Catholic Priest Research Articles

Factors impacting turnover intention of Catholic priests in the Eastern region of the United States

ABSTRACT Turnover intention is positively associated with actual turnover. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that impact turnover intention of Catholic priests. The participants (n = 333) were Catholic priest from the Eastern region of the United States who completed a demographic, Vocational intention, and Physical Symptoms Inventory. Frequency analysis and logistic regression analyses were conducted. A majority (85.3%) of Catholic priests surveyed had never considered leaving active ministry, while 14.7% had either considered or are planning to leave the priesthood. Compared to their peers, priests of colour (OR = 4.99), those living in community with other priests (OR = 4.42), and with 11–30 years of ministry (OR = 3.39) were significantly more likely to report turnover intentions. More (arch)diocesan support and retention efforts should be provided for the minority priests, those with less than 30 years active ministry, and those living alone or with another priest.

Psy wojny kontra kundle pokoju: siła hybrydowości w powieści Vieta Thanha Nguyena „Sympatyk"

The protagonist-narrator of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel, as he often repeats, is a person of two minds. As the child of a Vietnamese woman and a French Catholic priest, he becomes a „hybrid” on the genetic level and later also in the cultural sphere. His upbringing has not only been influenced by the Catholic religion, communist indoctrination but also by the American literary canon, as he has graduated from a literary studies program in the US. He is a communist spy in the South Vietnamese Army during the war, and after the fall of South Vietnam he escapes to the United States as one of the few refugees. Loyal to the communist revolution in the US, he continues his intelligence activities going to any lengths and using any means considered necessary. The nameless narrator is not only a character that reminds a hero from a Hollywood action movie, but also a hybrid – a man who, through diversity or perhaps the merging of mutually exclusive identities, inhabits the sphere in between. This phenomenon, called nepantlerismo by Gloria Anzaldúa, means consciously navigating the gaps between the binary oppositions of those who belong to neither of the two sides. In the article, I look at the phenomenon of hybridity and consider to what measure it can be seen as an antidote to national chauvinism, imperialism and violence. I also examine what Viet Thanh Nguyen in his scholarly work calls the „industrialization of memory,” viewing Hollywood as a tool for producing memories of the Vietnam War operating within the US military-industrial complex.

The bishop’s ‘fine tact’: the ambiguity, ambivalence, and relationality of Catholic peacebuilding from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Flores, Indonesia during the Asia-Pacific War

In the ongoing debate about the role of religion in peacebuilding, particular attention has been paid to religious attitudes toward violence as a locus of the peacebuilding potential of religions. In this article, I turn to the case of the Catholic Church’s ambiguous and ambivalent relationship to Japan’s war in the Asia-Pacific region. The focus of my analysis is an exceptionally well-documented case of four Japanese Catholic priests on a Japanese Imperial Navy-sponsored ‘religious propaganda’ mission to Flores, Indonesia during the Japanese occupation. The four priests, including two leaders of the Catholic Church in Japan at the time—Bishop Yamaguchi Aijiro of Nagasaki and Apostolic Administrator Ogihara Akira of Hiroshima—worked closely with European missionaries left on the island of Flores to protect the church’s interests against Japanese military aggression. This unusual case of war-time cooperation between civilians from enemy nations in the context of the otherwise brutal war in Asia offers a rare glimpse into Japanese Catholic Church leaders’ engagement with Japan’s war efforts. The article demonstrates tact as a self-consciously limited and yet distinctively relational mode of peacebuilding that capitalises on layers of ambiguity and ambivalence.

Catholic Priests’ Involvement in Nigerian Politics: A Response to Social Change

Going against their sacred calling, Catholic priests are using the pulpit to engage in partisan politics. This emerging trend has stirred mixed feelings. Exploring this new reality in the light of religion and social transformation, this paper argues that political preaching is religious obligation found in the Catholic Social Teachings and a positive response to social change. While this novelty faces a lot of challenges, this study shows different approaches to it and contributes to the scanty scholarship on Catholic priests’ involvement in Nigerian politics, especially as it concerns social transformation.

Faith healing based on narratives of healing experiences: A psycho-spiritual interpretation.

