Conflicting Images—Preaching To Catholics, Non-Catholics & "Colored Catholics": The Sign & the Beginnings of the Passionist Presence in North Carolina in the 1920s.
by Rob Carbonneau, C.P., Ph.D.
Given the present Passionist presence in Greenville, NC, it might be worthwhile to examine the genesis of the Passionists in the region. The Sign shows that a diverse Passionist ministry existed in North Carolina in the 1920s. Passionists conducted missions for Catholics, non-Catholics, and a small number of missions were conducted for "colored Catholics." The Sign indicates that the Passionist effort to "colored" or black Catholics may have been fostered by the singular efforts of Passionist, Fr. Mark Moeslein. Still, more research is needed to ascertain why Bishop William J. Hafey of Raleigh, NC, offered the Passionists a "colored mission" after they appear to have been so successful with preached missions to Catholics and non-Catholics. Finally, the essay below raises a question as to the importance of the relationship between The Sign editor, Fr. Harold Purcell, C.P., and Fr. Moeslein for the early success of the "Colored Mission."
Fr. Stephen Sweeney, C.P.: The Passionists, wrote Passionist Stephen Sweeney in the August 1926 issue of The Sign, were invited by Bishop William J. Hafey of Raleigh to come to eastern North Carolina to preach missions to "scattered Catholics in isolated sections of the country" and to "reach non-Catholics…antagonistic" to the Catholic Church. Fr. Sweeney's mission platform was a train traveling through the countryside; a custom-made Pullman Car—St. Peter's Chapel Car—owned by The Catholic Church Extension Society specially built for the evangelical task.
Picking up the special car in Chicago on February 27, 1926, Fr. Sweeney met in Richmond, VA, with "companion, chef acolyte and steward," Mr. Stephen McLaughlin. Sweeney commenced preaching March 2 in Kinston, NC. The area had three Catholic churches and twenty-four mission stations for twelve counties (pop. 125,000) and 210 Catholics. Though publicized in advance influenza limited attendance to four Catholics.
The Sign article described the non-Catholic prejudices of the era: Catholics were going to kidnap young children for the faith, and anti-Catholic literature in the Menace and the Fellowship Forum referred to a Catholic priest as the Anti-Christ. Fr. Sweeney indicated the ambiguity of the culture when he wrote how "the poor colored people" of Washington, NC, had received literature against the Knights of Columbus while, at the same time, mentioning how one of his "best friends in Kinston" was the Grand Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan who worked on the railroad.
The Chapel Car was on an evangelical tour. It went to Maysville. At Greenville they met with "militant Catholicity" but were impressed by the faith of the Skinner family. A hopeful sign was that attendance averaged "sixty people" in the evenings. Discussions with Protestant clergy were not uncommon on these stops and this led Fr. Sweeney to write that he thought Catholics could learn a lot about "matters of finance" from non-Catholics. The Car went on to Williamston, Plymouth, Bayboro, Aurora and Belhaven. Typically the evening sessions were an opportunity to explain Catholic doctrine. Two years earlier, Passionist Fr. Alexis Cunneen had preached at Belhaven on a Chapel Car venture.
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