Vermont Catholics And The Modern Church

Being Catholic in Vermont has changed a lot since the first Mass was celebrated by Jesuit missionaries on the remote Isle La Motte in 1666. Recent headlines reveal a church rocked with scandal and economic instability.  Yet, in the face of decreasing religious affiliations across the US, approximately 25 percent of Vermonters still identify as Catholic.  How has the role of the church in Vermont changed over the centuries and what does it mean to be a catholic here today? We talk with hisotrian Howard Coffin and sociologist Vince Bolduc of Saint Michael's College.

Also in the program, the eugenics movement of the early 1900s attenpted to sterilize Vermonters who were deemed unfit to reproduce. We talk to Representative Anne Donahue about a resolution she's sponsoring that would apologize for Vermont's eugenics program.