This study investigated 216 individual transcripts of faith healing experiences drawn from the healing ministries of 2 Catholic priests in the Philippines. The accounts of these healing narratives were generously provided to the researcher in hard copies for analysis by the 2 Catholic priests. The narratives were individual stories of healing experiences and written voluntarily by the healees themselves. Five themes were extracted from the narratives, namely, sensation of warmth, feeling of lightness, electrifying sensation, feeling of heaviness, and a weeping episode. Further, the study was able to unfold four themes on spiritual coping, namely, empowering faith, letting God be in control, acceptance leading to renewal, and connectedness with God. Faith healing experience begins with multisensory-physiological changes (e.g., sensation of warmth, electrifying sensation, feeling of heaviness) leading to affective/emotional, changes (e.g., weeping moment and feeling of lightness) that occur simultaneously, or in succession as antecedent conditions that awaken or activate inner adaptive spiritual coping responses with illness such as empowering faith, God being in control, acceptance leading to renewal, and connectedness with God.

Migration and Integration of Foreign Priests. Aspirations, Religiosity, and Tensions in the Narratives of Foreign Priests in Italy

This paper aims to understand the individual factors sustaining the migratory flow of Catholic priests to Italy. Priests’ migration cannot be seen as the mere result of lack of vocations and shortage of priests in the host country since their agency, belief, aspirations, and motivations affect their religious identity and, consequently, their integration and participation in the host country. Drawing on qualitative research, this paper collects the voices and the narratives of selected international priests living in Italy. Priests’ interviews led to broad-range questions about the nature of migration decisions and their integration into the host society and churches that originate from differences in religiosity, vocations, and missions. That resulted in a typology of 4 types of migrant priests: careerist priests, highly educated and integrated into the host country, driven by career and salary aspiration, and showing a highly politicized vision of religion; servant priests, with a strong missionary impulse to serve the Church as a universal institution transcending abstract and real boarders; evangelist priests who feel the moral obligation to evangelize secularized countries to bring them back to the origins of Catholicism; rebel priests who feel second-class priests, discriminated both within and outside the Church, in a country where they were forced to move, for this reason questioning their sense of clear vocational directions.

Sexual grooming processes carried out by offending rabbis toward religious men and their families

BackgroundResearch regarding sexual grooming in cases of sexual abuse by religious authorities (SARA) is limited, despite the assumption that many SARA cases go unreported. To the best of our knowledge there is no research regarding sexual grooming committed by rabbis who sexually abused Israeli Jewish religious men. ObjectiveThe present study examined how Israeli religious SARA victims and their family members experienced sexual grooming carried out by offending rabbis. MethodsBased on a constructivist-phenomenological paradigm, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 formerly and/or currently still religious men who had been sexually abused by rabbis in their adolescence, and 14 of their family members. ResultsIn comparison to the Sexual Grooming Model (SGM), findings showcased that unlike other kinds of sex offenders, offending rabbis incorporated religious elements throughout the grooming process. Additionally, offending rabbis used different grooming tactics than did Catholic priests (e.g., offering joint religious studies with victims' family members; using religion to justify sexual discourse and contact). ConclusionsThe findings expand the SGM, enable a more complex understanding of the grooming processes in SARA, and emphasize the importance of further research focused on increasing the ability to use the SGM for detecting and preventing grooming behaviors.

FRI479 Resistance To Thyroid Hormone Due To Thyroid Hormone Receptor Alpha (THRA) Gene Mutation

