{"product_id":"toil-and-transcendence","title":"TOIL AND TRANSCENDENCE, CATHOLICISM IN 20TH-CENTURY AMERICA","description":"\u003cp\u003eBy Fr. Charles Connor\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBy the end of the Civil War, barely four million Catholics lived on American soil. A century later, more than 43 million Americans were Catholic, making the Church a dominant force in American culture and politics.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe twentieth century was a springtime for the American Church, which witnessed the dramatic expansion of American dioceses, with towering new churches erected even blocks apart. Catholic schools were swiftly built to accommodate the influx of Catholic schoolchildren, and convents and monasteries blossomed as vocations soared.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Catholic hierarchy and laity factored into many of the great stories of twentieth-century America, which are told here by one of our country's foremost experts on Catholic American history, Fr. Charles Connor.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn these informative and entertaining pages, you'll learn:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhat motivated the virulent anti-Catholicism of early twentieth-century America\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe daring way Notre Dame students responded when the KKK held a rally in South Bend\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOne businessman's bold attempt to build Catholic colonies in Nebraska and Minnesota\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHow, in 1928, the first Catholic major party nominee for president, Alfred E. Smith, turned New England into a reliable voting bloc for the Democrats\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFDR's response to New York's Cardinal Spellman, who pleaded with the president to protect the Vatican and the pope from German forces during World War II\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHow Bishop Fulton Sheen's phone call to a political operative accused of spreading anti-Catholic messages led to his conversion to the Faith\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHow, finally, in 1984, the United States was able to formalize diplomatic relations with the Holy See\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"SOPHIA INSTITUTE PRESS","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48486473007353,"sku":"24096","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0312\/0418\/0013\/files\/Screenshot2026-06-04144911.png?v=1780602606","url":"https:\/\/giftstore.holyhill.com\/products\/toil-and-transcendence","provider":"Holy Hill Gift Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}