Progressive White Catholics in the South and Civil Rights

A progressive minority of white Catholics in the South strove to counter segregationist arguments and, when necessary, to persuade and pressure southern prelates to inaugurate and enforce desegregation. The progressive minority included some ordinaries, religious and diocesan priests, nuns, editors of diocesan newspapers, faculty and students at seminaries and Catholic and secular higher educational institutions, and laity. Progressives disseminated their message through pastoral letters, sermons, classes, editorials, articles and letters in the diocesan press, pamphlets and newsletters. With the approval of their ordinaries, progressives often formed Catholic organizations, most commonly interracial councils, to disseminate their message. Sometimes progressives cooperated with or joined civil rights organizations, and a few participated in civil rights protests. Despite the opposition of militant Catholic adherents of Jim Crow, progressive prelates positively influenced the views of some Catholic segregationists. Although progressive priests and laity lacked the authority of prelates, they also helped change some segregationists.