Recent Episodes
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.
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.
Maria von Trapp
Long before The Sound of Music, Maria von Trapp was the driving force behind the Trapp Family Singers. Her life was more interesting than the musical suggests.
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.
Sister Ignatia and Alcoholics Anonymous
Sister Ignatia co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous at St. Thomas Hospital in the 1930s. Her methods became important parts of the way AA works.
Patricia Neal
Hollywood star Patricia Neal had a famous affair with Gary Cooper before marrying Roald Dahl. She endured tragedy before finding peace at Regina Laudis Abbey.
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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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