Editing Isaac Hecker (section)

{{Short description|American Catholic clergyman (1819–1888)}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = priest
| honorific-prefix = [[Servant of God]]
| name = Isaac Hecker
| honorific-suffix =
| title = 
| image = Father Isaac Hecker.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| church = [[Roman Catholic Church]]
| archdiocese = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York|New York]]
| province = New York
| metropolis =
| diocese =
| see = New York
| elected =
| term =
| quashed =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| opposed =
| other_post =
<!---------- Orders ---------->
| ordination = 1849
| ordained_by = [[Nicholas Wiseman]]
| consecration =
| consecrated_by =
| cardinal =
| created_cardinal_by =
| rank = [[Priest]]
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_name = Isaac Thomas Hecker
| birth_date = {{birth date|1819|12|18}}
| birth_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[United States]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1888|12|22|1819|12|18}}
| death_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[United States]]
| nationality = [[United States|American]]
| religion = [[Roman Catholic]]
| residence =
| parents = John Hecker and Caroline Freund
| spouse =
| children =
| occupation = Roman Catholic priest, missionary
| profession =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| motto =
| signature = Appletons' Hecker Isaac Thomas signature.jpg
| signature_alt =
| coat_of_arms =
| coat_of_arms_alt =
}}

'''Isaac Thomas Hecker''' (December 18, 1819 – December 22, 1888) was an American [[Roman Catholic|Catholic]] [[priest]] and founder of the [[Paulist Fathers]], a [[North American]] religious society of men.

Hecker was originally ordained a [[Redemptorist]] priest in 1849. With the blessing of Pope Pius IX, he founded the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle, now known as the Paulist Fathers, in New York on July 7, 1858. The Society was established to evangelize both believers and non-believers to convert [[United States|America]] to the Catholic Church. Hecker sought to [[evangelize]] Americans using the popular means of his day, primarily preaching, the public lecture circuit, and the printing press. One of his more enduring publications is ''The [[Catholic World]],'' which he created in 1865.{{sfn|Fox|1911}}

Hecker's spirituality mainly centered on cultivating the action of the [[Holy Spirit]] within the soul as well as the necessity of being attuned to how the Lord prompts one in great and small moments in life. Hecker believed that the Catholic faith and American political culture of small government, property rights, civil society and liberal democracy were not opposed but could be reconciled.<ref>[https://www.acton.org/isaac-thomas-hecker Isaac Thomas Hecker]. Religion and Liberty, 1994 issue. [[Acton Institute]]</ref> The ideas of individual freedom, community, service, and authority were fundamental to Hecker when conceiving how the Paulists would be governed and administered.

Hecker was a friend and colleague of [[classic liberal]] thinker [[Lord Acton]] in the cause of [[liberal Catholicism]]—opposed to [[ultramontanism]] politics in the church.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=yTcyEAAAQBAJ&dq=isaac+hecker+lord+acton&pg=PA194 Lord Acton by Roland Hill], pg 194. 1999</ref> Hecker's work was likened to that of [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[John Henry Newman]], by the Cardinal himself. In a letter written to [[Augustine Hewit]] on the occasion of Hecker's death, Newman wrote: "I have ever felt that there was a sort of unity in our lives, that we had both begun a work of the same kind, he in America and I in England."<ref name="smith">[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07186a.htm Smith, Michael Paul. "Isaac Thomas Hecker." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 4 Oct. 2015</ref>

Hecker's cause for sainthood was opened January 25, 2008, in the mother church of the Paulist Fathers on 59th St, New York City. He was thereafter named a [[Servant of God]].