Abstract Disclosure: J.O. Abdelkarim: None. S. Parveen: None. M.G. Jakoby: None. J. Fleischer: None. Introduction: Resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH) is a heritable disorder characterized by diminished response to triiodothyronine (T3). Most cases of RTH are due to mutations in the thyroid hormone receptor beta (THRB) gene (“RTH-beta”). Mutations in thyroid hormone receptor alpha (THRA) gene appear to be a rare cause of RTH (“RTH-alpha”), with the first case reported in 2012. We present a case of RTH-alpha in a patient confirmed to have a pathogenic THRA mutation. Clinical Case: A 38-year-old Caucasian male was referred to genetic clinic due to mild developmental delay, dyscalculia and mild autism spectrum disorder. He was born at term by uncomplicated spontaneous vaginal delivery. Parents first noticed developmental delays at age 5 y, though no evaluation occurred during childhood. As an adult, the patient completed seminary studies and was employed as a Catholic priest. An intellectual disability gene panel revealed a pathogenic variant of the THRA gene (c.1151G>A p.R384H). Both parents tested negative for the mutation. Examination was notable for obesity (183 cm, 186 kg, BMI 55.5), macrocephaly, hypertelorism, pectus excavatum and small hands with short digits. No thyroid anatomic thyroid abnormalities were appreciated on neck examination or ultrasonography. TSH was 1.860 mIU/L (0.358-3.740), free T4 0.71 ng/dL (0.76-1.46), and free T3 3.2 pg/mL (2.2-4.0). The patient had no symptoms of hypothyroidism, and supplemental thyroid hormone was deferred. Discussion: There are 29 reported THRA gene mutations and 32 cases of RTH-alpha reported in the peer reviewed literature. Common clinical features include mild-to-moderate intellectual impairment, low basal metabolic rate (BMR), mild skeletal dysplasia, normocytic anemia, bradycardia, consistent with high expression of THRA in brain, heart, gastrointestinal tract, skeletal muscle, and bone. TSH is normal to slightly increased, free T4 is low to low normal, and free T3 is normal to modestly elevated. This is the third reported case of the c.1151G>A missense mutation resulting in an arginine to histidine substitution at codon 384. Thyroid function tests conform to the pattern described for other cases of RTH-alpha. Like the other two patients with the R384H mutation, developmental delays occurred, though intellectual manifestations mitigated with time and the patient completed seminary studies without difficulty. Mitigation of phenotype with age has been reported in RTH-alpha mice with the R384C missense mutation. Short stature did not occur in this patient or the other R384H cases. Unlike other patients, this patient did not experience anemia or constipation. Macrocephaly is a common feature of the three R384H cases, but the patient’s other skeletal manifestations (e.g. pectus excavatum) were not reported. This case demonstrates the difficulty of recognizing THR-alpha and extends our understanding of the R384H phenotype. Presentation: Friday, June 16, 2023

Edmund Hardy and the Science of Religion

Edmund Hardy (1852–1904) was a Catholic priest, Indologist, and religious scholar who lived and worked during the period of the Kulturkampf struggle between the German Chancellor Bismarck and the Catholic church as well as early German colonialism. The lecture he gave under the title “Einleitung in die vergleichende Religionswissenschaft” (“Introduction to Comparative Religion”) at the German University of Freiburg in 1890 and his appointment as professor for “Vergleichende Religionswissenschaft und altindische Literatur” (“Comparative Religion and Ancient Indian Literature”") in 1894 at the Swiss University of Fribourg were key steps in establishing the discipline of Religionswissenschaft (Science of Religion) in the German-speaking world. The essay he wrote in 1898 entitles “Was ist Religionswissenschaft?” (“What is the Science of Religion?”) was perhaps his key statement of the nature of this discipline, which he defines as a strictly empirical Geisteswissenschaft and Kulturwissenschaft (Arts and Humanities). This essay was the first article to appear in the new journal Archiv für Religionswissenschaft, edited by the secondary school teacher Thomas Achelis (1850–1909). Hardy’s approach was methodologically based on historicism and on the early understanding of psychology according to Wilhelm Dilthey and Wilhelm Wundt. However, as similarly befell Joachim Wach’s empirical approach, Hardy’s methodological work was barely noticed during the long reign of the phenomenology of religion. This observation raises fundamental questions of how the history of our discipline has been constructed and, in particular, of what are considered “classics” in the study of religion.

Naples, China and the Cosmos: The Theology of an Eighteenth-Century Chinese Priest

This paper examines the correspondence of Li Zibiao (1760–1826), a Chinese Catholic priest trained in Naples who worked as a missionary in North China. Whereas existing studies of Chinese theology mainly focus on contextualisation, Li responded to persecution by thinking in global terms and de-emphasising differences between Europe and China. Using developments in casuistry and the moral theology associated with Alphonso de Liguori he was able to avoid the strictures of the Chinese Rites Controversy. His story enriches the history of indigenous clergy in China and suggests some of the roots of China's resilient rural Catholicism.

