Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Mudd, Nathanael 2021 MAT - ETD.pdf (705.88 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Independence and Obedience: The First Five Years of the Fathers of Mercy in the United States of America

Mudd, Nathanael L.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=athe1630316420111196

Abstract Details

2021, Master of Arts in Theology, Athenaeum of Ohio, School of Theology.
French missionary priests of religious orders experienced, during their work in the antebellum United States, a tension between independence and obedience. Separated by time and distance from their superiors in France, missionaries were forced to make decisions that would ordinarily require the approval of a religious superior. They could only then wait to hear whether their actions were approved or disapproved of by their community in France. The first members of the Fathers of Mercy, who came to the United States in 1839, are a prime example of this. Due to the lack of any secondary sources studying the Fathers of Mercy in this light, much less any overarching synthetic history of the Congregation as a whole, the research for this has consulted primary sources in the form of letters of different Fathers of Mercy and American prelates. Secondary sources which contained mention of the Fathers of Mercy and the apostolates they undertook in their first five years in the United States were generally diocesan histories or biographies of American prelates. These provided valuable information and tended to fill in gaps left by the letters themselves. The primary example of the tension between independence and obedience experienced by the Fathers of Mercy was in the acquisition of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. This was undertaken by Father Bach without prior permission from his superiors in France, and this first act of independence led to several other decisions in which the superiors in France would have wished to be involved but were only informed of after the fact. This led to the failure of the apostolate, and the eventual recall of several Fathers of Mercy priests back to France.
David J. Endres, Ph.D. (Advisor)
85 p.
American History; Religious Congregations; Religious History; Theology
Fathers of Mercy; French missionaries; 19th century America

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Mudd, N. L. (2021). Independence and Obedience: The First Five Years of the Fathers of Mercy in the United States of America [Master's thesis, Athenaeum of Ohio]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=athe1630316420111196

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Mudd, Nathanael. Independence and Obedience: The First Five Years of the Fathers of Mercy in the United States of America. 2021. Athenaeum of Ohio, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=athe1630316420111196.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Mudd, Nathanael. "Independence and Obedience: The First Five Years of the Fathers of Mercy in the United States of America." Master's thesis, Athenaeum of Ohio, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=athe1630316420111196

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

athe1630316420111196
778
© 2021, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Athenaeum of Ohio and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12