On Stony Ground: the Catholic Interracial Council in The
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On Stony Ground: The Catholic Interracial Council in the Archdiocese of San Francisco Clay Mansfield O'Dell Washington, DC B.A., University of Arkansas, 1990 M.A., Graduate Theological Union, 1994 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Religious Studies University of Virginia January, 2005 ii Abstract The Catholic Interracial Council (CIC) was founded by a Jesuit priest, Fr. John La Farge, in New York in the 1930’s. Fr. La Farge’s purpose in founding the CIC was to promote better relations between black and white Catholics. The group gradually spread throughout the nation in the ensuing decades, and by 1960 a chapter had been established in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The San Francisco Bay Area was a rapidly growing region that had undergone tremendous social and economic change in the aftermath of World War II, including an exponential increase in the local black population. By the 1960’s, Catholics who joined the CIC had begun to view the group’s mission in light of the growing civil rights movement. Members of the group tended to split between those who advocated greater social action and those who saw the CIC as a discussion group and educational service. As the activists became more vocal, the CIC also clashed often with the archdiocese and the archbishop over such issues as fair housing and fair hiring practices. Many CIC members were also willing to challenge the Church’s record on civil rights, and continued tension led to the archdiocese attempting to regain control over the civil rights issue. While the CIC branched out into other issues, particularly the farm workers struggle, it continued to decline in influence in the archdiocese as the decade progressed. iii This study explores the activities of the CIC in the Archdiocese of San Francisco in the historical context of the archdiocese’s mission to black Catholics, the unique character of the Bay Area and the changing political and social nature of the United States in the 1960’s. The study is sourced with original materials from local archives, interviews and surveys of surviving CIC members, and other secondary sources. The story of the CIC in the Bay Area highlights several historical themes, including: the experience of the Catholic Church in California; the tensions experienced by Catholic activists in the turbulent 1960’s; the increasing breakdown in ecclesiastic authority during the same time; and the foundations of the revolutionary change in the political and social character of the San Francisco area. iv Acknowledgements As my primary advisor, Gerald Fogarty, SJ, was instrumental in helping to formulate the idea for this work and in directing its execution, and his advice throughout the process assisted me greatly. In addition, I am indebted to both Gerry and Heather Warren for all the insight I gained in coursework at the University of Virginia. I thank Augustine Thompson, OP, and Brian Balogh for sitting on the dissertation committee and their helpful suggestions for the work. I also would like to thank Jeffrey Burns, chancery archivist for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Jeff has been extremely helpful throughout the process of putting this work together, and very graciously opened the archives to me for research. Finally, I wish to acknowledge and thank all the former members of the Bay Area Catholic Interracial Council, and particularly those who were able to assist me in this work by providing their insights and recollections. It is my belief that their thoughts help add a personal dimension to this history, and I hope they will find that I have done justice to their dedication and commitment to the cause of civil rights. v Table of Contents Chapter 1: Post-War San Francisco 18 The City and World War II · Suburbanization · Catholic San Francisco · The Changing Face of the Church in the Bay Area Chapter II: Mission 34 Catholic Evangelization to African Americans · Black Catholics in San Francisco · St. Benedict the Moor · Post-War African Americans in the Bay Area · School Desegregation · Decline of St. Benedict's Chapter III: Interracialism 53 Early Efforts in Black-White Dialogue · John La Farge and the Catholic Interracial Council · The Church and Racial Discrimination · Interracialism in San Francisco · Founding of the San Francisco Catholic Interracial Council Chapter IV: Movement 69 Kennedy, John XXIII and Reform · Growth of the Civil Rights Movement · Archbishop Joseph McGucken · Education versus Action in the CIC · The Church and Fair Housing · Birmingham Chapter V: The Church and Prop 14 86 Rumford Fair Housing Law · A Moral and Political Issue · McGucken, McIntyre and Prop 14 · Catholics Against Prop 14 · McGucken Speaks Out · Prop 14 Passes Chapter VI: Growing Divisions 103 Analysis of Prop 14 Supporters · The California Conservative Movement · Rome and American Democracy · A "Confusion of Tongues" in America's Civil Religion Chapter VII: Action and Reaction 122 Midpeninsula CIC Attacks McGucken · The Social Justice Commission · Discrimination in Catholic Hospitals · The Cathedral Controversy · Fair Employment and the Church · Heightened Criticism from the CIC Chapter VIII: Branching Out 138 The Economics of Racism · Selma · Organ "Quits" the Church · The Black Panthers ·Vietnam · Catholic Pacifism · The Farm Workers Movement vi Chapter IX: The Movement Splinters 158 A Conservative Political Tide · Black Power · Civil Unrest in Watts and Hunters Point · Growing Divide with Rome · "Petering Out" · An Ambiguous Crusade Epilogue: The Liberal Ascendency in San Francisco 176 Divisive Social Issues · Catholic Conservatism · The Moscone Administration · Harvey Milk and Dan White · The End of an Era Surveys and Interviews 183 Bibliography 234 1 Introduction The Church and the World From the very beginnings of the Christian community to the present day, the Christian Church has sought to transform the surrounding society to a more just, equitable and divine state. Jesus often referred to the “Kingdom of God,” and used this term to define the goal of his teachings, exhortations and warnings for his followers. As defined by Jesus, the Kingdom was both imminent and teleological, both seemingly possible and impossible to achieve. But despite the difficulties of defining just what the Kingdom was or would be, and how Christians would know it when it came, one clear and consistent message resounds throughout the gospels: the Kingdom of God must be actively and consistently sought. But there was one vital question that Christians had to ask themselves as they went out into the world, seeking to transform it: how would the world and its different culture affect them, and to what extent would they allow themselves to be changed by the world while seeking to change it? Many Christian groups, from the early anchorites to the Amish of today, to varying degrees have closed themselves off from the world so as not to be corrupted by it. But this is an extreme position, and certainly for the majority of Western Christians throughout history the world was to be engaged even as it was transformed. Such a task is never easy, and the dangers and frustrations encountered 2 by Christians who went out into the world to “sow the seeds of the Gospel” were summed up by Jesus in the parable of the sower: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased (Mark 4:4-8). As Christians sought the transformation of society, and grew in numbers, the Church became much more intimately involved with, and within, the world. Christianity spread and grew to such proportions that over the thousand years after Christ the Church had emerged in the West as the entity known as “Christendom,” in which religious, political and social elements were supposedly in harmony. Yet even during this period, the tensions that continually arose between the political and religious authorities attested to ongoing confusion over the proper boundaries of Christ and culture, Church and State. The Reformation finally shattered any semblance of religious harmony in the West and brought back into focus the questions that had once been so prevalent among early Christians in seeking to change the surrounding society: how far should one be willing to go in seeking to change the world before becoming compromised? 3 The Church in the United States That question weighed heavily on the minds of many Roman Catholics as they came to the new United States of America. Despite persecution of Catholics in such nations as Great Britain, the Catholic Church still did not endorse the kind of religious liberty advocated in the United States. Although Catholics could openly practice their religion, the Church also was surrounded by an overwhelmingly Protestant culture that looked on Catholics with deep suspicion as Papists, Monarchists and anti-Americans. The Church’s unwillingness to embrace the American political system without reservations did not help matters. Still, Catholics were not content to sit by and let the American experiment continue without their input. As the Church grew in America it established itself as an institutional entity providing essential services such as health care and education to the surrounding community, beginning in the eastern cities teeming with Catholic immigrants and moving westward with the rest of the nation.