Roman Sources for the History of American Catholicism, 1763–1939

ROMAN SOURCES FOR THE

HISTORY OF AMERICAN CATHOLICISM,

1763–1939

ROMAN

SOURCES

for the HISTORY

of AMERICAN

CATHOLICISM,

1763–1939

MATTEO BINASCO

Edited with a foreword by

KATHLEEN SPROWS CUMMINGS

University of Notre Dame Press

Notre Dame, Indiana

University of Notre Dame Press

Notre Dame, Indiana 46556

undpress.nd.edu

Copyright © 2018 by the University of Notre Dame

All Rights Reserved

Published in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Binasco, Matteo, 1975– author.

Title: Roman sources for the history of American Catholicism, 1763–1939 /

Matteo Binasco ; edited with a foreword by Kathleen Sprows Cummings.

Description: Notre Dame : University of Notre Dame Press, 2018. |

Includes bibliographical references and index. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2018012506 (print) | LCCN 2018012583 (ebook) |

ISBN 9780268103835 (pdf) | ISBN 9780268103842 (epub) | ISBN 9780268103811

(hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 026810381X (hardcover : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Catholic Church—United States—History—Sources.

Classification: LCC BX1406.3 (ebook) | LCC BX1406.3 .B56 2018 (print) |

DDC 282/.7307204563—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018012506

∞ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992

(Permanence of Paper).

This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor.

Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the

publisher at [email protected]

Contents

Foreword: Toward a Transatlantic Approach to US Catholic History

Kathleen Sprows Cummings

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Introduction: A Key Tool for the Study of American Catholicism

Luca Codignola and Matteo Sanfilippo

Roman Sources for the History of American Catholicism: A Different Perspective

Matteo Binasco

C H A P T E R 1 . Archives of the Holy See

Archivio Storico della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede /

Archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Archivio Storico della Penitenzieria Apostolica /

Archives of the Apostolic Penitentiary

Archivio Storico della Pontificia Università Lateranense /

Archives of the Pontifical Lateran University

Archivio del Pontificio Istituto Orientale /

Archives of the Pontifical Oriental Institute

Archivio Storico della Congregazione per l’Evangelizzazione dei Popoli, o de Propaganda Fide /

Historical Archives of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, or de Propaganda Fide

Archivio Storico del Vicariato di Roma /

Archives of the Vicariate of Rome

Archivio del Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide /

Archives of the Urban College de Propaganda Fide

Archivio Storico della Congregazione per le Chiese Orientali /

Historical Archives of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches

Archivio Storico della Segreteria di Stato, Sezione per i Rapporti con gli Stati

(formerly known as Affari Ecclesiastici Straordinari) /

Archives of the Secretariat of State, Section for Relations with States

Archivio Storico delle Celebrazioni Liturgiche del Sommo Pontefice /

Archives of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff

Archivio Storico Generale della Fabbrica di San Pietro /

Archives of the Fabbrica di San Pietro

Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana /

Vatican Library

Archivio Segreto Vaticano /

Vatican Secret Archives

C H A P T E R 2 . Archives of Religious Orders

Archivio della Provincia Romana di S. Caterina da Siena (Santa Maria sopra Minerva) /

Archives of the Dominican Province of Saint Catherine of Siena (Santa Maria sopra Minerva)

Archivio delle Maestre Pie Filippini /

Archives of the Maestre Pie Filippini

Archivio della Congregazione dell’Oratorio di Roma /

Archives of the Congregation of the Oratory in Rome

Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu /

Roman Archives of the Society of Jesus

Archivio della Curia Generalizia Agostiniana /

General Archives of the Augustinians

Archivio Generale dei Fratelli delle Scuole Cristiane /

General Archives of the Brothers of the Christian Schools

Archivio Generale dei Cappuccini /

General Archives of the Capuchins

Archivio Generale della Congregazione della Missione /

General Archives of the Congregation of the Mission

Archivio Curia Generale Figlie di Santa Maria della Provvidenza /

General Archives of the Daughters of Saint Mary of Providence

Archivio Generale dei Carmelitani Scalzi (OCD) /

General Archives of the Discalced Carmelites (OCD)

