Recent Episodes
Venerable Nelson Baker
Venerable Nelson Baker trusted everything to Our Lady of Victory, and through her intercession built institutions and a Basilica in Lackawanna, near Buffalo, New York.
...Fr. Emil Kapaun, POW Hero of the Korean War
Fr. Emil Kapaun was an Army chaplain who died in a prisoner of war camp during the Korean War. He is now a Servant of God.
...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.
...Fr. Joseph T. O’Callahan, Savior of the USS Franklin
Navy Chaplain Father Joseph T. O’Callahan was aboard the USS Franklin when it was bombed during World War II. His actions that day merited the Medal of Honor
...Fr. Vincent Capodanno, The Grunt Padre
Fr. Vincent Capodanno was a chaplain with the US Marines in Vietnam and a Maryknoll priest. As Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us in this very personal episode, he was known as the Grunt Padre for how he served his Marines. His ultimate sacrifice on th...
St. Mary of Sorrows and Clara Barton
During the Second Battle of Bull Run during the Civil War, Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross, nursed wounded soldiers on the grounds of St. Mary of Sorrows
...Ven. Augustus Tolton, First Black Priest in America
Fr. Augustus Tolton was the first black priest in American history. He was born a slave, eventually studied in Rome, and was a beloved pastor.
...Bloody Monday in Louisville
August 6, 1855 is known as Bloody Monday in Louisville, Kentucky. The Know Nothings used violence to try to keep Catholics from voting, and the violence turned into riots.
...Catholics at Gettysburg
Catholics, including the Daughters of Charity and St. Francis Xavier church were heavily involved in the Civil War battle of Gettysburg.
...Father Mulcahy, MASH
Father Mulcahy of the MASH 4077 was perhaps the most important priest on television not named Fulton Sheen. William Christopher, who played him, was Methodist.
...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.
...Kentucky Catholics and Bourbon
Catholic families from Maryland moved to the Kentucky frontier where they established the Church and helped make Bourbon a thing.
...Search for Episodes
Search for states, cities, centuries, orders, ethnicities, major events, and more.
Or See Them All…
What Listeners Say…
Tom and Noelle do a great job of telling the story of American Catholicism. Each episode is well researched and conveyed in a lively and interesting way. Highly recommend!
frendres via Apple Podcasts
This is a great series. We listen to it as a family in the car, especially heading out to mass. I appreciate the research that goes into these podcasts...
LindySeven via Apple Podcasts
As a Catholic convert, and American and a history buff, I absolutely love this show
cute43girl via Apple Podcasts
I am so blessed to have learned of this podcast. There is goodness here that we don’t hear in other podcasts. I had to finally write a review after the Betty Hutton story.
KathleenHam via Apple Podcasts
Support American Catholic History
Follow American Catholic History on your Favorite Podcast App!
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!
Contact Us
We love hearing from listeners!
If you have a suggestion for a topic, a question about something we talked about in a previous episode, or just want to say “hi” please drop us a line!