ISAAC HECKER

“Americanist”

Isaac Hecker (1819-1888) was a man of the Church and a man of his time, convinced that the Spirit of God was at work in our history. Though condemned by Rome as the embodiment of  “Americanism,” Hecker harmonized love for America with his Catholic loyalty. His optimistic affirmation of human freedom, so unusual for a 19th-century Catholic, offers an essential message for the modern Church.