Archivio Generale dell’Ordine dei Predicatori (Domenicani) /

General Archives of the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans)

Archivio Storico Generale dell’Ordine dei Frati Minori (Curia Generalizia) /

General Archives of the Order of Friars Minor (Curia Generalizia)

Archivio Generale degli Oblati di Maria Immacolata /

General Archives of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

Archivio Generale delle Missionarie del Sacro Cuore di Gesù /

General Archives of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Archivio Generale dei Redentoristi /

General Archives of the Redemptorists

Archivio Generale della Società del Sacro Cuore /

General Archives of the Society of the Sacred Heart

Archivio Generale dei Servi di Maria /

General Archives of the Servants of Mary

Archivio Generale della Società dell’Apostolato Cattolico (Pallottini) /

General Archives of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottines)

C H A P T E R 3 . Archives of Religious Colleges

Archivio del Collegio San Clemente /

Archives of the Irish Dominican College, San Clemente

Archivio del Collegio di Sant’Isidoro, Roma /

Archives of the Irish Franciscan College of Saint Isidore, Rome

Archivio di Santa Maria dell’Anima /

Archives of the Pontifical Institute of Santa Maria dell’Anima

Archivio del Pontificio Collegio Irlandese, Roma /

Archives of the Pontifical Irish College, Rome

Archivio del Pontificio Collegio Scozzese, Roma /

Archives of the Pontifical Scots College, Rome

Archivio del Venerabile Collegio Inglese, Roma /

Archives of the Venerable English College, Rome

C H A P T E R 4 . Other Civil and Religious Archives

Archivio Doria Pamphilj /

Doria Pamphilj Archives

Archivio Storico di San Paolo fuori le Mura /

Archives of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

Archivio di San Paolo entro le Mura /

Archives of Saint Paul Within the Walls Episcopal Church

Archivio della Keats-Shelley House /

Archives of the Keats-Shelley House

Archivio del Museo Centrale del Risorgimento /

Archives of the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento

Archivio del Cimitero Acattolico /

Archives of the Non-Catholic Cemetery

Archivio Centrale dello Stato /

Central Archives of the State

Archivio di Stato di Roma /

Archives of the State of Rome

Archivio Storico Capitolino /

Archives of the City of Rome

Archivio Storico Diplomatico del Ministero degli Affari Esteri /

Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

C H A P T E R 5 . Libraries

Biblioteca Angelica /

Angelica Library

Biblioteca Casanatense /

Casanatense Library

Biblioteca dell’Accademia dei Lincei e Corsiniana /

Library of the Accademia dei Lincei e Corsiniana

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma /

Rome’s National Central Library

Biblioteca della Pontificia Università Urbaniana /

Library of the Pontifical Urban University

Biblioteca Vallicelliana /

Vallicelliana Library

Biblioteca della Facoltà Valdese di Teologia /

Library of the Waldensian Faculty of Theology

C H A P T E R 6 . Sources for the History of Italian Immigration to the United States

Archivio del Pontificio Consiglio della Pastorale per i Migranti e gli Itineranti /

Archives of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

Archivio del Prelato per l’Emigrazione /

Archives of the Prelate for Italian Emigration

Archivio Generale Scalabriniano /

General Archives of the Scalabrinians

Archivio Salesiano Centrale /

General Archives of the Salesians

Pontificia Commissione Assistenza /

Pontifical Aid Commission

Select Bibliography

Index

Foreword

Toward a Transatlantic Approach to US Catholic History

KATHLEEN SPROWS CUMMINGS

The idea for this volume surfaced at a seminar sponsored by Notre Dame’s Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism convened in June 2014 in collaboration with Matteo Sanfilippo (Università della Tuscia) at Notre Dame’s Rome Global Gateway. The seminar focused on transatlantic approaches to writing US Catholic history, with a view to encouraging scholars of US Catholicism to make more use of the Vatican Secret Archives and other Roman repositories. To that end, seminar participants visited seven archives of the Holy See and throughout Rome for hands-on workshops exploring potentially relevant sources. Members of our group, which included graduate students and faculty from universities throughout the United States, were guided by Professor Sanfilippo and other Italian scholars, including, most notably, Professor Luca Codignola, then of the University of Genoa.

