Sometimes life as a Catholic Christian in the Protestant-dominated United States can be difficult due to prejudice against the Faith. Although we who live in the U.S. are happy that our Constitution enshrines that there shall be no law made that prohibits the free exercise of religion, unfortunately. mainly because of ignorance, many times Catholics have to fight the misconceptions of our separated brethren.
Many saints who either came to the U.S. or were born in the U.S. experienced that persecution. For example, after the recently widowed St. Elizabeth Ann Seton entered into the fullness of Faith by entering the Catholic Church, she was rejected by a number of her family and friends who were primarily Episcopalians. At at time when she most needed the help, she was shunned because of her faith. Ultimately, she left her home state of New York to move herself and her children to Maryland where she was able to make a fresh start.
A Calling to Leave Bohemia
Trusting the Call and Arriving in America
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As a New Parish Priest and the Challenges of Anti-Catholicism
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Meeting the Mennonites
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The Great Debate
Fr. Neumann might not have earned any converts that night, but for the time, he put a stop to the harassment of Catholics by the Protestants who ceased trying to lure the Catholics away from the "menace" of Catholicism. And, a certain cattle driver, who had witnessed the debate decided to go to mass the next Sunday for the first time in years.
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