Sacramento and the Catholic Church: Shaping a Capital City

This title presents a new role model for the study of urban development. The Sacramento metropolitan area has nearly two million people and is one of the most culturally diverse communities in the country. In its origins and growth, the city is a microcosm of urban development in the American West. An ‘instant city’ created by the California Gold Rush, Sacramento survived after the gold was exhausted by reinventing itself several times. The Catholic Church, present in Sacramento from the beginnings of the town, has had an important influence on Sacramento’s life and development, just as the city’s distinct social, cultural, and economic conditions have affected the character of Catholic life in the city. Sacramento and the Catholic Church
examines the interplay between the city of Sacramento and the Catholic Church since the 1850s, illustrating the sometimes hidden ways religious communities help to form and sustain urban communities. Avella uses Sacramento as a case study of the role of religious denominations in the development of the West. In Sacramento, as in other western urban areas, churches brought civility and various cultural amenities, and they helped to create an atmosphere of stability so important to establishing a viable urban community. Sacramento and the Catholic Church
is a major contribution to our understanding of the development of western cities and the role of religion and religious institutions in that development.