The seminar was an eye-opening experience, revealing the rich potential of Roman archives to enrich individual research projects and the field at large. The earliest generations of US Catholic historians did not need to be convinced of this. Most of them, after all, were clerics or members of religious congregations who had studied in Europe or had close connections there. They were conversant in multiple European languages and understood well the transatlantic flows of people, ideas, devotions, and beliefs that shaped the church in the United States. By the 1960s and 1970s, however, the prominence of the American exceptionalist paradigm, combined with the advent of the new social history, led many historians of the US church to adopt a tighter nationalist frame. As a result, these historians were, in the main, much less interested in identifying connections between the United States and the Holy See and less inclined to harness the potential of Roman archival repositories. There were, of course, exceptions to this rule. Foremost among them was Gerald P. Fogarty, SJ, who provided an enduring model of how to conduct research in Roman archives, both in his study of Denis O’Connell in Rome and in his magisterial The Vatican and the American Hierarchy (1985). There were other scholars, many of whom were also ordained or members of a religious community, who consulted Roman sources. Still, American exceptionalism carried the day, and most scholars insisted on emphasizing the autonomy of the US Church.

The late Peter D’Agostino played a significant role in changing this approach. In the late 1990s, D’Agostino emerged as a vociferous critic of US historians who ignored Roman archives, insisting that the story of Catholics in America simply cannot be told apart from their connections, real and symbolic, with the Holy See. D’Agostino’s award-winning book, Rome in America: Transnational Catholic Ideology from the Risorgimento to Fascism (2004), relied on Roman sources to demonstrate the importance of papal politics for nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American Catholic life. His tragic death deprived Catholic historians of a gifted colleague, but his insistence that Roman archives should be accessible to, and regularly accessed by, lay Church historians is one of his lasting legacies.

The 2014 Cushwa Seminar in Rome represented an effort to respond to D’Agostino’s exhortation. Three overlapping developments nurtured both the seminar and the initiatives it inspired, this resource included. The first of these was historiographical. The so- called transnational turn gripped the American historical profession during the 1990s, and many subfields of American history embraced the effort to situate the history of the United States in a global perspective. In 2003, the Cushwa Center sponsored a conference titled Re- Thinking US Catholic History: International and Comparative Frameworks, and ever since affiliated scholars have urged historians of Catholicism to adopt transnational approaches. Doing so, we argued, would not only offer a chance to better integrate Catholics as subjects in mainstream narratives but would also help render more accurately the history of the Roman Catholic Church, a body that Princeton historian David Bell recently characterized as the world’s most successful international organization.¹

The second overlapping development might be described as personal in that it materialized out of my own particular research on American saints. In conceiving my project, I intended to structure it as a social history of reception, focusing exclusively on the context in which causes for canonization were promoted in the United States. My desire to take D’Agostino’s exhortation to heart, combined with a trip to Rome in 2010 to attend the canonization of Brother André Bessette, CSC, changed all that. With the encouragement and guidance of Matteo Sanfilippo, I undertook research in the Vatican Secret Archives and discovered the rich array of sources available there. On that initial foray and on subsequent trips, I became increasingly convinced that canonization, and indeed US Catholic history more generally, could be properly interpreted only in a transatlantic context, with close attention given to archival sources at the Holy See and in Rome.

