If I recall correctly, the original St. Patrick’s in New York, now in what’s Chinatown, was saved from the fate of the burned church in Philadelphia by the Cardinal making it clear he wouldn’t hold back Catholic mobs from doing the same to Protestant churches should a Protestant mob touch it.
The Cardinal had admitted that he exercised control over Catholic mobs?
The early arrivals were mostly Protestants, descendants of the Scots who were resettled in Ireland after the conquest by England. The later arrivals were mostly Catholic Irish. Both were working class, especially weavers, and they didn’t like each other any better in America than they had in Ireland. Most of the rioters were drawn from these two groups, but the excuse for the fighting has other causes....Matters came to a boiling point on May 3, 1844 when the nativists tried to hold a rally at the Nanny Goat Market near St. Michael’s. The rally was broken up by an Irish Catholic mob....while almost all of the damage done was to Catholic property, most of the known fatalities were Protestants. The reasons generally given, Milano notes, were the Protestant mob was on the unprotected streets, the Catholics were firing from buildings, and also some members of the Protestant/nativist mob were shot by the troops called in to put down the riots. Milano believes there were some Catholic deaths that were not counted, but if this were so, one might wonder why there are no records of them in the Catholic cemeteries. One direct result of the riots was the consolidation of all the little townships in Philadelphia County into the city itself, the creation of a unified police force, the dissolution of volunteer fire companies and the development of a separate Catholic school system. The lessons for today: we are all descended from immigrants; remember how your ancestors were treated and don’t repeat the mistakes of their persecutors. Secondly, the First Amendment to the Constitution not only guarantees freedom of religion, it guarantees freedom of assembly. Even if you don’t agree with the speakers you shouldn’t start a riot.
-- from the thread Philadelphia’s immigration lessons: How fear and hatred led to 19th century riots
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That sounds like he was trying to act like a father might to protect his family from the bad guys.