This week in Christian history: Pope warns against ‘Americanism’, Robert Boyle, Bible translator dies
Pope Leo XIII warns against 'Americanism' heresy - January 22, 1899
This week marks the anniversary of when Pope Leo XIII sent a letter Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore, Maryland, expressing concern over what he deemed “Americanism.”
In his official message, Leo XIII denounced the idea of placing American cultural and social norms above church teaching, calling upon bishops in the United States to “repudiate and condemn it as being most injurious to themselves and to their country.”
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“The underlying principle of these new opinions is that, in order to more easily attract those who differ from her, the Church should shape her teachings more in accord with the spirit of the age and relax some of her ancient severity and make some concessions to new opinions,” wrote the pontiff.
“It does not need many words, beloved son, to prove the falsity of these ideas if the nature and origin of the doctrine which the Church proposes are recalled to mind.”
For his part, Cardinal Gibbons delayed the publication of the letter, and wrote a response to Leo XIII that March, claiming that “Americanism” as it was described did not exist in the U.S. Church.
Gibbons also wrote to a friend, saying that he considered the papal letter “very discouraging” and felt it showed “that the American Church is not understood abroad.”
