Under the cross and the flag: The Catholic Students' Mission Crusade and the American quest to Christianize the world, 1918--197

The Catholic Students' Mission Crusade, a movement to bolster support for missionary work in America and throughout the world, was formed in 1918 by two seminarians of the Society of the Divine Word, Clifford J. King and Robert Clark. They proposed a program of "prayer, study, and sacrifice" that spread to Catholic educational institutions nationwide. Claiming one million student members at its height, the movement sponsored initiatives including lectures, conferences, the publication of periodicals and study guides, and parades and prayer gatherings. The results were tangible: hundreds of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, scores of mission-centered plays and publications authored and distributed, and thousands of dollars sent directly to the mission field.;By charting the generational shifts evidenced by the movement's student membership, this study examines how the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade continually evolved in its relationship to the Catholic Church and American society. The founding generation, influenced by the First World War and the drive for American expansionism, strived to recruit priests and religious for the missions to replace the dwindling supply of missionaries from Europe. The interwar generation, influenced by medievalism, used the image of the knight and the allure of adventure in the missions to increase membership and promote domestic causes including the mission to non-Catholics, blacks, and rural peoples. The third generation, the World War 11 generation focused chiefly on the international threat of communism and its impact upon the religious freedom of Catholics abroad, especially in Eastern Europe and Asia. The final generation that came to maturity in the 1960s focused on ecumenism, lay involvement in the missions, and a reassessment of mission theology and practice sparked by the Second Vatican Council. Questioning the movement's relevance in the wake of rapid changes in the Church and society, the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade's members voted to dissolve the organization in 1970 in favor of a decentralized approach to mission work. This dissertation represents the first scholarly analysis of the movement's history.