Msg Base:  AREA 5  - ASK FATHER            CIN ECHO   AMDG
  Msg No: 310.  Mon  6-08-92 17:12  (NO KILL)  (MAILED)
    From: Father Mateo
      To: Mike O'donnell
 Subject: Civil War

MO|Dear Father:

MO|     I've been doing some reading on the American Civil War as we recently
  |found that our family has letters from a relative who fought in the 77th
  |New York and was killed at Cold Harbor, Virginia (not that far - about 140
  |mi - from where we now live.)  That war, unlike any other in US history,
  |was fought between people of the same language, many of the same customs,
  |and the same religions - including Catholicism.

MO|     All of which leads me to my questions.  (References to the answers
  |would be fine...I like Civil War reading.)  Did the American bishops - or
  |for that matter - take any moral position on the Civil War?  Were there
  |any official Church documents written on the subject?  Did the bishops of
  |the North and South communicate during that period?  Were there any
  |directives for religious at that time in dealing with Catholics in "enemy"
  |uniforms who show up at Church?  For example, a Catholic Northern soldier
  |asking a priest in Georgia for help after getting separated from his unit
  |(I can't even imagine the moral dilemma that would be on this priest's
  |sholders.)

MO|     Our Curriculum Committee at our childrens' school recently reviewed
  |Social Studies.  They have a big unit on the Civil War in late 7th or
  |early 8th grade - since it is a Catholic school, I could pass on any
  |information I get for inclusion in the unit.

MO|Thank you in advance,
  |Mike

MO|P.S.  If anyone else who is reading this is a Civil War buff and has some
  |information which they can share, in order to preserve this echo as
  |strictly question-=answer, can you send me a response either on the
  |CIN Main echo or on GT Netmail?  Thanks.

MO|##MMR 2.41á.

MO|  Route: 33/110su7 33/0su8 22/5m1 44/7
  |.ORIGIN: 033/110 - + Maryland Catholic + Columbia, MD - (410) 997-5262 +
  |                   + Catholic Information Network Node 10              +

Dear Mike,

The U.S. Bishops, issued a joint pastoral letter in 1866, the first
in 14 years.  In it they make mention of the recent emancipation of
slaves.  There seems to be no mention in the letter of the recent
civil war.  In November, 1861 Secretary Seward sent Archbishop
Hughes of New York on a private mission to France to enlist the
sympathies of that government for the Union.  And the Confederacy
sent Bishop Lynch on a similar errand!

        Msgr. John Tracy Ellis has published a book: "Documents of
American Catholic History", in which there are one or two items of
Civil War interest.  Theodore Roemer has a textbook, "The Catholic
Church in the U.S.", which devotes a short chapter to the conflict.
In this chapter, there is a quote from the Second Plenary Council of
Baltimore: "The Church does not assume to decide such matters  in a
temporal order, as she is not the judge of civil controversies."

        During the Civil War, the chief problem of the Church was
knownothingism.  This was a far more serious  threat to the Church's
existence in America than a mere civil war.

        You are close to the Library of Congress and to the archives
of Georgetown University.  You may be able to find more help there
than I can give.

                                                Sincerely in Christ,


                                                        Father Mateo