The story of the Catholic church in Texas parallels the story of Europeans in the state. But to many people, the early history of the Texas Catholic church is better known than its recent record. "Acts of Faith" offers a full-bodied account of the Catholic church in Texas during the years from 1900 to 1950. It looks at both the development of the institution and the ways the church dealt with the social issues of the day.
During these years the Texas church, like the rest of the state, faced a rapid growth in population (partly from Mexicans fleeing the political and economic turmoil of...