The History of Catholic Campus Ministry at the College of William and Mary

Abstract

In Virginia, the land of the Virgin Queen rather than the Virgin Mary, Roman Catholicism has traditionally been eclipsed, if not outright forbidden, by the originally state-supported Anglican Church. Yet, however concealed, the influence of Catholics in the Williamsburg area is undeniable. They have shaped, and in turn been shaped, by their home and their community. Catholics predate the British colonials in the historic triangle area, were an influential population during the growth of the college, and have remained throughout the centuries an integral thread in the fabric of this community.