Abraham Lincoln and the Catholic Church

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On July 4, 1864 Abraham Lincoln had much to pre-occupy his mind.  Grant’s drive on Richmond had bogged down into a stalemated siege to the south of Richmond around the city of Petersburg.  Grant, due to the appalling Union casualties of the campaign, was routinely denounced as a butcher in Northern newspapers, a charge echoed privately by Mary Todd Lincoln.   On June 27 Sherman had been bloodily repulsed at Kennesaw Mountain, and his campaign against Atlanta appeared to be very much in doubt.  Lincoln suspected that he would not be re-elected and that the Union might very well lose the war.  So what did he do on July 4?  He, along with Mrs. Lincoln and most of his cabinet, attended a fundraiser held on the White House lawn to build a Catholic church.

In June of 1864, a group of black men, residents of Washington, knocked on the White House door and asked to present a petition to President Lincoln.  In those simpler times they were ushered in after a short wait to see Mr Lincoln.  Their spokesman, Gabriel Coakley,  told the President that they were Catholics and that they wished to obtain permission to hold a lawn party on the White House lawn in order to build a Catholic church in Washington to serve the black Catholic population in the capital.  Lincoln agreed immediately and told them to see General French, the commissioner of public buildings, and to tell him that he had given his permission for the function.  A permit was issued by General French on June 30, 1864.  It required the signature of the President, and Gabriel Coakley waited outside a cabinet meeting for several hours until the President came out.  Lincoln saw him, was advised that the permit needed his signature, signed it, and told Coakley that he hoped the event would be a success.

Lincoln helped ensure the event was a success on July 4 by attending.  The event raised over $1,000.00, a very large sum at a time when a private soldier earned $14.00 per month.  With the funds the church was constructed,  the Blessed Martin De Porres Chapel, with the foundations hand dug by parishioners.  The church quickly attracted a large number of black Catholics, but also a sizable number of white Catholics.  In 1876, the church was replaced by Saint Augustine Catholic Church, which is still going strong.

At this time in history, when religious freedom is being challenged, and even suppressed, may God in His mercy send us a President like Abraham Lincoln, ever a friend of religious freedom and of the Catholic Church.

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9 thoughts on “Abraham Lincoln and the Catholic Church”

  1. I’m only aware of one remark Lincoln ever made that refers to Catholics.

    “As a nation we began by declaring that all men are created equal. Now we practically read it, ‘All men are created equal except negroes.’ When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read, ‘All men are created equal except negroes and foreigners and Catholic.'”

  2. G. Michael Rowland

    I would like to inform you that Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy was much more friendly to the Catholic Church than Lincoln. He had Catholic members of his cabinet, prominent Catholic Generals, including my relative General Longstreet, was a good friend of Bishop McGill of Richmond and Pope Pius IX.

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  4. I would like to see documentation for this. My sources allude to Liñcoln assenting to the use of the grounds for a Sunday School picnic for colored children from St. Matthews church. Doesn’t say which denomination but to my knowledge Catholics do not have Sunday School. Nothing on July 4 showing Liñcoln attended the picnic.

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