So it was that the American republic — with its subdued secularism in comparison to the guillotine of the French lies of “liberty, equality, and fraternity” — convinced, in no small part, the partisans of the New Springtime that Jacques Maritain’s vision could become a reality. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance for Catholics who seek to investigate the effects of the Vatican II springtime to evaluate the legacy of the American republic as it regards the social and political doctrine of the Church, especially in the foundational error of the separation of Church and State, which we will return to below.A historian must make judgement about motives as a part of constructing a narrative. But reliance on a caricature of the federation of American states and "subdued secularism" (which many Latin traditionalists will blame on Protestants rather than on the elites who hold power in the state) is wrong and offensive to faithful Protestant Anglo-Americans who trace their descent to the very beginning. Latin traditionalists sound like the ugly duckling who never belonged in the first place and unfortunately will never become a swan, having become crippled by envy and pride (Latin triumphalism)--sounds almost gamma.
Except for places with a pre-1776 dominant Catholicism — like the formerly New Spain American southwest and the formerly New France New Orleans — by and large, the Catholicism of America was of immigrants. This meant that at best, they created ethnic ghettos and national parishes speaking their mother tongue with little influence on American Protestant society. At worst, they were immigrants seeking acceptance at any cost — including the Catholic faith and identity. The impetus to convert all of America and the whole republic into a Catholic republic that submits to Christ the King was greatly hindered by this conflict.In what shape was an immigrant Latin Church to convert their Protestant neighbors, when most of its members had chosen to live in large cities for the sake of economic opportunity? There is nothing preventing Latin traditionalists to try their great experiment in evangelization now. At least they will have results right away as to whether their strategy is as easy and fruitful as they think it would be.
We can generalize to say that the legacy of American Catholicism was conflicted between conformity to the Protestant American society and non-conformity to it, taking refuge in ethnic enclaves. The Irish immigrants led by prelates such as John Ireland and James Gibbons dominated the conformity party. The German immigrants dominated the non-conformity party. A third force in this legacy was those Catholics who accepted wholeheartedly the fundamental doctrines expounded by the Pian Magisterium (1799–1958) and sought to convert America to Christ the King.
