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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA 3 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.