February 25: The First Catholic Conference

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader Podcast. Today is February 25th, and our story is The First Catholic Conference. Most of the American bishops saw it as a dirty, underhanded move. In 1922, when Boston's Archbishop William Cardinal O'Connell and Philadelphia's Archbishop Dennis Cardinal Doherty traveled to Rome for the papal conclave that would elect Pope Pius XI, they missed the vote by mere hours. But the pair still had time to discuss with the European cardinals what they perceived as the growing problem of America's National Catholic Welfare Council, NCWC.

Founded in 1917 as the National Catholic War Council, the NCWC first existed to coordinate the Catholic response to World War I. After the war, America's bishops recognized the usefulness of an administrative body that could address the U.S. government on programs and policies affecting Catholics. So, in September 1919, 95 prelates from 87 dioceses gathered in Washington, D.C. There, they changed the war in NCWC to welfare, set up a permanent administrative staff, and appointed committees on education, legislation, social welfare, lay organizations, and publicity.

For the next several years, the bishops met annually. Not everyone was happy, though, with the group's decision-making process, most notably Cardinals O'Connell and Doherty, who went behind their fellow bishops' backs and convinced the consistorial congregation in Rome to suppress the NCWC on February 25, 1922. Upon learning of the two cardinals' politicking, the other American bishops, outraged, convinced Rome to delay publishing the decree until they could make their case. Led by Cleveland's Bishop Joseph Schrems, the bishops petitioned Rome to reverse the decree of suppression.

Rome agreed, with the condition that the bishops remove counsel from the organization's name and make it clear that its decisions were non-binding. The bishops complied, changing the name to the National Catholic Welfare Conference. The conference continued to operate under that name until 1966, when it split into two organizations, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic Conference, only to reunite again in 2001 as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The story of the first Catholic conference in America reminds us that unity and collaboration are essential for accomplishing great things.

We, too, are called to work with integrity, diplomacy, and foresight in our own communities, ensuring that faith shapes both our decisions and our influence on the world. Consider a way to strengthen collaboration in your parish or community today, through committees, volunteer groups, or even informal partnerships to help faith flourish.

Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Join us tomorrow, February 26th, for another story of faith and courage in America.