scooby Do, and others.
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Mark Twain and Joan of Arc
Mark Twain considered Joan of Arc his best, and his favorite work. Twain was anti-Catholic, but found in Joan what he regarded as the greatest person ever to live.
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John Boyle O’Reilly
John Boyle O’Reilly, Irishman, poet, soldier, convict, escapee, journalist, was also a champion of civil rights for all, regardless of race or creed.
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Immaculate Conception, the Patroness of the United States
In 1846 the bishops of the United States voted to name the Immaculate Conception the patroness of the United States of America.
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Padre Pio and US Servicemen
St. Padre Pio had some interesting interactions with US servicemen during and after WWII, including reports of a flying friar waving off bombers.
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Catholics Fight Segregation in Florida
Three Sisters of St. Joseph were arrested in St. Augustine, Florida in 1913 for refusing to comply with segregation. Bishop Michael Curley supported the sisters
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Mother Mary Lange, OSP
Mother Mary Lange, OSP founded the first religious community for black Catholic Americans, the Oblate Sisters of Providence, in Baltimore.
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Find The Stories from Your State!
Sharing the stories of the many and wondrous Catholic parts of American history.
Catholics around the globe remember and honor great men and women from all over the place, and all through the ages. We are a religion of tradition, a religion which remembers events, and cherishes places where those events took place. So many of these places are in Europe, the Middle East, the north of Africa, and east Asia, where great missionaries and great teachers spread the Gospel. Men like Peter and Paul, Augustine of Hippo, Francis Xavier, Patrick, Francis, Thomas Aquinas, Jerome, and so many more. And there are women like Teresa of Avila, Gertrude, Catherine of Siena, Mary Magdalene, Bridget, Veronica, Clare, and many, many more.
These men and women, and the things they did, are rightly venerated the world over.
But we Catholics in America have a remarkable history of our own. The men and women who brought the faith to these shores, who helped it to spread, who poured themselves out for Christ, all have stories and give examples that we owe it to ourselves to come to know.
And the story of the growth of the faith here is interwoven with the stories of our national history. In fact, Catholics were already active across much of the continent long before the founding of the United States.
American Catholics played significant roles in the founding of the United States, and then the growth and development of her laws and national customs. Catholics founded a number of her great cities. Catholics have been important members of every aspect of American life from government to popular culture, plus education, health care, athletics, civil rights activism, and more.
But far too few Catholics know these things.
This American Catholic History podcast exists to help introduce people to these remarkable men and women, the incredible events, and the sacred places that are our own right here in America.
Celebrating the Catholic History of America!
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