Oklahoma Catholicism: The Contributions of French Monastic Foundations

Abstract

Oklahoma Catholicism: the Contributions of French Monastic Foundations focuses on the transmission of French monastic culture to the United States. After suffering the closure of monasteries during the French Revolution and subsequent Napoleonic Era, the Benedictines enjoyed a renaissance during the reign of King Louis-Phillipe that extended through the twentieth century. One of the primary animating features of the resurgent Benedictines was an enthusiasm for establishing new monasteries around the world in cultures very different from their own. Of these new monasteries, two opened in what is now Oklahoma: Sacred Heart Abbey and Clear Creek Abbey. How did two French monasteries end up in Oklahoma while there were no other such monasteries in the United States? In both cases, Oklahoma attracted the missionary-monks with a unique combination of a hospitable culture, a disenfranchised minority population to minister to, cheap land, and anonymity from local ecclesial authority. It is here argued that the United States proved to be especially salutary ground for the Roman Catholic Church apostolate and Oklahoma more so than many other states. French contributions to Catholicism in the United States in Oklahoma show a unique European culture at the service of a unique American culture, thus providing further evidence that a single historical model for interpreting the American Church is insufficient.