Child, behold that Man of Sin, the POPE, worthy of thy utmost hatred.
The New England Primer
What the 18th century U.S. schoolboy beheld was a tiaraed bogeyman, whose heart appeared to mask Malice, Murder and Treachery. The caricature went undisputed. In the Protestant schools of the time, Roman Catholics were barred from teaching jobs. As Irish and German immigrants swelled the U.S. Catholic population, their bishops (in 1884) announced an urgent edict. Every parish priest must organize a parochial school; Catholic parents must send their children to such schools whenever possible.
The ticklish consequences are analyzed by the Rev. Neil G. McCluskey, education...
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