The Catholic Church in America was built in the missions of the West, the slums of New York, and the heartland of the Midwest by ordinary believers forging extraordinary lives. C. Walker Gollar tells their stories, which become the story of the Church. American and Catholic tackles difficult topics such as slavery, the treatment of Native Americans, martyrdom, the role of women, and immigration in a balanced and nuanced way. From the time of the first European explorers to the twenty-first century, it offers glimpses into the long, sometimes painful, and always changing life of the Church in the United States.

The book includes illustrations, maps, and photographs, a comprehensive bibliography, questions for discussion, and an index.