Published: 27 July 2016

A Church with a missionary spirit. That describes the Catholic Church in North Carolina throughout its history.

The Diocese of Charlotte may have 92 parishes and missions now – many of them bursting with increasing numbers of families moving here from all over the world – but there was a time when Catholic families were isolated and often treated with hostility by their non-Catholic neighbors, when the celebration of Mass was rare, when just a handful of priests "rode the circuit" hundreds of miles through the wilderness to reach their flocks.

"A History of the Early Years of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte" recounts, "Before the American Revolution, Catholicism scarcely existed in the Carolinas, except for a few exiled Acadians who were still here at the beginning of the Revolution. In his 'History of the Catholic Church in the United States,' John Gilmary Shea tells that in 1775 two Irish Catholics were discovered in Charleston and at once were condemned to be tarred and feathered and banished from the state, accused of conspiring with the Negroes against the liberties of the country. Catholics kept their faith so secret that they were not even known to one another. After the American Revolution a new era began for the government and also for religion. The State of South Carolina in its new constitution permitted Catholics to live in the state as individuals and as organized groups."

The first wave of Catholics in the Carolinas arrived in the early 1800s – mostly Irish stonemasons and other skilled tradesmen finding work with the railroads and in construction jobs, especially in Raleigh, which saw the dedication of its first Catholic church in 1834.

Until just after the nation's founding, Catholics in the Carolinas were part of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Just a few years after the American Revolution, however, the Baltimore archdiocese realized it was too distant to oversee the Carolinas effectively. So in 1820, the Holy See created a new Diocese of Charleston, comprising the Carolinas and Georgia. Thirty years later, when Georgia was split off into a separate Diocese of Savannah, the Carolinas combined had about 5,000 Catholics, 17 churches and just 16 priests.

It took nearly another 20 years for a separate vicariate to be set up for North Carolina, with Bishop (later Cardinal) James Gibbons consecrated to lead it as vicar apostolic. He was just 33.

Starting in 1868, he and a fellow priest traveled across the state, seeking out North Carolina's estimated 700 Catholic families – notably, the 100-member congregation at St. Peter Church in Charlotte, which had been founded in 1851 as the first permanent Catholic church in western North Carolina that is still in use.

The Benedictines

No history of the early Church in North Carolina can be told without describing the foundational role of the Benedictines.

During his tour of the state in the late 1860s, Bishop Gibbons realized that religious education was critical to shepherding the faithful. At the urging of his priest traveling companion, he wrote "The Faith of Our Fathers," which became a popular religious text in its day. He also anticipated that the state's Catholics needed a religious college to educate the faithful and encourage vocations. But where?

O'ConnellAround the same time, Rev. Dr. Jeremiah J. O'Connell, a trailblazing priest and missionary who worked throughout the Carolinas and Georgia, bought 500 acres of farmland near what today is Belmont. It was a bankruptcy sale, and he paid just $10. He envisioned a Catholic college for young men run by a religious order.

Rev. Dr. O'Connell was no stranger to this area. In 1851, he had traveled two days by stagecoach from Charleston to lay the cornerstone of St. Peter's in Charlotte. "Much of the money needed to construct this church was donated by non-Catholics who had been impressed by Father O'Connell's preaching," states the history on the Diocese of Charlotte's website.

Rev. Dr. O'Connell approached Bishop Gibbons with his idea for using the land in Belmont, and not long afterward the bishop petitioned St. Vincent's Archabbey in Latrobe, Pa., to form a community of Benedictine monks and a college there. All Rev. Dr. O'Connell asked was to live on the campus, which he did until his death in 1894. While living at the abbey, he penned the seminal work "Catholicity in the Carolinas and Georgia: Leaves of its History."

In 1876, the first Benedictines arrived: Father Herman Wolfe and two students from Richmond, Va. A religious brother and two more students from Charlotte soon joined. Besides their religious studies and missionary work, the monks made the bricks used to build the abbey.

Within two years there were 12 students and four faculty, and the college was chartered by the state in 1886 as St. Mary's College. (In 1913 its name changed to Belmont Abbey College.)

Father Leo Haid was elected as the first abbot of the growing community in 1885, which by then included 12 monks. He was soon ordained a bishop, and in 1887 he became responsible for the North Carolina vicariate as well as the abbey for the next two decades.

The Benedictine monks had a pioneering spirit and unwavering missionary zeal. Under Abbot Haid's leadership the community grew to dozens of monks. In cooperation with the Sisters of Mercy, they established parishes and parochial schools across the state, girls' boarding schools in Belmont and Asheville, and three hospitals. They also founded and staffed new monasteries and schools in Georgia, Virginia and Florida.

At the time Abbot Haid was ordained head of the North Carolina vicariate in 1887, there were 2,600 Catholics and 14 priests in the state. When he died in 1924 – serving as North Carolina's last vicar apostolic – the Catholic population had grown to 8,254 people and 52 priests.

That same year, the North Carolina vicariate became a diocese in its own right when the Diocese of Raleigh was created by Pope Pius XI. It encompassed the entire state except eight counties set aside for Belmont Abbey's control, a separate diocesan structure called "abbatia nullius." The abbey was the only one in the U.S. to ever hold that rank, from 1910 until the formation of the Diocese of Charlotte. (The abbey's Basilica of

Mary Help of Christians, funded in large part by a donation from St. Katharine Drexel, was a cathedral for much of the 20th century while the abbey enjoyed "abbatia nullius" status, and it is now a minor basilica.)

