Table of Contents
Preface 13
I Eat, Drink, and Be Catholic 21
Cheese 23
Pretzels 24
Coffee 25
Chocolate 26
Oranges, Lemons, and Limes 28
Beer 29
Wine 30
Fruitcake 33
II Giants of Science 35
The First Encyclopedia Author 37
The Guru of the Scientific Method 38
Copernicus 39
The Father of Botany 40
The First Moon Men 41
The Father of Fossils 42
The "Jesuit Science" 43
The Father of Genetics 44
Louis Pasteur 46
The Big Bang Theorist 47
III Inventions, Discoveries, and Innovations 51
Hospitals 53
The Autobiography 54
Do-Re-Mi 55
The University 57
The Mechanical Clock 60
Eyeglasses 60
The Calendar 63
Modern Bookkeeping 64
The Father of Aeronautics 65
Sign Language 66
The Fax Machine 67
IV Catholic Lingo 69
Bless You 71
Devil's Advocate 71
The Holy Grail 72
Holy Mackerel 72
Holy Smoke 73
Knock on Wood 73
Limbo 73
Neither Rhyme nor Reason 74
Niche 74
Placebo 75
Quarantine 75
Red Sky at Night, Sailor's Delight / Red Sky in the Morning, Sailor's Warning 76
Rob Peter to Pay Paul 77
V America 79
Columbus 81
Thanksgiving 82
Freedom of Religion 84
Charles Carroll 85
The White House and Catholics 86
The Liberty Bell 91
The Gettysburg Priest 93
Casey Jones 94
"God Bless America" 96
The Alamo 99
Red Cross Church 101
Groundhog Day 103
The Dollar Bill 104
VI Holy (Rock 'n') Rollers 107
The Beatles 109
Bruce Springsteen 113
Dion 117
Jim Peterik 118
Don McLean 119
VII Writers 123
William Shakespeare 125
Ernest Hemingway 126
Toni Morrison 130
Jack Kerouac 133
Mary Higgins Clark 134
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 136
VIII Movies and Television 139
John Wayne 141
Grace Kelly 142
Gregory Peck 145
Alfred Hitchcock 146
George Cohan 148
Bill Murray 149
The Nun Who Kissed Elvis 151
Films Honored by the Vatican 153
Churches on Film 154
Lilies of the Field 156
The School Built by a Movie 157
Late-Night TV 160
Steve Carell 161
Everybody Loves Raymond 163
Joke with the Pope 164
Bob Newhart 165
Kelly Ripa 167
IX Spouts 169
Two Ancient Sages of Physical Fitness 171
The Number-One Saint Athlete of All Time 171
Bowling 172
Lacrosse 173
Papal Jock 174
The Number-One Sports Fan in Rome 176
Seventh-Inning Stretch 177
"Casey at the Bat" 178
Babe Ruth 179
Catholic Golden Age 182
Johnny Unitas 183
Vince Lombardi 185
The "Hail Mary" 187
Virginia McCaskey 188
Simone Biles 189
Katie Ledecky 191
Kobe Bryant 192
X Outer Space to Cyberspacu 193
Moon Craters 195
Observatories 195
Astronaut Thomas Jones 196
Astronaut Rick Husband 198
Astronaut Willie McCool 199
Teacher and Astronaut Christa McAuliffe 199
The Space Window 201
Cyberspace Visionary 201
The Number-One Twiplomat 203
The Digital Vatican 204
The Internet Saint 205
XI It's a Catholic World After All 207
Hobbits 209
Mozart 211
Hummels 212
Valentine's Day 215
AA 216
Don Draper 220
America's Poet 223
Barney 224
The McCharity of Joan Kroc, a McCatholic 225
Saint Bernard (the Dog) 227
Bingo 229
A Charlie Brown Christmas 231
It's a Wonderful Life 233
Bibliography 237
Acknowledgments 243
Photo Credits 247