State of grace : a history of the Diocese of Charleston, 2020

Summary:In 1820, the Catholic Diocese of Charleston was established, and Bishop John England arrived from Ireland. His new diocese encompassed North and South Carolina, Georgia and, for a time, Haiti. From 1859 to 1885, when Patrick Lynch and Henry Northrop were bishops of Charleston, the diocese included the Bahama Islands. However, the history of Catholics in the diocese, which now covers all of South Carolina, began much earlier. The arrival of Spanish settlers and missionary priests dated back more than 150 years before there was a diocese on American soil. Sister Pam Smith charts the history of the diocese from the first words of prayer uttered on Santa Elena in the 16th century through the interfaith singing of a reformed slaveholder's hymn at a painful funeral in the 21st century.

Contents:1. Santa Elena, the Spanish Foothold -- 2. From Settlement to Colony to State -- 3. Bishop John England and a New Diocese -- 4. Religious Sisters and Brothers Too -- 5. Pinckney Colony and the Pinckney Legacy -- 6. The South's Peculiar Institution and Our Lady of the Confederacy -- 7. Reconstruction and a Geography of Grace -- 8. Catholic Hill, St. Gerard and More -- 9. Wars, Movements, Upheavals: Into the Twentieth Century -- 10. Change and More Change -- 11. A Steady Boom in Catholic Schools -- 12. Off the Beaten Path: Mission Churches and Centers Across the State -- 13. Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Native Son -- 14. Joe Riley and Jean Toal: Catholics in the Holy City and the State Supreme Court -- 15. Another Northern Incursion -- 16. The Hubs of the Diocese -- 17. The One and the Many: A Multiethnic, Multiracial Diocese -- 18. The Francis Phenomenon and the Twenty-First Century -- 19. Bishops, Bishops and More Bishops: Challenges and Opportunities -- 20. What Is, from What Was -- 21. Beyond the 200th -- Appendix A. Highlights Regarding the Bishops of Charleston -- Appendix B. Parishes and Mission Churches, 2019-2020 -- Appendix C. Catholic Schools, Present and Past.

Includes official portraits of the bishops and several photos of church buildings.