A Spiritual Lacuna: The Austrian Leopoldine Society and the United States of America

Founded in Vienna in 1829, the Austrian Leopoldine Society (die Leopoldinenstiftung) contributed greatly to the cause of American Roman Catholicism. The Society reflected the compassion of the clergy in the Austrian Empire to help the perceived plight of Catholics in the United States. Its mission focused originally on the support of Midwestern dioceses but steadily grew to encompass almost every corner of the United States. Over the course of the following nine decades until the outbreak of the First World War, Society supporters raised the substantial sum of over three million Austrian kronen for American dioceses with an additional 286,722 florins given as support for missionaries to travel to the United States. As an introduction to the current special issue focused on the effects and legacies of this important religious element within the Austrian-American relationship, this article serves as a broad overview for the development, scale, and historical importance of this missionary foundation.