- Founder
- Pope Leo XIII
- Time Period
- 1/22/1899
- Description
- In 1899, Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae, which was addressed to Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore and condemned the heresy of Americanism. The immediate cause of the encyclical was a French translation of a biography of American priest Isaac Hecker. Tensions between American and European church leaders, however, reached back further. Pope Leo criticized the supposed Americanist notions that the church should adapt to the times and that individual conscience should be the sole guide of people’s actions. The encyclical argued that Catholicism in the United States was not unique and that the church was changeless. Although not mentioned by name, it is evident that the theological and social thought of modernist-leaning clerics such as Isaac Hecker and John Ireland was being questioned by the Vatican. These modernists were quick to disclaim any of the condemned ideas, while their conservative opponents in the church praised the encyclical.
- Interactive Timeline(s)
- Catholic Religious Events and People in American History
- Browse Related Timeline Entries
- Catholic Religious Events and People in American History
- Religious Groups
- Catholicism (Western Liturgical Family): Other ARDA Links
- Biographies
- Gibbons, James Hecker, Isaac Ireland, John
- Photographs
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Pope Leo XIII portrait- Hathi Trust- from Pope Leo XIII by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle -
Pope Leo XIII portrait- Internet Archive- from Life of Pope Leo XIII by Bernard O'Reilly -
James Gibbons portrait- Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-63469 - Book/Journal Source(s)
- Dolan, Jay P., 2002. In Search of an American Catholicism: A History of Religion and Culture in Tension. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Fogarty, Gerald P., S.J., 1999. Reflections on the Centennial of Testem Benevolentiae. U.S. Catholic Historian 17, no. 1.Notes: Pages 1-12)
- Gleason, Philip, 1993. The New Americanism in Catholic Historiography. U.S. Catholic Historian 11, no. 3.Notes: Pages 1-18)
- Web Source(s)
- https://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/L13TESTE.HTM Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae Concerning New Opinions, Virtue, Nature and Grace, with Regard to Americanism Encyclical promulgated on January 22, 1899
- Web Page Contributor
- William S. Cossen Affliated with: Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D. in History
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Publication of Encyclical Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae
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