Catholic involvement in the temperance movement has been very strong since at least the nineteenth century, with a number of specifically

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

societies formed to encourage moderation or total abstinence from alcohol. In Ireland, the priest Theobald Mathew persuaded thousands of people to sign the temperance pledge, therefore, establishing the Teetotal Abstinence Society in 1838, which would later be renamed the

Knights of Father Mathew The Knights of Father Mathew was a Catholic temperance society founded by Fr Theobald Matthew in Ireland which promoted complete abstinence from intoxicating liquors. History It was founded in Cork in 1838 by Theobald Mathew, a Capuchin fri ...

. The

League of the Cross The League of the Cross was a Roman Catholic total abstinence confraternity, founded in London in 1873 by Cardinal Manning. Its aim was to unite Catholics, both clergy and laity, in the warfare against intemperance; and thus to improve religious ...

was a Catholic total abstinence

confraternity A confraternity (; ) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most common among Catholics, Lu ...

founded in 1873 by Cardinal

Henry Edward Manning Henry Edward Manning (15 July 1808 – 14 January 1892) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church, and the second Archbishop of Westminster from 1865 until his death in 1892. He was ordained in the Church of England as a young man, but co ...

. The

Plenary Councils of Baltimore The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three meetings of American Catholic bishops, archbishops and superiors of religious orders in the United States. The councils were held in 1852, 1866 and 1884 in Baltimore, Maryland. These three conferenc ...

declared:

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

, on 27 March 1887, commended the work of the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

, especially the

Catholic Total Abstinence Union The Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America was a Catholic temperance organization active in the 19th and 20th centuries. The work of Father Mathew in promoting temperance across the U.S. led to the establishment of numerous separate and inde ...

, "esteem ngworthy of all commendation the noble resolve of your pious associations, by which they pledge themselves to abstain totally from every kind of intoxicating drinks." James Joseph McGovern wrote that Leo XIII supported total abstinence during his long Pontificate", giving "unqualified encouragement to Cardinal Manning who labored most zealously for the suppression of the liquor traffic that was so demoralizing to the working classes in England." In 1898, James Cullen founded the

Pioneer Total Abstinence Association The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart (PTAA) is an international organisation for Catholic teetotalers that is based in Ireland. Its members are commonly called Pioneers. While the PTAA does not advocate prohibition, it d ...

in response to the fading influence of the original temperance pledge and this organisation remains active to this day. In 1911, ''The Michigan Catholic'' implored the faithful: “Vote for the saloon if you want future generations to be shriveled, bloodless, prematurely decayed creatures. … Vote against the saloon if you wish to build up a race of giant, healthy manhood and glorious womanhood.”

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