What exactly is the Catholic Church heresy known as "Americanism"

On this eve of the 4th of July, I am reminded again that our beloved country has been far from Catholic friendly.  I call to your attention the article I found and posted last year that told the cold hard truth about the struggles of Catholics in colonial America.  In fact, Catholics were mostly despised and discriminated against for much of the early history of these United States of America.

Fast forward nearly 100 years and a certain Father Michael J McGiveney moved forward with his plans for the Knights of Columbus in response to the exclusion and discrimination of good Catholics from being allowed to join certain organizations and denied rights to purchase much needed insurance for their families.

Move on another dozen years or so and we find out that the great Pope Leo XIII wrote an encyclical to Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore describing the denial of the supremacy of God among a culture/nation/peoples and called it Americanism.  To be fair, I will link an article that tells us all what Americanism is and is not!

Fast forward to today.  Never has the Catholic Church been the subject of such intense attacks by the government of the land of the free and home of the brave.  Religious liberty is almost non-existent.  Catholics are now told by legislative fiat, and backed often by reinterpreting judicial zealots, to violate their faith or else.  Even worse, Catholic Supreme Court justices go so far as to describe faithful Catholics who don't go along to get along as enemies of this or that, or worse, terrorists.  U.S. Chaplains in the armed services are told to support anti-Christian(specifically Catholic) doctrine is grounds for disciplinary action, possible court martial.  A Catholic in America today is told you are stupid if you still support pro-life efforts, traditional marriage, and believe all that the Church teaches relative to immigration, euthanasia and the death penalty.

While there certainly are many reasons to celebrate the history of Catholicism in America, to continue to run around thinking that America is a Catholic friendly nation is naïve.  This, despite the fact that the VAST majority of Catholics in America are fiercely patriotic, have died in huge numbers defending the USA, and literally love this land.

May we, who love our faith and our nation continue to put God first, even over country and remember that we have a duty, informed by our faith, to never support unjust laws, legal as they may be, if they violate God's natural & divine laws and truths as taught to us by Holy Mother Church!

Read more about "Americanism" :

Americanism

This heresy which was condemned by Pope Leo XIII is the denial of the influence of the Church's social doctrine in the civil domain. It's ultimate consequence is the denial of the rights of God and the supernatural order.  It is a denial of the supernatural order established by God. This heresy is called "Americanism" because Pope Leo XIII wrote his encyclical (Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae) to   Cardinal James Gibbons, condemning the false notion of Catholicism that he was working to establish in the newly founded continent of America which was founded by non-Catholics. This meant that Cardinal Gibbons and a number of other prelates tried to compromise with the false principles as were enshrined in the American constitution.  Americanism it is not a condemnation of America as such but a condemnation of the false notions as introduced into the faith by means of the American prelates. It is more than ever important to remove the blind fold in this regard since many Catholics while claiming to be Catholics are not Catholic but "Americanists" who deny the influence of Christ and His Church in the social sphere. For this reason Americanism leads to the Public denial of Christ the King and ultimately to the destruction of society since there can never be a true peace without Christ, the Prince of Peace.
 

"We must repeat with the utmost energy in these times of social and intellectual anarchy when everyone takes upon himself to teach as a teacher and lawmaker - the City cannot be built otherwise than as God has built it; society cannot be set up unless the Church lays the foundations and supervises the work; no, civilization is not something yet to be found, nor is the new City to be built on hazy notions; it has been in existence and still is: it is Christian civilization, it is the Catholic City. It has only to be set up and restored continually against the unremitting attacks of insane dreamers, rebels and miscreants." - Pope St. Pius X, Nostre charge apostolique.

"The Peace of Christ in the reign of Christ"!