This article is part one of a five-part series on Americanist Heresy. It is based on the author’s meeting on February 12, 2025, at the American TFP’s headquarters in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania. Click here to read part two.
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Some readers might be a bit confused when reading the title of this article. “What,” you might easily ask, “is the Americanist Heresy? In fact, what is an Americanist?”
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Certainly, you are all familiar with another form of the word—Americanism. We usually think of it as another word for patriotism. However, that is only partially correct. It also has another meaning within the Church, which this article will discuss.
Church or Nation?
Perhaps the easiest way to define the Americanist Heresy is to pose a rhetorical question.
Should the Catholic Church become more American, or should the American Nation become more Catholic?
In the late nineteenth century, a new word developed to describe those who wanted to make the Church more American—”Americanists.”
The Secular Political Process
Most societies—ours included—are in constant states of flux. The secular political process is especially fluid. Elections can easily change the direction of the country. Every two years, new members of the House and Senate, as well as many statewide offices, are elected. With each cycle, new issues will emerge that likewise change the nation.
The secular political process in our days thrives upon change, hype and spectacle.
The Church’s Deliberative Process
In contrast, change within Holy Mother Church is—and ought to be—slow, deliberate and reasoned. Within the confines of the Church, Truth is set in stone. It provides humanity with the solid rock that Our Lord refers to in Saint Luke’s Gospel (6:48). “He is like to a man building a house, who digged deep, and laid the foundation upon a rock. And when a flood came, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and it could not shake it; for it was founded on a rock.”
Eternal and Natural Law: The Foundation of Morals and Law
As one of many examples of this slow and deliberate process, consider the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854. The idea that Our Lady was immaculately conceived in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne, was not new. Legions of faithful Catholics had accepted it for centuries. However, during the late 1840s, Blessed Pope Pius IX concluded it was time to codify this belief as dogma. However, he did not instantly call in the world’s journalists to announce his decision. Such a topic was too great for any single man, even if that man was the Vicar of Christ. He began by sending letters to Catholic bishops throughout the world. Each requested that the bishop prepare a statement as to the level of belief held in the Immaculate Conception within his diocese.
John Gilmary Shea described the results in his 1877 biography of Pope Pius IX. “Six hundred bishops, of all lands and tongues attested that the bishops, clergy, and people had always believed that Mary was conceived without sin…. The point…may have been debated in the [universities], but in the Catholic heart and in Catholic devotion, there was no doubt. Not only did these bishops give their testimony to this fact, but nine out of ten earnestly urged him to give a doctrinal definition, that would place the belief among the dogmas of the Church.” (Emphasis added.)
Only after seeing evidence of the near universality of belief in the Immaculate Conception throughout the Catholic world did the Pope call the bishops to Rome for the ceremonies of December 8, 1854, and the publication of his Ineffabilis Deus. Four years later, Our Lady herself sealed heaven’s approval of the Church’s decision when she appeared to Saint Bernadette Soubirous, telling her that “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
The Church is One
That takes us back to the original question: Should the Catholic Church become more American, or should the American Nation become more Catholic?
Many readers would agree that the United States should become more Catholic. However, that is not a universal attitude. Many more would argue that the Church needs to be more American.
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Of course, any such idea is a gross error. The ancient Nicene Creed assures us there is “one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” To believe that there is an American Church that is separate from the Church in Europe, Africa, or any other place is a fallacy. To attempt to separate any of the sheep from the universal flock of Our Lord and Savior is heresy.
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