Church bells ring to mark 150th anniversary of end of Civil War

By Catholic Review Staff

On the afternoon of April 9, churches across the country rang their bells in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, when Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.

 

St. Paul in Ellicott City, a church founded 25 years before the war, was home to a diverse population, including a school for African-American students and parishioners who supported both sides of the conflict. In this video, Father Matthew Buening, pastor, talks about how the church was used as a field hospital for soldiers coming home from war and how the war itself affected parishioners who left their legacies in the church’s stained-glass windows.

To view a video, click here.