Gathered Fragments Vol. XXIX
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GATHERED FRAGMENTS A Publication of The Catholic Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania • Vol. XXIX, Fall 2019 1 Table of Contents • Vol. XXIX • Fall 2019 Page Father Daniel J. Lord, S.J., and Catholic Action in Western Pennsylvania 1925-1954 by John C. Bates, Esq. .................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Missionary Pastors in Western Pennsylvania: Fathers Peter Lemke and Demetrius Gallitzin by Robert Sutton ............................................................................................................................................................................32 A Nineteenth-Century Boy Goes to School: Willie Schmidt, the Sisters of St. Joseph, and Mt. Gallitzin by Kathleen M. Washy ..................................................................................................................................................................40 Legacy of Faith: Your Catholic Family Tree by Blanche McGuire .............................................................................................54 Notes, Questions, and Observations on the Patronage of the Diocese of Pittsburgh by Rev. Aleksandr J. Schrenk ........................................................................................................................................................64 The First Fathers of the “Mother Church” of the South Hills by James K. Hanna ................................................................72 The Napkin Ring: A Symbol of Community Life by Kathleen M. Washy ................................................................................78 Donor List ............................................................................................................................................................................................81 History as Thanks: Remembering Bob Lockwood by Mike Aquilina. .......................................................................................82 Catholic Resources for Your Family Tree Seminar: A Collaborative Event ..............................................................................84 Our Authors .........................................................................................................................................................................................85 News from The Catholic Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania ......................................................................................86 Book Reviews by John C. Bates, Esq. ..............................................................................................................................................88 2 Submission Guidelines The Catholic Historical Society The Catholic Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania solicits and of Western Pennsylvania welcomes items for Gathered Fragments addressing the culture and history of Catholicism in Western Pennsylvania. Gathered Fragments publishes articles and primary sources relating to the parochial, religious, diocesan, and laical history of the Catholic Church in Western Pennsylvania. We also solicit book and exhibit Board of Directors reviews, news, and other items relating to Catholic history in Western Pennsylvania. Genealogical items are accepted, providing they relate Mike Aquilina to the broader scope of the Society’s mission. Articles previously published elsewhere will be considered with appropriate permission from the original publication. Submissions should pertain in some Rev. Michael P. Conway way to the broader theme of Catholicism in Western Pennsylvania. Research articles will be considered. Notation of sources must Blanche G. McGuire accompany each article. Submitters are urged to consult the most current editions of The Chicago Manual of Style or Kate Turabian’s Rev. Aleksandr J. Schrenk A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertation for guidelines on proper formatting. Kathleen M. Washy Submissions are accepted both electronically and by mail. Instructions will be provided by contacting the Society at [email protected]. Dennis Wodzinski The opinions expressed in Gathered Fragments represent the views only of the individual contributors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the officers, the members of the board of directors, or The Catholic Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Advertising in Gathered Fragments does not necessarily imply endorsement. Editors Membership Information John C. Bates Gathered Fragments is published annually by The Catholic Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Diocese of Pittsburgh, Kathleen M. Washy 2900 Noblestown Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15205-4227. Rates for subscriptions are currently: $150 for members of Msgr. Andrew A. Lambing Circle, $125 for members of Msgr. Francis A. Glenn Circle, $100 for Synod Hall sustaining members, $45 for institutional members, $35 for individual members, $20 for women religious members, and $10 for students. The Society also welcomes donations to further historical research, as well as to support publishing and preservation projects in local Church history. Cover Photo Luke McGuire Family Homestead at the time of the Centenary of Loretto, Pennsylvania. See page 63 for full photograph. Source: Blanche McGuire. © 2019 by The Catholic Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania 3 Father Daniel A. Lord, S.J., and Catholic Action In Western Pennsylvania 1925-1954 John C. Bates, Esq. We include among these fruits of piety that whole group of movements, organizations, and works so dear to Our fatherly heart which passes under the name of “Catholic Action,” and in which We have been so intensely interested. – Pope Pius XI, Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio, ¶54 (1922) Catholic Action companion. A sodality was a pious association of Catholic Catholic Action is the umbrella name given to groups of lay laity who promoted the spiritual and corporal works of Catholics who attempted to encourage a Catholic influence mercy. The Sodality of Our Lady5 (Sodality) was established in society. The term is a literal translation from the Italian, by a Jesuit scholastic in 1563 and became the most famous Azione Cattolica, a specific national organization or move- of the sodalities. But the original vision had been lost in the ment that began in the latter part of the nineteenth century American Sodality by the time Father Daniel A. Lord, S.J., to counteract anti-Catholic developments in Italy. Pope was assigned as national director of the moribund group’s Pius X (1903-1914) first formulated het idea of Catholic central office in St. Louis in 1925,6 with accompanying edi- Action and organizational principles in his motu proprio, Fin torship of the organization’s magazine, The Queen’s Work. Dalla Prima Nostra, of December 18, 1903 and in the encyclical Il fermo prop- Western Pennsylvania osito of June 11, 1905. The purpose of In the post-World War I era, Catholics Catholic Action was the renewal of in Western Pennsylvania were confront- Catholic life in families and in society ed by increasingly frequent and violent as well as world evangelization. This outbreaks orchestrated by the Ku Klux was the work principally of the laity. Klan, anti-immigrant organizations, na- tivist groups, the coal and iron police, and Yet, Pope Pius XI (1922-1939) came anti-union strike breakers. Catholics were to be regarded as the father of this or- acutely aware that the laity had to become ganization. He viewed Catholic Action more active and articulate in defending as the participation of the laity in the themselves and the Church. They began hierarchical apostolate of the Church. to think of their faith as capable of trans- He gave to the movement an organi- forming the milieu in which they lived. zational framework in his encyclical Catholics were thus responsive to efforts Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio of December to build an active force for social and cul- 23, 1922, and his letter Quae nobis of tural change, and would play a significant November 13, 1928. Through his role in the spread of Catholic Action and Father Daniel A. Lord, S.J. voluminous writings and addresses, Source: Jesuit Archives & Research Center, St. Louis the Sodality movement. Both the Diocese Pius XI identified Catholic Action as of Pittsburgh and the Diocese of Erie (1) action or work of the laity, which were impacted by these developments. was (2) organized, (3) apostolic, and (4) done under a special Father Daniel A. Lord, S. J., would exert a powerful influ- mandate of the local bishop. As laity engaged in the work ence upon and help shape the development of lay Catholic of Catholic Action and developed organized activities, the Action and the Sodality in Western Pennsylvania in the three movement spread from Europe to the United States.1 It was decades spanning 1925-1954. no surprise when the American hierarchy, upon organizing into a national conference in 1917, began publication in Daniel A. Lord 1919 of a monthly “official organ” that ultimately bore the Daniel A. Lord was born in Chicago on April 23, 1888. title Catholic Action.2 His mother was an Irish Catholic immigrant; his father was the son of a Dutch Reformed minister.7 The young Daniel Sodalities attended Catholic elementary and high schools in the Windy A variety of Catholic groups coalesced around the concept City. Presciently, Dan’s mother introduced him to opera, of Catholic Action – students, workers, service groups, music, theater, the piano, and dancing during his childhood