The life and afterlife of Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (1776–1821) offers a case in point. Seton was first proposed as a candidate for canonization in 1882, and she was canonized in 1975, the first American-born person so honored. Throughout her long journey to the altars of sainthood, the epicenter of Seton’s story alternated between the United States and Europe, with axis points in Baltimore, Emmitsburg, Philadelphia, and New York in the former and France (by virtue of the Emmitsburg Sisters of Charity’s formal alliance with the French Daughters of Charity in 1850), Italy, and the Holy See in the latter. See in the latter. In the Vatican Secret Archives alone, within the collections of the Congregation of Rites, there are twenty-four volumes of printed and manuscript material related to Seton’s cause for canonization. A vast amount of additional material related to Seton’s cause for canonization is housed in the General Archives of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians) on via dei Capasso in Rome.

The same is true in the cases of other canonized people from the United States, such as Philippine Duchesne, RSCJ, and John Neumann, CSsR. The causes for canonization of these European-born missionaries generated a tremendous amount of material both in the Vatican Secret Archives and in the archives of their respective congregations, the General Archives of the Society of the Sacred Heart, located in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome, and the General Archives of the Redemptorists on via Merulana, as detailed in this guide. In consulting this material, I have been astounded by the ways that Roman sources help me understand my subjects better and prompt me to ask new questions about the Catholic experience in the United States.

The third overlapping development that inspired the 2014 seminar and, subsequently, this volume, might be described as institutional. Six months before our seminar convened, the University of Notre Dame opened its new Rome Global Gateway on via Ostilia, just steps away from the Colosseum. Theodore J. Cachey, professor of Italian and the Albert J. and Helen M. Ravarino Family Director of Dante and Italian Studies at Notre Dame, served as the Rome Global Gateway’s first academic director, and guided by his vision the Gateway is becoming a hub of intellectual inquiry and scholarly conversations. The timing of this initiative on the part of the University of Notre Dame was fortuitous, as it provided me, in close collaboration with Italian colleagues, a base of operations for undertaking more systematic efforts to apprise other US-based scholars of the rich promise of Roman archives.

Once the 2014 seminar concluded, we searched for a means to build on its momentum. With support from Notre Dame International, the College of Arts and Letters, and Notre Dame’s Office of Research, the Cushwa Center launched a more sustained effort to encourage research in Roman archives. On the recommendation of Professor Luca Codignola, we hired Matteo Binasco as a postdoctoral fellow at the Rome Global Gateway, who began his research in September 2014. From then until the summer of 2016, Binasco researched and prepared this comprehensive guide to almost sixty institutional archives in Rome—far more than we had expected—detailing their sources for American Catholic studies. He has uncovered a rich variety of archival gems, detailed throughout his engaging descriptions of relevant holdings. Binasco’s preface cites several of these gems, which we deemed particularly illustrative. They also appear in the profiles of their respective archives. This repetition represents an editorial decision based on assessment of how scholars were likely to engage the volume.

Our plans for building bridges between Italian and US scholars of American Catholicism and for fostering research in Roman archives continue. Luca Codignola now serves as an honorary senior fellow at the Cushwa Center, and I am very grateful to him and to Matteo Sanfilippo for their advice and generous support in producing this volume and for other Cushwa initiatives. Above all, thank you to Matteo Binasco for his superb and meticulous research, which we hope will serve scholars venturing to Rome for years to come.

Grazie mille to all the Cushwa Center staff members who worked on this volume, especially Shane Ulbrich, Peter Hlabse, and Deandra Lieberman. The Cushwa Center would not have been able to launch this project without the assistance and advice provided by Robert J. Bernhard and Hildegund Müller at Notre Dame’s Office of Research, Nicholas Entrikin and Tom Guinan at Notre Dame International, and John McGreevy, I. A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts and Letters. Thanks, too, to Ted Cachey, whose tenure as academic director at the Rome Global Gateway coincided with the development of this volume. His ready support has immeasurably enriched this project and other initiatives of the Cushwa Center in Rome.

