The Franco-American Parishes of New England: Past, Present and Future

After the war with England the French of Quebec developed a national ethos linking together their language and their faith. Arriving as new immigrants in New England they insisted on parishes of their own headed by French-Canadian pastors. Most American bishops, with the exception of Jean Louis de G...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Potvin, Raymond H. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: American Catholic Historical Society 2003
In: American catholic studies
Year: 2003, Volume: 114, Issue: 2, Pages: 55-67
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:After the war with England the French of Quebec developed a national ethos linking together their language and their faith. Arriving as new immigrants in New England they insisted on parishes of their own headed by French-Canadian pastors. Most American bishops, with the exception of Jean Louis de Groesbriand, were concerned with the speedy assimilation of the new immigrants and did not favor the creation of national parishes. Serious confrontations and rebellions soon ensued which often had to be referred to Rome for resolution. Nonetheless many French-Canadian parishes were created along with affiliated parochial schools where French was taught to guarantee the survival of the cultural link between language and faith. Over the years more and more of the young spoke less and less French and with increasing social and residential mobility French communities dissolved. The need for parishes based on nationality declined, as well as the need for bilingual parochial schools. With the decreasing number of vocations many Franco-American parishes had to be closed or merged. Present day concern is not with the faith-language connection as in the past but with the survival of the Franco-American culture.
ISSN:2161-8534
Contains:Enthalten in: American catholic studies