William L. Portier's book, Every Catholic an Apostle: A Life of Thomas A. Judge, C.M., 1868–1933, brings its central character to life. Fr. Thomas Augustine Judge was a Vincentian missionary priest in Philadelphia who fostered an early twentieth-century lay missionary movement that grew into two religious communities, one male and one female. Portier's book chronicles the events of Judge's life in an engaging way, such that the reader can envision the man throughout. This is the case not just physically, with his “‘merry laugh, his bright sparkling eyes, jet black hair and erect carriage’” (36), but also through his zeal for reaching people and his struggles as he attempts to provide support for the congregations and regularize their canonical status.
Much of the book comes from archival material, especially Judge's letters and papers, and the tapestry that is presented to the reader is of such a relatable man that the reader feels invested in his challenges and accomplishments. We journey with him though the Great Depression, his cooperation with Mother Boniface, and then see his work threatened by financial challenges, and his vision for the congregations “fragmented” (527). The last section of the volume, “Times of Trial and Loss” (1926–1933), which follows “Beginnings” (1868–1915) and “Creative Center” (1915–1926), is by far the longest part of the book.
The content of the book goes beyond the history of an individual, a particular historical period, and even the history of the congregations, the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity and the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity. In fact, the congregations themselves came from a lay missionary movement that Fr. Judge fostered. After preaching along the East Coast, while serving in the Vincentian Alabama Mission, he invited lay apostles to come help meet the dire needs. The lay apostles themselves had begun to move in the direction of vowed religious communities, and he followed their lead.
Fr. Judge is a leader of laypeople, and this history traces the development of the theology and ecclesiology of the laity within the Catholic Church. Portier describes his goal at the beginning of the book: “The aim of this biography is to tell the story of Fr. Judge's life and work from the documentary sources to contextualize him in the broad sweep of the history of the United States and more specifically in the history of U.S. Catholicism. To the extent possible, I hope to reconstruct the worlds in which Father Judge made sense and bring both him and his lasting significance to life in the present” (6). He accomplishes this, and Portier's extensive and wide-ranging contexts include insights into canon law, constitutions, church movements, immigration waves, and the particular socio-politico-economic conditions that led to, and grew from, them, and more.
Every Catholic an Apostle is an important and helpful book, one that makes a unique contribution to our understanding of Fr. Judge's life as well as ecclesial development, canon law, religious life, the ordained, and lay apostolates. The context Portier covers includes movements within spirituality, from the early modern Bérulle School of French spirituality to that of Vatican II.
It is a long book, at 536 pages (excluding end matter). It is, however, engaging, as Dr. Portier hoped: “a long but, I pray, not tedious, book” (6).
This book is recommended for theology and religious studies scholars, especially historians and those who specialize in practical theology; libraries; and, of course, the religious congregations involved.
