FOUNDING FATHER: JOHN J. WYNNE, S.J., AND THE INCULTURATION OF AMERICAN CATHOLICISM IN THE PROGRESSIVE ERA Dissertation Submitted to The College of Arts and Sciences of the UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Theology By Michael F. Lombardo Dayton, Ohio May, 2014 FOUNDING FATHER: JOHN J. WYNNE, S.J., AND THE INCULTURATION OF AMERICAN CATHOLICISM IN THE PROGRESSIVE ERA Name: Lombardo, Michael F. APPROVED BY: __________________________________ William L. Portier, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor __________________________________ Michael S. Carter, Ph.D. Faculty Reader __________________________________ Anthony B. Smith, Ph.D. Faculty Reader __________________________________ Sandra A. Yocum, Ph.D. Faculty Reader __________________________________ Patrick W. Carey Outside Faculty Reader __________________________________ Daniel S. Thompson, Ph.D. Chairperson ii © Copyright By Michael F. Lombardo All rights reserved 2014 iii ABSTRACT FOUNDING FATHER: JOHN J. WYNNE, S.J., AND THE INCULTURATION OF AMERICAN CATHOLICISM IN THE PROGRESSIVE ERA Name: Lombardo, Michael F. University of Dayton Advisor: William L. Portier The dissertation explores the life and work of John J. Wynne, S.J. (1859-1948). Widely recongized as an editor, educator and historian, Wynne was among the foremost Catholic intellectuals of the early twentieth century. In addition to serving as founding editor of the Catholic Encyclopedia (1907) and the Jesuit periodical America (1909), Wynne was vice-postulator for the canonization causes of the first American saints, the Jesuit Martyrs of North America, and for St. Kateri Tekakwitha. He was also a founding member of a number of important early twentieth century professional organizations, including the American Catholic Historical Association, the National Catholic Education Association, the American Federation of Catholic Societies, and the National Catholic Welfare Council’s Bureau of Education. The dissertation explores Wynne’s contribution to the American Catholic intellectual tradition. In particular, it explores the ways in which Wynne used the Catholic Encyclopedia and America to negotiate American Catholic identity during the Progressive Era. Using a lens of theological inculturation, the iv dissertation argues that Wynne presented an alternate version of social reform rooted in a distinctly neo-Scholastic vision of society, a vision that enabled him to champion Catholic participation in American culture, critique the culture for its weaknesses, and successfully avoid the theological controversies of Americanism and Modernism. The dissertation concludes that Wynne’s legacy, which was animated by intellectual concerns characteristic of the Society of Jesus, was part of a much broader flowering of early twentieth century American Catholic intellectual thought that made him a key forerunner to the mid-century Catholic Revival. v For Alessandra and for our children Maria Teresa and Francesco On the Feast of St. Isidore of Seville Patron of Students and the Internet April 4, 2014 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Every dissertation is in some fundamental way the creation of the intellectual community that helped to produce it. The present work is no exception. Among the community of scholars at the University of Dayton who guided the research and writing processes, none proved more central than Dr. William L. Portier, whose enthusiasm for the project was matched by the intuitive ability to suggest resources for investigation, timely feedback on both the form and content of the dissertation, and that rarest of academic traits – intellectual charity. Four committee members who served as readers for the dissertation offered valuable feedback on the final manuscript: Dr. Sandra Yocum, Dr. Anthony Smith, Dr. Michael Carter, and Dr. Patrick W. Carey of Marquette University. Dr. Luigi Bradizza helped to clarify some of the more salient characteristics of progressive thought during a seminar in American Studies that we co-taught at Salve Regina University in the Spring of 2012. My classmates and peers at the University of Dayton were a constant source of intellectual stimulation, spiritual edification and, when morale sagged, emotional encouragement. Timothy Gabrielli in particular was always ready to serve as a theological sounding board and culinary co-adventurer. Several archivists proved invaluable to the success of the project. David Miros of the Midwest Jesuit Archives in Saint Louis, Missouri, was kind enough to give me a vii primer on Jesuit sources when the project was still in its formative stages. John Shepherd at Catholic University of America not only showed enthusiasm for the research but also proved an invaluable guide to navigating the dispersed and still largely