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BRING ABOUT THE
OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
FAITH AS THE HUMAN RESPONSE TO GOD’S REVELATION
—CCC, NOS. 142-197
MISSIONARY TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Isaac Thomas Hecker was born in New York City in 1819 to John and
Caroline Freund Hecker, who were both immigrants from areas in present-
day Germany. Isaac was one of three sons born into the family. Though
his mother was known to have had ties to the Methodist Church, none of
the boys seem to have been given any religious instruction. Nor did Isaac
receive a formal education. Instead, he educated himself. This thirst for
knowledge began his journey of faith.
As a young adult, Isaac found himself drawn to the plight of the work-
ing class. At first, he tried his hand at politics, but was soon disheartened
with the political climate of his age, which was largely driven by a thirst
for power rather than a concern for one’s fellow man. Eventually, at the
inspiration of his friend Orestes Brownson, Isaac was baptized by Bishop
John McCloskey in New York in January of 1844.
Isaac’s zeal for the faith grew. Only a year after his Baptism, he joined
the Redemptorists in Belgium and was ordained a priest in 1849. Returning
to the United States in 1851, Isaac was determined to bring the Catholic
faith to others. He became one of the foremost lecturers in the United
States on the Catholic faith, filling auditoriums beyond capacity in New
York, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, and other cities. He saw his mis-
sion as evangelical: to bring the fullness of faith to the non-Catholic—and
many times, hostile anti-Catholic—population of America.
In 1857, Isaac Hecker made a trip to Rome in order to seek a resolu-
tion to a difficulty that had arisen between the American Redemptorists