Christians and Muslims in Ghana: A Case Study of Togetherness

Religion deals with the sacred sphere through ritual or non-ritual cults. Many of the world conflicts have religious undertones. Notwithstanding the negative impact of religion on society, it plays an essential role in promoting peace and preventing and resolving conflicts. Unlike the situation in some West African countries typically Nigeria where religious extremism has been on the rise, Christians and Muslims in Ghana, in spite of extreme provocations have continuously avoided conflicts and have been living together peacefully for years. The Christian-Muslim relationship in Ghana is an interesting case for research. The qualitative research methodology was used to gather data for analysis. The interviewees included two Catholic priests, Muslim clerics, security personnel, and teachers each from Christian and Islamic Senior High Schools. In all, a total of ten interviews were conducted. The interviews were conducted over the phone. It is undeniable from the research that Christians and Muslims in Ghana can live side by side without conflict. They coexist peacefully because the Ghanaian society and social climate are inherently tolerant and welcoming, government policies and legislation on religious freedom have been progressive, the objectivity of the communication media in fostering and maintaining religious tolerance, the co-mingling of religious studies with basic education, and the leadership provided by the leaders of these two faiths have helped to shape a promising future for their members. Though there exists an interfaith dialogue between Christianity and Islam, it is critical for their leaders to sustain the religious discourse and tolerance and peace in the country. Keywords: Christianity, Islam, togetherness, relationship

Pray for Improvement: Experiences with Mediation of Female Victims of Intimate Partner Violence in Nigeria

AbstractThis study examines victims’ experiences with informal mediation conducted by Catholic priests and nuns in Nigeria. Interviews were conducted with 20 women who sought help from priests and nuns as they had experienced intimate partner violence. Their expectations before and experiences during and after this mediation were explored. Findings suggest that the level of intimate partner violence experienced by victims remains high, and in most cases their expectations of the mediation are not sufficiently met. Most priests and nuns tend to convince victims to forgive their husband and accept their situation while reinstating the patriarchal mentality without any sustainable improvement. Most victims report revictimization episodes after mediation. Implications for theory and practice of mediation by religious leaders are discussed.

Movement Behaviors and Mental Health of Catholic Priests in the Eastern United States.

The purpose of this observational study was to examine (a) the proportion of Catholic priests in the United States that have anxiety/depression and meet the Canadian 24-Hour of Movement Guidelines, and (b) the association of meeting these guidelines with the likelihood of anxiety and depression. A sample of (arch)diocesan priests (n = 335) completed demographic and behavior survey, International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results indicated that 21.1% of priests surveyed met all three movement guidelines (physical activity, sleep, and screentime) and 7.8% met none. Priests who reported excessive recreational screentime (≥ 3h/day) were more likely to have anxiety (OR = 3.17) and depression (OR = 2.91), and who were physically inactive (< 150min/week) were more likely to have depression (OR = 8.89). Data from this study addresses a gap in the literature regarding Catholic priests, movement behavior, and mental wellbeing.

Polacy w Kościele katolickim na Kaukazie Północnym

The history of the Poles in the North Caucasus dates back to the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, but the presence of Catholic priests in this region can only be spoken of at the beginning of the nineteenth century. At first Polish priests only made travels to the Caucasus, but later began to set up parishes to address the spiritual needs of the Poles exiled there. The pastoral activity of the priests was not limited to the sphere of the spirit, but also focused on material help. An important point of their activity was the construction of churches. They collected donations for this purpose themselves and were also constantly supported by the Russian authorities. They were not detracted in their endeavors by the repressions that followed in the wake of the Polish national uprisings or suspicion of proselytism.

Finding Father Mollinger: The Historiography of a Catholic Priest

ABSTRACT In the late nineteenth century, Father Suitbert Mollinger was an internationally famous Catholic priest who pastored in Troy Hill, Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. During his tenure there, his fame ever increased on account of his medical ministry and impressive collection of Catholic relics, the third largest such collection in the world. While pilgrims daily sought physical remedy from Mollinger, the crowds surged in mid-June every year, during the feast week of St. Anthony of Padua. While these stories have been expounded in diocesan and parish histories, recent advances in research technologies have been critical to uncovering a more robust narrative of Mollinger’s life, including his methods of healing and his life in Europe. Exploring the digitized Dutch archives revealed a misguided young man inexplicably estranged from his family and serving a prison sentence for a fraud conviction. This article explores the evolving historiography of this important figure in nineteenth-century American Catholicism.