One final note: This volume will be most useful to US scholars who have a competency in ecclesiastical Latin and Italian. Although some documents are in English, French, or Spanish, many reports are in Latin or Italian. US Catholic historians in recent generations have not placed a high premium on developing linguistic abilities, and until they do so it will be difficult to adopt truly transnational approaches.

Finally, as proud as we are of the number and breadth of the profiles contained in this volume, we make no effort to claim that it is exhaustive. In some cases, repositories were unable or unwilling to cooperate with Matteo Binasco. Despite his admirable effort, to quote an anonymous reviewer, to pound the pavements (cobblestones) of Rome, it cannot be said to be entirely comprehensive. That said, we agree with the same reviewer’s assessment that nothing of this scale has previously been attempted and that the copious information contained in this volume will make la dolce vita romana even sweeter.

NOTE

1. David A. Bell, This Is What Happens When Historians Overuse the Idea of the Network, New Republic, October 25, 2013.

Acknowledgments

This guide has been completed thanks to the outstanding support of a series of institutions and people. First of all, I would like to thank Professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame, for her incredible support. She has been the key driving force behind this project, and not a single word of this guide would have been written without her supervision and help. I am grateful to Notre Dame Research for its essential financial support. I thank Professor John T. McGreevy, as through his books I learned much more about the transnational nature of American Catholicism. To Professor Luca Codignola and Professor Matteo Sanfilippo, my two mentors in Rome, I owe an immense debt of gratitude. During the course of this project—but also before it—I enjoyed their guidance, their thorough knowledge of the Roman archives, their expertise in North American history, and their sharp but constructive criticisms. At the Archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I was fortunate to have the support of Professor Giovanni Pizzorusso, who has been my guide through this fascinating repository. I thank the two anonymous referees who read all of the manuscript and who gave illuminating advice on how to improve it. I am very grateful to Professor Joseph M. White, who read and revised the bibliography. Without his knowledge and his useful comments, it would have a been a chaotic and meaningless list of names and books.

The staff of the Cushwa Center in South Bend has always been ready to answer my queries. My thanks go to Shane Ulbrich, Pete Hlabse, Heather Grennan Gary, and Dr. Catherine R. Osborne. I owe a great debt to Deandra Lieberman and Mary Reardon, who revised my English and copyedited the volume as a whole. At the Rome Global Gateway, I had the good fortune to enjoy the support of its first academic director, Professor Theodore J. Cachey Jr. His continuous encouragement, combined with his irony, make the Rome Global Gateway a unique place for research and for meeting new scholars. A big grazie to Anthony Wingfield, Alice Bartolomei, Pamela Canavacci, Silvia Dall’Olio, PhD, Simone De Cristofaris, Krista Di Eleuterio, Danilo Domenici, Costanza Montanari, and Mallory Nardin for their constant and kind willingness to help me.