uncatalogued archives of the Catholic Encyclopedia. Nicholas Scheetz at Georgetown University proved tireless as I pored through box after box of material at the archives for America magazine. Finally, Peter Schineller, S.J., archivist for the New York Province of the Society of Jesus, graciously endured my presence for several days as I examined Father Wynne’s personal papers and asked a litany of questions about the history and logistics of America magazine. Along the way, countless individuals were instrumental in helping me secure access to precious resources, including Mark Thiel at the Speical Collections and University Archives of Marquette University, Susan H. Brosnan at the Knights of Columbus Archives in New Haven, Connecticut, and especially Brother Frank Turnbull, S.J., who provided me with both a copy of John L. Ciani’s thesis on America and a brief tour of America’s offices in Manhattan. A special thank you is in order for my colleagues at Anna Maria College, particularly Billye Auclair, Barabara Driscoll de Alvarado and Andrew T. McCarthy, who were brave enough to hire me ABD and who patiently encouraged the project through to completion. I would be remiss if I did not thank Father John J. Wynne, S.J., whose life is now forever intertwined with mine. It is no small thing to write a doctoral dissertation about a man who spent his life correcting facts and combatting misrepresentation in the media. It is my deepest and sincerest hope that what follows in the pages below leads to a deeper viii appreciation of Wynne’s legacy and the legacy of the Society of Jesus that he so dearly loved. I could not have succeeded without the emotional and financial support of my family: my mother and father, Madeline and John, who gave me life and then gave it to me again in abundance when they gave me faith; my brothers, John and Philip, who have never tired of hearing me explain the byzantine world of higher education; and my in- laws in Italy, who countenance my strange Italian American eating habits and my frequent butchery of their language with wit and cheer. My children, Maria Teresa and Francesco, were a constant source of joy as the dissertation went from germinal idea to final form. When I started the doctoral program at the University of Dayton in 2002 I was twenty-nine years old. Over the last twelve years I passed from my twenties through my thirties and into my forties, met my wife, got married, had two children, moved between three cities, taught at four colleges and universities, and made countless trips to Western Europe, East Africa and North Africa. For most of that time my wife, Alessandra, has been by my side. It is to her that I owe the deepest debt of gratitude. I simply could not have completed the dissertation without her patience, confidence and support, even as she gave birth twice, completed her own doctoral coursework, started writing her own dissertation, and somehow found the time to keep us all well fed. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………...iv DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………………………….vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………………...xiv INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………...……1 Literature Review………………………………………………………………….4 Overview of the Dissertation……………………………………………………...7 Thesis Statement…………………………………………………………………10 Theological Inculturation………………………………………………...11 Inculturation and American Catholicism………………………………...13 Thesis Statement…………………………………………………………15 A Note on Dates and Terminology………………………………………………17 Chapter Outline…………………………………………………………………..18 Significance of the Dissertation………………………………………………….21 I. THE PROGRESSIVE ERA……………………………………………………...23 The Origins of Progressivism……………………………………………………24 The Price of Progress…………………………………………………………….27 A Golden Age of the Press……………………………………………………….29 The Dislocations of Modernity…………………………………………………..32 The Progressive Era……………………………………………………………...34 The Progressive Approach to History……………………………………………34 The Progressive Understanding of the State……………………………………..38 The Quest for National Unity……………………………………………39 Religion in the Progressive Era…………………………………………………..41 Albion Small and Civil Religion…………………………………………42 Progressivism and the Protestant Imagination…………………………...44 The Social Gospel Movement……………………………………………46 The Progressive Approach to Education…………………………………………50 Pragmatic Philosophy……………………………………………………51 Pragmatism, Progressivism and Dewey’s Theory of Education…………52 x The Significance of the Progressive Era…………………………………………55 II. NEGOTIATING AMERICAN IDENTITY: PROGRESSIVE ERA CATHOLICISM AND NATIONAL UNITY…………...57 Restoring All Things To Christ…………………………………………………..58 The Dislocations of Modernity Revisited………………………………………..63 The Challenge of Immigration…………………………………………...64