God Was Never there God and the Shoah in the Netflix Series Jaguar

Abstract On September 22, 2021, the Spanish series Jaguar was released on Netflix. Its six episodes of season one (a second season is yet to be confirmed) focus on a fictional band of Nazi-hunters in Spain, somewhere in the 1960s, calling themselves “Jaguars” (hence the series’ title). All but one Jaguar member are survivors of several German concentration camps, and dedicate their lives to bring Nazi war criminals, who are spending their days in luxury under the protection of the Franco regime in Spain, to justice. One of the Jaguars is Marsé (Francesc Garrido), a bearded man in his forties, and the team’s dedicated driver. Step by step, the viewer of Jaguar learns his background story: ordained a Roman Catholic priest, he renounced his faith after having witnessed and experienced the horrors of the Nazi regime in Dachau concentration camp. Marsé still struggles with his former faith and occasionally shares his theological insights with his teammates, especially with the series’ protagonist Isabel Garrido.

Duchowni w historii botaniki w Polsce

Clerical persons conducted a variety of botanical research in Poland and Polish lands. The purpose of this article is to describe their achievements in this field of science. No comprehensive study of the clergy’s contribution to the development of this branch of science has been made so far. The study is based on the biographies of botanists and amateur botanists from The Biographical Dictionary of Polish Botanists which is being prepared for publication. The Dictionary comprises 1,773 biographies, including 69 clerical persons. Among these 69 people, the largest group form Catholic priests (21), followed by Jesuits (12, including 1 ex-Jesuit), Protestant clergy (6), and Piarists (6, including 2 ex-Piarists). The fewest were archbishops and subdeacons (1 person each). Among the botanists active in Poland and Polish lands, no clergy of non-Christian denominations were identified. The share of clergy in the total number of botanists was not substantial. They were in the majority only during the period when medical botany flourished (from the mid-14th century to the last quarter of the 16th century). Among the many branches of botany, floristics was most often practiced by the clergy, with as many as 36 people publishing works in this field, followed by ecology (14 people), popularization of botany (7 people), and phycology (5 people). Other branches of botany were less frequently practiced: medical botany and systematics – by 4, ethnobotany, phytogeography, physiology, mycology, nature conservation, and paleobotany – by 3, history of botany and pteridology – by 2, and anatomy, bryology, cytology, dendrology, lichenology, morphology, botanical engraving – by 1 person. With the increase in the number of botanists and the rapid development of experimental-laboratory branches of botany, the importance of clergy in the development of plant science in Poland has started to decline.

МОВНІ ДЕВІАЦІЇ У ПРАКТИЦІ ДОКУМЕНТУВАННЯ ОСОБОВИХ ІМЕН ПРЕДСТАВНИКІВ ПОЛЬСЬКОЇ СПІЛЬНОТИ В УКРАЇНІ НА ПОЧАТКУ ХХІ СТ.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the personal names of representatives of the Polish community of Khmelnytskyi from the point of view of their compliance with the norms of the contemporary Ukrainian literary language. The article considers the main types of linguistic deviations in the personal names records of the representatives of the Polish community of Ukraine at the beginning of the 21st century from the sociolinguistic perspective. Linguistic deviations in contemporary Ukrainian anthroponymy are caused by several reasons, the main of which are Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism, the dominance in the communicative practice of variants of names borrowed from the Russian language, as well as a significant number of borrowed names that do not have an established tradition of reproduction in the Ukrainian language. The connection between the language situation and the occurrence of language deviations in the records of personal names is traced using the example of the Polish community of Khmelnytskyi. The language situation in the Polish community of Khmelnytskyi can be characterized as Ukrainian-Russian-Polish trilingualism. Practices of alternating use of the Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish languages cause the emergence of deviant variants of personal names under the influence of the phonetic standards of the Russian and Polish languages. The correct spelling of the name is influenced by the awareness of the spelling of the Ukrainian language, literacy, language skills, and the nationality of the priest. Catholic priests, who often belong to the Polish nationality, carry out documentation of the personal names from the verbal message of the parents, using the Russian language, which leads to the entry of deviant forms of personal names into official documents. The variability of personal names is determined by the peculiarities of the stylistic use of anthroponyms, colloquial speech, dialectal speech, and regional specificity. A quantitative correlation of normative and deviant variants in records of personal names was determined. The tendencies of the creation of the contemporary naming system of the ethnic minorities of Ukraine under the influence of Ukrainian- Russian bilingualism are analyzed.