To complete this guide, I had to access many archives, where I benefited from the assistance of a series of wonderfully competent and extremely kind prefects and archivists. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the following: the Reverend Monsignor Alejandro Cifres and Daniele Ponziani, Archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Fr. Alessandro Saraco, Archives of the Apostolic Penitentiary; Mauro Onorati, Archives of the Pontifical Lateran University; Maria Rita Giubilo and Eleonora Mosconi, Archives of the Pontifical Oriental Institute; the Reverend Monsignor Luis Manuel Cuña Ramos and Giovanni Fosci, Archives of the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide; Domenico Rocciolo, Archives of the Vicariate of Rome; Cardinal Leonardo Sandri and Giampaolo Rigotti, Historical Archives of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches; Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher and Professor Johan Ickx, Archives of the Secretariat of State, Section for Relations with States; Monsignor Guido Marini, Chiara Marangoni, and Chiara Rocciolo, Archives of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff; Cardinal Angelo Comastri, Assunta di Sante, and Simona Turriziani, Archives of the Fabbrica di San Pietro; Archbishop Jean-Louis Bruguès, OP, and Paolo Vian, Vatican Library; Bishop Sergio Pagano, B, Gianfranco Armando, and Luca Carboni, Vatican Secret Archives; Fabiana Spinelli, Archives of the Dominican Province of Saint Catherine of Siena (Santa Maria sopra Minerva); Fr. Brian Mac Cuarta, SJ, Roman Archives of the Society of Jesus; Fr. Luis Marín de San Martín, OSA, and Nico Ciampelli, General Archives of the Augustinians; Fr. Francis Ricousse, FSC, General Archives of the Brothers of the Christian Schools; Fr. Luigi Martignani, OFM Cap, and Fr. Lorenzo Declich, OFM Cap, General Archives of the Capuchins; Fr. Augustinu Heru, CM, General Archives of the Congregation of the Mission; Sr. Michela Carrozzino, DSMP, General Archives of the Daughters of Saint Mary of Providence; Fr. Angelo Lanfranchi, OCD, and Marcos Argüelles García, General Archives of the Discalced Carmelites; Fr. Gaspar de Roja Sigaya, OP, General Archives of the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans); Fr. Priamo Etzi, OFM, and Anna Grazia Petaccia, General Archives of the Franciscan Order (Curia Generalizia); Fr. Maciej Michalski, OMI, General Archives of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate; Alberto Bianco, Archives of the Congregation of the Oratory in Rome; Sr. Margaret Phelan, RSCJ, and Federica Palumbo, General Archives of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; Fr. Adam Owczarski, CSsR, General Archives of the Redemptorists; Odir Jacques Dias, General Archives of the Servants of Mary; Sr. Giuditta Pala, MSC (Cabrini), Sr. Michela Carrozzino, DSMP, and Fr. John Cunningham, OP, Archives of the Irish Dominican College, San Clemente; Fr. Mícheál Mac Craith, OFM, Donatella Bellardini, and Claudia Costacurta, Archives of the Irish Franciscan College of Saint Isidore; Professor Johan Ickx, Archives of the Pontifical Institute of Santa Maria dell’Anima; Monsignor Ciarán O’Carroll, rector, Archives of the Pontifical Irish College; Fr. Daniel Fitzpatrick, rector, and Fr. Gerald Sharkey, vice rector, Archives of the Pontifical Scots College; Monsignor Philip Whitmore, rector, Professor Maurice Whitehead, and Orietta Filippini, Archives of the Venerable English College; Alessandra Mercantini, Doria Pamphilj Archive; Fr. Francesco De Feo, OSB, Archives of the Abbey of San Paolo fuori le Mura; Rev. Augustin K. Rios, Archives of Saint Paul’s Within the Walls Episcopal Church; Luca Caddia, Archives of the Keats-Shelley House; Fabrizio Alberti, Archives of the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento; Dr. Amanda Thursfield, Archives of the Non-Catholic Cemetery of Rome; Eugenio Lo Sardo, Central Archives of the State; Paolo Bonora, Archives of the State of Rome; MariaRosaria Senofonte, Archives of the City of Rome; Rita Fioravanti, Casanatense Library; Cinzia Claudia Lafrate and Angelina Oliverio, Library of the Waldensian Faculty of Theology; Fr. Giovanni Terragni, CS, General Archives of the Scalabrinians; Fr. Luigi Cei, SDB, General Archives of the Salesians.

Last but not the least I thank my family (including my cats at home). My father, my mother (especially her, and she knows why), my sister, my two little rogue nephews, and my brother-in-law have always provided unique encouragement for all these years. I owe a big grazie to Marina, my girlfriend, and to her mother for their support.

This guide is dedicated to the memory of the late Peter D’Agostino, who had always been a keen promoter of the need to use the Roman sources to understand the transnational dimension of American Catholicism.

Abbreviations