Faith, hope, and ethnicity : St. Mary's parish in Butte

Abstract

This thesis studies the interplay between religion and society in the Roman Catholic parish of St. Mary's in Butte, Montana. The parish life of St. Mary's reveals in many ways the values parishioners and priests held, which were manifested in their parish ethnic and religious identity. Priests and parishioners alike incorporated ethnicity into the St. Mary's world of religion--the parish life. This led to the development of a parish ethnic identity. The parish community also developed a parish religious identity based on its cultural values. Thus, discernable ethnic and religious identities defined St. Mary's parish between 1916-1928.