PATRIOTISM

HELP US TO HELP THE BOYS

The records of the National Catholic War Council provide valuable information about Catholic social work and the history of the American Catholic Church. The United States entered the First World War on 6 April 1917 and American Catholics responded swiftly. On April 18, at the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America (CUA), the bishops wrote a letter to President Woodrow Wilson offering the support and cooperation of American Catholics in the war effort.

Several Catholic societies, including the Knights of Columbus and the Chaplain's Aid Association, also offered the government their assistance and attempted to meet special war needs.

However, it soon became clear that a cooperative effort was necessary and Father John J. Burke of the Chaplain's Aid Association suggested to Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore a general meeting of all Catholic societies to coordinate their war work. He received Gibbon's approval as well as that of Cardinal John M. Farley of New York and Cardinal William O'Connell of Boston.

On August 11-12 a meeting was held at CUA attended by one hundred fifteen representatives of forty-two dioceses, twenty-seven national Catholic societies and eighteen Catholic publications. Burke presented a plan for a coordinating agency, and a resolution was passed to create a national organization to unify all Catholic war activities. The organization was called the National Catholic War Council, and Burke was elected president.

An executive council composed of delegates from the archdioceses, the Knights of Columbus and the American Federation of Catholic Societies directed its work. One of Burke's first acts was to invite other religious agencies to set up an ecumenical committee to advise the U.S. War Department on religious and moral matters.

Source: Catholic University of America