America Loves Catholicism: As Seen in Place Names Everywhere

I usually don't post the Saturday article, but this is full of American and Catholic history.

Go to the website to watch the Fiat commercial.

Monsignor Pope ping!

Post the saint names from your state!

Great comments at the site, too.

http://blog.adw.org/2014/11/america-loves-catholicism-as-seen-in-place-names-everywhere/

Also click on the map to make it readable.

Some of the oldest continuously settled places in the USA like St Augustine and Sault Ste Marie

None of those cities are Italian in name or history.

That may be the case but catholicism doesn’t love America as evidenced by voting patterns of catholics. Overwhelming support for liberal ideas and candidates. Doubt me? Check out voting patterns of presidential elections. The heavy catholic northeast is represented by.....you guessed it....liberals.

What makes it most interesting to me is the fact that Catholics were not terribly welcome under British rule yet were among the most prolific of explorers (missionaries)

Cities: Church Point, Convent, St. Francisville, St. Gabriel, St. James, St. Joseph, St. Martinville, St. Maurice, St. Rose, Village St. George.

Parishes: Ascension, Assumption, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, Saint John the Baptist, St. Landry, Saint Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany

Salvation that it is the FULL name of my hood

Los Angeles now you understand why they shorten it OKAY SO CAL LA Los Angeles LOL!

You can see the band of Catholic Spanish names running from Oregan down along California and across the bottom of the country to Florida, and Catholic French names along the top of the country and down through the old and new northwests.

It's an interesting mark left by the peoples who settled certain areas, but I wouldn't say it means that America loves Catholicism. And a lot of the names (Trinity River, Mount Jesus, Christian county to name a few examples) are certainly Christian in theme, but not exclusively Catholic.

I live in St Augustine...and the secret is that what is now North America was first colonized by Catholics. The French spread out through Canada and the Spanish throughout what is now the US, and huge numbers of the Indians were Christians.

Continental European wars devastated the home countries and the English and English-descended settlements, such as Charleston, who were extremely anti-Catholic, attacked the poorly defended Catholic missions. They destroyed the Florida mission chain, killed many Franciscan priests and Indian converts, and carried off some 11,000 Indians to be sold into slavery for the sugar plantations in the British Caribbean.

Well, all these examples historically come from the places being named by Spaniards or Mexicans prior to those places being part of the US.

But, look at St. Paul and St Louis as examples — oh yeah, they were named by the French.

America actually loves Indian names. Mississippi, Massachusets, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois on and on.

Wait, you mean places that were settles by the Spanish or the French often have Catholic names?

Astounding!

This is about Catholic names, not about voting patterns. Please post to the subject.

My home town; Corpus Christi, Tx (Body of Christ)

I looked at Louisiana for more names, but didn’t find them. Thanks.

Try Quebec if you want a ‘tabarac’ full of place names containing Roman Catholic saints names; from Ste Adele to about 1,000 Ste Anne-de-somethings to St Zotique! Let’s not forget the ever popular Saint Louis du Ha-Ha, Quebec!

And how about your new city down there in Florida, Ave Maria?

We have a St. Paul and a St. Louis in Oregon of all places. The lady who acted as a guide for explorers, Marie Dorion, is buried at St. Louis — really close to Salem.