Acts of Faith

The story of the Catholic Church in Texas parallels the story of Europeans in the state. But many people know the early history of the Texas Catholic Church much better than they know its recent record. Acts of Faith offers a full-bodied account of the Catholic Church in Texas from 1900 to 1950. James Talmadge Moore has mined the reports of the largely untapped Southern Messenger, the state's major Catholic newspaper, for his narrative line. A sequel to Moore's Through Fire and Flood, this is sound institutional history. It presents the Catholic Church's actions, social stances, and positions on contemporary events. For those who have read Moore's earlier acclaimed volume, this new work takes the story another half-century forward. And for anyone who wants a fuller picture of modern Texas history, the book adds an important chapter.