Sanctification and Triumphalism (1950–1960)

Abstract

While American public sentiment shifted toward the desire for peace and prosperity, containment of the communist threat remained the principle goal of American foreign policy. American Sisters experimented with various concepts and structures in order to replace outdated ideas, structures and systems made for a different century. There were vast differences of opinion about the advisability of various changes that were made, and those differences created a deep division that would last well into the twenty-first century. For some, the changes did not happen fast enough and were not radical enough. Others resisted change altogether. Some held onto the hope of a return to the glory days of the triumphal Church and grew increasingly bitter as that likelihood became increasingly unrealistic.