The Faith and the South

[Michie]

*You are in the Catholic forum*

When we think of "the Faith and the a South" we tend to think of Protestantism in general, and perhaps the Southern Baptists in particular, especially in terms of the so-called Bible Belt. There is, however, much more to the South than the Protestant Evangelical or fundamentalist culture that had made its presence felt, socially and politically, from Southern Virginia to Texas. From the earliest colonial times, the Cstholic Church has had a presence in the South, without which the South would not be what it is.

Continued below.
The Faith and the South ~ The Imaginative Conservative

 

[Residential Bob]

I'm not sure the Baptist denominations are Protestant (to my knowledge, they were not part of the Protestant Reformation).

But yes, Catholicism got a good lead in the South. While New England embraced Puritanism and the middle colonies embraced the Society of Friends, Franciscans had ventured into the Rio Grande and Pecos Valleys and also had built a number of missions in Georgia and northern Florida.

And after the Seven Years' War, France's government vacated its Indian borderlands, but the people stayed, including Catholics and their leaders, effectively leaving a papal influence intact among the natives.

Thank God for the Catholic Church in helping to transform America into a Christian nation.