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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
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CARDINAL GIBBONS—HIS LIFE
BY THE EDITOR
James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore,
died at his residence in Baltimore, Md., March 24,
1921, afte r an extended illness. His funeral took
place in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, the famous edifice in Baltimore
where he spent most of his sixty years in clerical life.
The eulogy was delivered by Archbishop John J.
Glennon, of St. Louis. After the services, which were
attended by the greatest gathering of prelates that
ever came together on this continent, the body of the
Cardinal was laid to rest in a white marble crypt un
der the sanctuary of the great stone pile, around
which his whole life had revolved.”
Cardinal Gibbons was born in Baltimore, Md., on
July 23, 1834, in the dawn of American greatness.
In 1 841 he went to Ireland with his parents, return
ing to the United States six years later. On the re
turn trip the family was shipwrecked off the Bahamas,
but all on board were saved.
The futuie Prince of the Church entered St. Charles
College in 1835, and made his theological course in
St. Mary’s Seminary, being ordained June 30, 1861,
after the first shots in the War Between the States
were fired.
After six weeks as an assistant at St. Patrick’s
Church, Baltimore, he was made pastor of St.
Bridget’s Church in that city. At the end of the war
he was appointed secretary to Archbishop Spalding,
of Baltimore. Three years later, at the age of 32, he
was consecrated Bishop and Vicar Apostolic of North
Carolina. He found North Carolina in the hands of
carpetbaggers when he went there to assume his new
duties.
Going to Rome the following year, 1869, he took
part in the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, being
the youngest Bishop present, and, at the time of his
death, the Council’s sole survivor. Three years later
he was made Bishop of Richmond.
The Cathedral at Baltimore was consecrated in
1876, and Bishop Gibbons was selected to preach the
consecration sermon. Two years passed, and he was
made Archbishop of Baltimore.
Pope Leo XIII called the new Archbishop, with
other American Archbishops, to discuss the affairs of
the Church in America. Three years later, he was
named a Prince of the Church, and received the red
hat and ring of the Cardinalate from Pope Leo on St.
Patrick’s Day, 1887.
The late Cardinal was the first American to vote
in the election of a Pope, the occasion being the eleva
tion of Cardinal Sarto, Pope Pius X, in July, 1903.
Five years later Cardinal Gibbons preached a notable
sermon at the International Eucharistic Congress in
London.
The greatest of many civic demonstrations in honor
of Cardinal Gibbons occurred in June, 1911, when an
extraordinary assemblage gathered to pay him tribute
in honor of his 25th anniversary as a member of the
Sacred College, and his 50th anniversary as a Priest
of the Catholic Church. A crowd of 20,000 gath
ered in the Fifth Regiment Armory, Baltimore. Near
him on the huge platform sat the President of the
United States, Mr. Taft; the Vice-President, Mr. Sher
man; the only living ex-President, Colonel Roosevelt;
the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court,
Mr. White; the Speaker of the House of Representa
tives, Mr. Clark; the ex-Speaker, Mr. Cannon; the
British Ambassador, Mr. Bryce; the Governor of Mary
land, Mr. Crothers; the Mayor of Baltimore, Mr. Pres
ton; the United States Senators from Maryland,
Messrs. Rayner and Smith; the members of the House
of Representatives from Maryland, and a large num
ber of the most prominent figures in both branches
of Congress, as well as other leading men of the na
tion, state and city, Catholic and non-Catholic.
The following October, the cornerstone of the Car
dinal Gibbons Memorial Hall, a structure costing
$250,000 and erected by popular subscription, was
laid at the Catholic University at Washington, for
which the Cardinal has done so much to advance to
a front rank among American educational institu
tions.
Cardinal Gibbons was a friend of three Popes and
of every President since the days of Lincoln. He
was a semi-public man whose opinions on every ques
tion were sought and respected. He was an American
to the core. Still, it was in the fact that he was a
Priest of God that he found most consolation. During
his lifetime he ordained more than 1,500 Priests and
consecrated 1 8 Bishops, including our own beloved
Bishop Keiley. It was under his direction that the
National Catholic War Council, which did so much
for Uncle Sam during the world war, was formed.
Have Faith in Massachusetts,” Vice-President
Coolidge wrote recently. Cardinal Gibbons lived a
life that preached that doctrine about America. He
did not shrink from the temporary evils of the age. The
country is sound at heart, he believed. It was only
last month that The Bulletin carried from his pen a
laudatory article on the Constitution of the United
States, which he called “the greatest document that
ever issued from the hand of man.”
Cardinal Gibbons saw wave after wave of bigotry
rise, expend itself and die, only to leave the object of
its hate stronger than before by reason of its union
to meet the danger. Bigotry did not dishearten him;
he knew its spirit was foreign to the free air of
America. With wonderful patience, yet without ag
gressiveness, he fought these attempts to sow discord
among the American people. He conquered, and
when he closed his eyes to open them in his eternal
home, he had the pleasure of knowing that the forces
of bigotry have been reduced to impotence and the
spirit of tolerance had again advanced to the place it
held in the early days of his native Baltimore.