One year after the Raleigh diocese's founding, Bishop William Joseph Hafey, chancellor of the Baltimore archdiocese, was ordained its first bishop. At 37, he was the youngest bishop in the U.S. at the time.

Sources: "A History of the Early Years of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte," by Sister Miriam Miller, O.S.F., 1984; "Voices and Places of the People of God," by David Hains, 2006; Diocese of Charlotte website and archives.

— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Diocese of Charlotte was founded on Jan. 12, 1972. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the diocese and the history of the Church in Western North Carolina, we are launching a year-long series spotlighting the people who built up the Church, the major developments over the past 40 years, and what changes could be in store for the future.

Published: 14 July 2016

Historic property holds memories for generations of Catholics

HENDERSONVILLE — In late 1955, Bishop Vincent Waters bought 250 acres just south of Hendersonville to be used as a diocesan retreat center for the people of the diocese. Our Lady of the Hills Camp was a popular destination for North Carolina Catholics for the next 30 years.

Family vacations, conferences and a summer camp for youth were offered at the newly-named Catholic Assembly Grounds, more commonly called Our Lady of the Hills Camp.

Pictured: Bishop Waters blesses the lake, then known as "Madonna Lake," during the dedication. Bottom right: Campers enjoy horseback riding at the camp in 1972.  (Photos provided by Diocese of Charlotte archives)

The property included Highland Lake (also known as Madonna Lake), an Olympic-size swimming pool, an open-air gymnasium and the historic Trenholm-Rhett homestead.

The land had been part of a 1789 land grant to John Earle, and over the years it had belonged to several prominent owners, including Secretary of the Confederate Treasury George Trenholm and South Carolina Gov. William Aiken.

The camp opened its doors on June 10, 1956. From the start, it welcomed people of all races, making it the first racially integrated camp in the region.

Campers enjoyed archery, riflery, baseball, swimming, canoeing, dramas, boxing and horseback riding. Part of the daily camp schedule included morning and evening prayer, Mass, and recitation of the rosary.

Priests, religious orders, paid staff and volunteers all contributed to the camp's daily operations.

Two staff members, Carmen and Dorothy Falcone, assisted in running the camp for much of its existence. Carmen Falcone worked at Duke University as an assistant professor in the physical education department and he coached wrestling and football. His wife Dorothy was a dietician at Duke Hospital.

Carol Dawson, a parishioner and 30-year employee of Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville, was involved with the camp. Her youngest son, Douglas, assisted the Falcones in kitchen.

"In the early '80s I organized several women's retreats which we held at the camp," Dawson recalls. "Our parish also held annual picnics there. We would have what we called a garbage can dinner (potatoes, cabbage, corn on the cob, topped with sausages) and it would cook over an open fire over several hours, so we always had games for the adults and the kids...it was a wonderful gathering and attended by many of all ages. A time to really get to know each other."

Thanks to people like the Falcones and Dawsons, Our Lady of the Hills Camp made a positive impact on the surrounding community.

Monsignor John McSweeney, former chancellor of the diocese and current pastor at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte, served as camp administrator from 1977 until it its closure in 1985.

"The camp was always full, about 300 children each session and about 100 college and high school counselors and staff, including seminarians and religious sisters. Monsignor (Joseph) Showfety and Monsignor Bill Pharr were also some of the key people involved."

Monsignor McSweeney emphasizes that the camp was an important place for catechism, Spanish and English classes, tutoring and youth ministry.

In October 1978, the Diocese of Charlotte Youth Ministry office relocated to the camp. The former infirmary building was winterized for year-round use by the Youth Ministry office, which was growing at such a vibrant pace that it needed a full-time facility for its directors and programs.

Seven years later, in 1985, the decision was made to sell the property due to financial concerns. The Aug. 16 closing ceremony featured Mass, a cookout and fireworks. On the Feast of the Coronation, Aug. 22, 1985, the property was sold. The Highland Inn and Conference Center was established on the former camp location.

Money from the sale of Our Lady of the Hills Camp was then used to buy land near Hickory to develop the Diocese of Charlotte's Catholic Conference Center – at the time, the largest capital investment by the diocese in its history.

On Dec. 18, 1988, the Catholic Conference Center was dedicated by the diocese's second bishop, Bishop John Donoghue.

The 33,000-square-foot Catholic Conference Center features 50 hotel-style guest rooms and accommodates individual guests and overnight groups up to 200 people. Five conference rooms can host up to 314 people. The dining room seats up to 160 people, with retracting walls that allow for up to 250 diners.

The 178-acre property boasts beautiful mountain views and ample outdoor space for quiet walks and prayer, and it is a popular retreat center. The property also includes a chapel and a private retreat house.

The Conference Center shares the broader evangelical call of the diocese to build the Catholic community in the counties of western North Carolina. It also opens its doors and offers hospitality to other Christian communities in the state, their leaders, congregations and organizations. As a meeting facility, the Catholic Conference Center is available to civic, educational and governmental agencies, to professional societies, and other non-profit organizations whose purposes are compatible with Church teaching.

Deacon Guy Piche, director of Diocesan Properties and manager of the Conference Center, believes it fulfills an important role "as an excellent mode of evangelization to the other churches using the Center."

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

More online

At www.catholicconference.org: More information and photos of the Catholic Conference Center