The Catholic Question
How a jewelry theft in 1813 New York City became a legal argument about religious freedom in America
April 2013
NYU School of Law and Greenwood Cemetery
[Production Stage Manager]
A play by Steve DiUbaldo
Based on William Sampson's The Catholic Question in America (1813)
Staged reading produced by Glucksman Ireland House, New York University
Directed by Stephen Cedars
Stage Managed by Brídín Clements


The Catholic Question was presented at the NYU School of Law and at Greenwood Cemetery as a part of Glucksman Ireland House's symposium: Religious Freedom in America 1813-2013: Bicentennial Reflections on People v. Philips. The piece is a staged reading of William Sampson’s The Catholic Question in America (1813) adapted from Sampson's own published account of the case, which is the earliest known constitutional test of freedom of religion and the priest-penitent evidentiary privilege in American law.