Review of The American Catholic Almanac

The American Catholic Almanac: Daily Reader of Patriots, Saints, Rogues, and Ordinary People Who Changed the United States

Image Books, NY

Emily Stimpson and Brian Burch

Back when political correctness was in its infancy, I was a Catholic student in public high school. My instructors seldom missed a chance to malign the Catholic Church for her so-called injustice, ignorance, and intolerance. Thanks to them, I learned a lot more outside that class than in it: I had a Jesuit priest in my local parish help me find information to refute those spurious claims. It took a lot of work and many books to find the information I needed. My teachers had an all-too-familiar agenda; to make Catholics ashamed to live their faith publicly.

 Since the seventies, this toxic agenda has spread throughout education, the media, the marketplace, and the government. Planned Parenthood has a new campaign which openly tries to slander politicians who support the culture of life, many of whom are faithful Catholics, as “unfit” for public office. We have seen Supreme Court Justices and politicians abandon their Catholic values and most Catholic institutions of higher educations’ course offerings and graduation speakers’ resumes would be scandalous to their founders. Where can the busy non-scholar who must be educated in these hostile environments find a reliable, readable source of information?

The American Catholic Almanac is a daily digest of stories about 365 Catholics who made an impression in American history from colonial times when being a Catholic was dangerous, to our majority Catholic Supreme Court. Not all of the people whose stories are told in the Almanac are as saintly as Venerable Pierre Toussaint. Some are well-known personages like President Andrew Jackson who credited his victory in the Battle of New Orleans to the prayers of Ursuline Nuns, or Mother Jones, the diminutive Irish Catholic widow who was an advocate for worker’s rights. Some are infamous Catholic Americans, such as former New York Governor Mario Cuomo who invented the excuse that, ‘I am personally opposed to abortion, but, as a Catholic politician, I cannot impose my personal beliefs on others.’

 Many of the personalities brought to life in the stirring tales are little-known Americans who served their countrymen with honor.  I was astounded at times at just how much America owes to loyal, patriotic, little-known Catholics.  I kept saying to myself, “Where was this book when I was in high school?” Even the sisters who taught me in Catholic school never mentioned the stunning breadth of the Catholic influence in creating this nation and making it the magnet for immigrants that it continues to be. You certainly won’t find it in a textbook written by secular publishers, and there are few Catholics who are well versed in this information. It is a precious legacy which merits a wide audience because it will be a game-changer when enough Catholics know just how much American owes Catholics for becoming the great nation she is. We will fearlessly take the lead in politics again, ready to answer our many critics, that yes, Catholicism belongs in the public square, for that is where it does our nation the most good.

Who should read this book? Homeschoolers, Catholic school teachers, public school teachers, students who face that daunting question; who should I write my report about? Grandparents who want to improve their minds, and their grandchildren who are often on the front lines of the culture wars. Politicians and pastors looking for gripping and often humorous stories for their public speaking. Did I leave anyone out?

This book is meant to be read only one story a day, but you will find yourself reading more. Add this pithy, well-written book of riveting stories to your daily prayer time, and you will find yourself inspired to go out and become the protagonist of the next great story of a Catholic who changed American history.