author
Edward Ernest Swanstrom
1903–1985
A New York priest and bishop, he paired church leadership with hands-on relief work, writing movingly about displaced people in postwar Europe. His best-known book, Pilgrims of the Night, reflects a life spent close to humanitarian crises.
1 Audiobook
Pilgrims of the night : A study of expelled peoples
by Edward Ernest Swanstrom
About the author
Born in New York City in 1903, Edward Ernest Swanstrom became a Roman Catholic priest after studying at Fordham University and St. John's Seminary in Brooklyn. He later served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York, a role he held from 1960 until his retirement in 1978.
Swanstrom was also widely known for his humanitarian work. He was closely connected with Catholic relief efforts and wrote Pilgrims of the Night in 1950, drawing on the upheaval faced by displaced and expelled people in Europe after World War II.
His writing stands out for joining moral concern with direct observation. Even for readers coming to him through a single book, he comes across as a figure shaped by both pastoral duty and practical service.