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BAPTISM: BECOMING
A CHRISTIAN
BAPTISM IS THE FIRST OF THE SACRAMENTS OF
INITIATION
—CCC, NOS. 1210-1284
A BAPTISMAL WITNESS TO
JUSTICE FOR MINORITIES
In 1829, Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick of Boston founded a Catholic
newspaper to explain, defend, and spread the teachings of the Catholic
Church. By 1836 he decided it would be better to put the paper in the
hands of the laity. He transferred the ownership to Patrick Donahue, who
renamed the paper
The Boston Pilot
.
One of the
Pilot
’s editors, John Boyle O’Reilly, assumed that office in
1876. He was born to a family of educators in Ireland. As a young man,
he enlisted in the British army, where he worked covertly to advance the
cause of Irish independence. When he was discovered, he was arrested,
given a twenty-year prison term, and sent to a penal colony in western
Australia. Eventually he escaped and made his way to Boston, where he
became a reporter and then the editor of the
Pilot
.
For the next twenty years, O’Reilly was the foremost influence in direct-
ing Irish immigrants through the process of cultural assimilation. For a time
his literary talents and friendly attitude toward the Protestant establish-
ment earned him a favorite place in society and an invitation to join the
exclusive Papyrus Club.
But he never forgot his ethnic roots or his Catholic faith. He used his
gifts as a public speaker, civil rights leader, poet, and novelist to bridge
the gap between Catholics and Protestants in nineteenth-century Boston
while enhancing Catholic identity in the process. He wrote a book of