Sacramento and the Catholic church

About this book

"Sacramento and the Catholic Church examines the interplay between the city of Sacramento and the Catholic Church since the 1850, illustrating the sometimes hidden ways religious communities help to form and sustain urban communities. Avella uses Sacramento as a case study of the role of religious denominations in the development of the American West. In Sacramento, as in oilier western urban areas, churches relics brought civility and various cultural amenities, and they helped to create an atmosphere of stability so important to creating a viable urban community. At the same lime, churches often had to shape themselves to the secularizing tendencies of; western cities while trying to remain faithful to their core values and practices." "Steven M. Avella's close study of secular and church archives, newspapers, and oilier sources reveals that churches and their congregations played a significant role in determining both the physical shape of Sacramento and the lone and quality of life there. Sacramento and the Catholic Church is a major contribution to our understanding of the development of western cities and the role of religion and religious institutions in that development."--Jacket.