Minority within the Minority. The Life of Coptic Catholic Priests in Contemporary Upper Egypt

Dans un livre très original, Catherine Mayeur-Jaouen nous invite à un voyage dans la Haute-Égypte contemporaine pour rencontrer quelques prêtres coptes catholiques dont elle a suivi les parcours variés jusqu’en 2017. Avec une empathie toute spéciale, elle nous fait découvrir la vocation, puis la formation et l’insertion pastorale de ces prêtres, dont certains ont même passé un temps d’études à Rome, voire travaillé au Vatican, avant de retrouver la campagne de la Vallée du Nil et tous ses problèmes. Après deux chapitres historiques, l’ouvrage déploie une série d’enquêtes anthropologiques sur la famille des prêtres, leur vie quotidienne, leur activité pastorale et leur rapport avec les autres chrétiens, principalement les orthodoxes, ainsi qu’avec les musulmans.

Ministers of a New Medium: Broadcasting Theology in the Radio Ministries of Fulton J. Sheen and Walter A. Maier by Kirk D. Farney

Reviewed by: Ministers of a New Medium: Broadcasting Theology in the Radio Ministries of Fulton J. Sheen and Walter A. Maier by Kirk D. Farney Kathryn M. Galchutt Ministers of a New Medium: Broadcasting Theology in the Radio Ministries of Fulton J. Sheen and Walter A. Maier. By Kirk D. Farney. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2022. 345 pp. In our multi-media saturated times, it is difficult to imagine the singular importance of radio during its golden age, from the 1920s to the 1950s. During that era before television, the essayist E. B. White described radio as having a "godlike presence" in homes across America. In his book Kirk Farney notes that radio had a range of qualities, from intimate to communal, from democratic to authoritative. Yet Farney's study is less concerned with the medium of radio and more concerned with the impact of two men and the messages they spoke to millions during the 1930s and 1940s. The Lutheran pastor Walter A. Maier (1893–1950) and the Roman Catholic priest Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) were two of the most popular and prominent broadcasters during radio's golden age. Both men came from religious backgrounds that were considered on the periphery of mainstream American Protestant religion. Maier came from a German-American Lutheran background and was a member of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, a synod which some saw as an ethnic and theological enclave. Sheen came from a primarily Irish-American Catholic background and sought to counter the historic anti-Catholicism in American society. Farney explains how Maier and Sheen preached messages rooted in their own religious traditions, yet succeeded in appealing to wider audiences. Both men "combined a traditional theological conservatism with an equally traditional American idealism" (133). Maier and Sheen took to the airwaves after the Modernist and Fundamentalist debates of the 1920s. Both men were vocal critics of modernist [End Page 191] theology. They preached messages of traditional Christian theology, putting a strong emphasis on the doctrines of the atonement, sin, and grace. Given the well-known antagonism between Protestants and Catholics, it is remarkable that the Protestant Maier and the Catholic Sheen asserted such similar teachings about the foundations for faith and life (160). Maier and Sheen also made connections with the difficult times in which they were living, commenting on the economic challenges of the Great Depression, the conflicts and controversies of World War II, and the threat of communism. Both were careful to avoid partisan politics. But they reflected a spirit of American patriotism while also calling on Americans to repent and to avoid a stance of national self-righteousness. Farney notes that Maier and Sheen were critical of racial and ethnic discrimination in America and urged the church to recognize the equality of all people before God (257). Farney could have done more to explain the significance of their stances in the context of American race relations in the 1930s and 1940s. Both men reached out to many beyond their respective religious communities. Farney describes how Sheen received considerable attention for the prominent converts to Catholicism whom he reached, including Henry Ford II and the American Communist Party leader Louis Budenz. Besides the famous, Sheen also reached "the obscure … of all races and incomes" (297). Farney describes Maier's contacts with political, military, and cultural leaders, but did not mention specific converts. More could be done to examine those who made a commitment to Lutheranism because of Maier's "The Lutheran Hour." Among these are Mary Banta, who contributed to the development of True Light Lutheran Church, a Chinese-American congregation in Manhattan and Chris McNair, who lost his daughter Denise in the Klan bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963. Exploring the international impact of the "Catholic Hour" and "The Lutheran Hour" is another potential area of future research. Farney has written a very significant study of two of the most important radio preachers in American history, examining the similar ministries of a Lutheran pastor and Catholic priest. The parallels ended when Maier died relatively early of a massive heart attack [End Page 192] in 1950 and Sheen transitioned to even greater fame with a...