The World and Work of Father John J. Burke: A Mystic in Action is a full-length biography of one of the most significant, yet little-known, American Catholic public figures of the twentieth century. Burke was a successful editor and general secretary (chief administrative officer) of the National Catholic War Council and its successor the National Catholic Welfare Conference, which is the present-day United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), one of the most influential institutions in North America. Burke was pulled into public service to address a variety of issues threatening American culture as the nation moved away from industrialism toward the progressive era, into World War I and then the "roaring twenties." He challenged the Klu Klux Klan's attempt to dominate education and public curricula, and sought protection of parochial schools against state and federal legislation promoted by anti-Catholic organizations; Burke confronted immigration in a time that sought to ex