American Catholic History

American Catholic History


Latest Episodes

Jean Louis Cheverus - First Bishop of Boston
September 30, 2024

Jean Louis Cheverus was a remarkable man and the first bishop of Boston. He was another of the many bishops, priests, and religious who fled France due to the French Revolution and made a tremendous impact on the Church in America. During his 27 years in

Sister Ignatia and Alcoholics Anonymous
September 26, 2024

Sister Ignatia Gavin co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous. She worked in Admissions at St. Thomas hospital in Akron, Ohio. She had compassion for the alcoholics who came to the hospital. However, medical practice at the time did not regard alcoholism as a dise

Venerable Nelson Baker & Our Lady of Victory
September 23, 2024

Ven. Nelson Baker was incredible. After a time as a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War, he found success in business. He felt a call to the priesthood. He saved lives in and around Lackawanna, just south of Buffalo, New York. He invented direc

Mark Twain and St. Joan of Arc
September 19, 2024

Mark Twain considered Personal Reflections of Joan of Arc his best, and his favorite work. He spent twelve years researching for it, and then two years writing. The book was originally published under a pseudonym in serial in Harper's Weekly. His fans and

Doc Holliday
September 16, 2024

A legend of the Wild West, John Henry "Doc" Holliday was born in Georgia to Presbyterian and Methodist parents. But his sweetheart growing up was Catholic and his first cousin Martha Ann "Mattie" Holliday. After an excellent education and becoming a d

Roman Martyrs in a Louisville Church
September 12, 2024

Saints Bonosa and Magnus were martyred in Rome in either the third or fourth century. Their bones rested peacefully in the catacombs until 1700, when they were given to the Cistercian sisters in Anagni, a town near Rome, for veneration in their chapel. Wh

Father Mulcahy, M*A*S*H
September 09, 2024

Father Mulcahy, Army chaplain of the M*A*S*H 4077, was perhaps the most important priest on network television not named Fulton Sheen. He was a fictional character, and the actor who played him, William Christopher, was Methodist. But Father Mulcahy was a

Mother Teresa in America
September 05, 2024

(Note: this is a re-release of a previously released episode.) Saint Teresa of Calcutta, known in life as Mother Teresa, visited the United States a number of times, usually to open new houses of her order, the Missionaries of Charity. She gave a number o

St. Mary of Sorrows, Clara Barton, and the Red Cross
August 29, 2024

In 1862, Clara Barton got some of the experience which would lead to her founding the Red Cross. That year, St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax Station, Virginia, became a field hospital during the Second Battle of Bull Run — or Second Manassas, if you’

St. Junipero Serra and the California Missions
August 26, 2024

St. Junipero Serra is considered the Father of California. He founded the missions that first brought the Catholic faith and modern agriculture and industrial techniques to California. He was a man of strict penitential practices. He expected much of thos