The Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America was a

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 ...

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 independent Catholic temperance groups. The Catholic temperance societies of Connecticut created a state union in 1871, from which a national union was formed the following year at a convention in Baltimore, Maryland. 177 such societies from 10 states and the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, representing a total of 26,481 members, created the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America. In total, over 500,000 Catholics made the temperance of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America. The Union included women's and juvenile societies as well as the Priest's Total Abstinence League. Its monthly publication was ''The C.T.A.U. Advocate''. The Reverend Thomas J. Conaty, then the president of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America, advocated for

teetotalism Teetotalism is the practice of voluntarily abstaining from the consumption of alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler (US) or teetotaller (UK), or said to b ...

in the May 1887 edition of ''Catholic World'': With regard to the issue of National Prohibition, the Catholic Total Abstinence Union passed a resolution in the 1870s resolving "That this convention, though not deeming it expedient to take part in any political of legislative action in reference to prohibitory liquor laws, recognizes, however, the great good that would accrue from the suppression of public drinking-places, and from such legislation as would restrain the manufacture of intoxicating liquors within the bounds consistent with public morality, and will gladly hail such legislation whenever the proper authorities may grant it." 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, "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." President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

positively cited the work of the Union in an August 1905 address."Roosevelt at Wilkesbarre: His Address to the Temperance Gathering", ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', 11 August 1905, p. 8.
Newspapers.com

References

External links

History of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America

Temperance organizations in the United States Religious organizations established in 1872 1872 establishments in the United States Christian temperance movement {{RC-society-stub

See also

References

External links