Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
voluntary organisation set up in the United States in 1875. Its object was the intellectual, moral, and physical advancement of Catholic youth.
History
The association was organized on February 22 1875, at a meeting held in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.George H. Doane, who became its first president. It included about one hundred organizations, extending as far west as
Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Blue Earth, Nicollet County, Minnesota, Nicollet, and Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 United States ...
.
Its aims included the establishment and promotion of Catholic young men's associations, libraries, reading-rooms, and gymnasiums; and the maintenance and conduct of an athletic league. Initially, delegates met for an annual congress.
In 1878 the National Union inaugurated a successful movement for obtaining appointments of a greater number of Catholic chaplains to the army and navy.
The
Catholic Summer School The Catholic Summer School of America originated at the end of the nineteenth century. A Catholic summer school is an assembly of Roman Catholics, both clergy and laity, held during the summer months. It aims to foster intellectual culture in harmon ...
was an outgrowth of National Union plans. Warren E. Mosher, the secretary of the National Union at the time, was the founder of the Summer School.
At the convention of 1906, held in New York City, a committee was appointed to prepare a plan of re-organization, then adopted at the convention of 1907 held at Elizabeth, New Jersey. Under the original organization it had been required that the president and first vice-president should be clergymen; this was now changed, the various departments of the Union were organized on a business basis, the athletic work was systematized by establishing the Catholic Amateur Athletic League, a branch of the National Union with complete control over all athletic affairs.