American Decades

Important Events in Religion, 1970–1979

On January 17, the Right Reverend John M. Burgess is installed as bishop of the Massachusetts diocese. He is the first black presiding bishop in the Episcopal church.
On February 2, Sister Anita Caspary, president of the Immaculate Heart of Mary religious order in Los Angeles, announces that 315 of the 400 members of the order will end their religious ties and set up a lay community to continue their work.
On February 6, the Orthodox church in the Soviet Union grants autonomy to the United States Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic church over the protests of the Ecumenical patriarch in Istanbul. The new 800,000-member, autocephalous denomination takes the name the Orthodox Church in America.
On April 20, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church accepts a statement characterizing the war in Vietnam as a "fiasco" and urges accelerated talks to end the conflict.
On June 16, the...

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