Rome, Catholicism, and the nation‐state in America: Re‐centering a debate?

Abstract

The relationship between Catholicism and the nation‐state in America has been fraught with tension on multiple levels. This review will distinguish two main analytical perspectives. One focuses on the problem of ethnicity and race formation. The Catholic Church in America has historically been both ethnically fragmented and functioning as a whole non‐WASP “other.” Therefore, its relationship with the nation‐state can be described in terms of inclusion in/exclusion from the dominant group and as largely dependent on how the ethnic and racial (self‐)definition of both Church and country changed over time. A second perspective highlights the ideological friction between the Catholic and the American intellectual and political traditions. The question of Catholic belonging to the American nation‐state could be (and was) framed in terms of intellectual assent and political loyalty to a core set of propositions and values ultimately enshrined in the US Constitution. While the two strands of tension were often conflated in the same inclusionary/exclusionary historical episodes and dynamics, they remain distinguishable both analytically and historiographically. After reviewing scholarship from both perspectives, as well as the most recent developments in each, I will suggest that greater appreciation for the Catholic Church as a global institution (and for the potential of its rich archival records in Rome) may be a most promising, if somewhat counterintuitive, strategy to shed new light on the interplay of Catholicism and the nation‐state in America.