"Between the Earth and the Skies" The Challenges to Catholic Institution-Building in Pennsylvania's Croatian Communities, 1894-1924.
Abstract
This thesis explores the role of ethnic parishes in the assimilation of Pennsylvania's Croatian immigrants. In addition to synthesizing the works of several scholars, it draws upon ethnic newspapers, fraternal society minutes, and oral interviews, as well as the parish records and anniversary programs of Croatian Catholic churches established in Pennsylvania between 1894 and 1924. The experience of the Croatians, a large but little-studied ethnic group, contradicts a widely-held historiographical conclusion citing parishes as the chief assimilative agent among Catholic immigrants. To understand why Croatians relied less on churches during the assimilation process, an examination of cultural, intellectual, political, social, economic, and religious factors reveals points of divergence between their experience and that of other immigrant groups. An assimilation model developed by Silvano Tomasi provides the framework for this comparison. The thesis concludes that several unique factors contributed to the anomalous religious organization of the Croatians, including a higher illiteracy and poverty rate relative to other immigrants that stagnated economic mobility and limited funds for church-building; an extremely high return migration rate--higher than that among many other Catholic immigrants--that reduced Croatian commitment to permanent institution-building in Pennsylvania; and a less certain national identity rooted in the complex Balkan milieu and the rise of Jugoslavenstvo (the Yugoslav idea) which made Croatian-American community leaders reluctant to equate religion with ethnicity. The last factor especially revealed itself in the schism between those Croatians--often led by priests--who equated Croatian ethnicity with Catholicism and those who advocated a secular approach to ethnic institution-building.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA344521
Entities
People
- Michael J. Colarusso
Organizations
- Pennsylvania State University