James Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Baltimore for more than forty years, from 1877 until his death in 1921. Created a cardinal in 1886, he was the second American cardinal, after John McCloskey.
Ordained a bishop at age 34, Gibbons previously served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina (1868–1872) and Bishop of Richmond (1872–1877). In 1876, he published the apologetic book The Faith of Our Fathers, which became a best-selling work. During his time as Baltimore's archbishop, Gibbons became one of the most recognizable Catholic figures in the country. He defended the rights of organized labor and advocated for Americanism as a means of assimilation.
Early life and education
thumb|Cardinal Gibbons in May 1914
James Gibbons was born on July 23, 1834, in Baltimore, Maryland, the fourth of six children, to Thomas and Bridget (née Walsh) Gibbons. His parents were from Tourmackeady, County Mayo, in Ireland. The family left Ireland to settle in Canada, then moved to the United States.
After contracting tuberculosis in 1839, Thomas returned with the family back to Ireland, hoping the Irish climate would help him recover. He opened a grocery store in Ballinrobe, where James Gibbons worked as a child. Slight of build and a little under than average height, James Gibbons suffered from gastric problems and consequent periods of anxiety and clinical depression. Thomas Gibbons died in Ireland in 1847; in 1853, Bridget Gibbons moved the family back to the United States, settling in New Orleans, Louisiana.
While attending a Catholic retreat in New Orleans, Gibbons heard a sermon by Reverend Clarence A. Walworth, co-founder of the Paulist Fathers. Inspired to become a priest, Gibbons in 1855 entered St. Charles College in Ellicott City, Maryland. After graduating from St. Charles in 1857, he went to St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore. He suffered a severe attack of malaria while at St. Mary's, leaving him so debilitated that the staff doubted his ability to handle the priesthood. After Gibbons' ordination, the archdiocese assigned him as curate at St. Patrick's Parish in the Fells Point section of Baltimore for six weeks. They then named him the first pastor of St. Brigid's Parish and as pastor of St. Lawrence Parish, both in Baltimore. During the American Civil War, Gibbons served as a chaplain for Confederate Army prisoners at Fort McHenry in Baltimore.
Episcopal career
Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina
thumb|Cardinal Gibbons (pre-1915)
On March 3, 1868, Pope Pius IX appointed Gibbons as the first apostolic vicar of North Carolina and titular bishop of Adramyttium. He received his episcopal consecration on August 15, 1868, from Spalding, with Bishops Patrick Lynch and Michael Domenec serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Baltimore. At age 34, he was one of the youngest Catholic bishops in the world and was known as "the boy bishop."
Gibbons' vicariate contained fewer than 700 Catholics spread over the state of North Carolina. During his first four weeks in office, he traveled almost a thousand miles, visiting towns and mission stations and administering sacraments. During his road trip, Gibbons befriended many Protestants, and was invited to preach at Protestant churches. Gibbons made a number of converts to Catholicism.
In 1869 and 1870, Gibbons attended the First Vatican Council in Rome. Gibbons voted in favor of the doctrine of papal infallibility. He assumed the additional duties of apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, in January 1872.
Bishop of Richmond
Gibbons was named by Pius IX as the fourth bishop of Richmond on July 30, 1872. He was installed as bishop on October 20, 1872.
Coadjutor archbishop and archbishop of Baltimore
On May 29, 1877, Pius IX named Gibbons as coadjutor archbishop of Baltimore. He automatically succeeded as archbishop on October 3, 1877, after the death of Archbishop James Bayley. He was the second American cardinal after Cardinal John McCloskey.
In 1885, the bishops in the Third Plenary Council in Baltimore decided to build the Catholic University of America in the District of Columbia. The university opened on March 7, 1889, with Gibbons serving as its first chancellor.
On January 22, 1899, Leo XIII sent Gibbons an encyclical, Testem benevolentiae nostrae ("Concerning New Opinions, Virtue, Nature and Grace, with Regard to Americanism"). The encyclical condemned the Hecker biography for Americanism. In an 1890 letter, Gibbons said:<blockquote>For my part I cannot well conceive how Christians can entertain other than most kindly sentiments toward the Hebrew race, when I consider how much we are indebted to them. We have from them the inspired volume of the Old Testament which has been consolation in all ages to devout souls. Christ our Lord, the Founder of our religion, His Blessed Mother, as well as the apostles, were all Jews according to the flesh. These facts attach me strongly to the Jewish race. When Jewish leaders in 1915 in Ohio were opposing a state law that would promote Bible readings in public schools, Gibbons sent them a letter of support. During World War I, he supported American Jewish Relief fundraising in Baltimore. Gibbons played a key role in the granting of papal permission for Catholics to join labor unions.
Regarding manual labor Gibbons said that "the Savior of mankind never conferred a greater temporal
boon on mankind than by ennobling and sanctifying manual labor, and by rescuing it from the stigma of degradation which had
been branded upon it", adding that "Christ is ushered Into the world not amid pomp and splendor of imperial majesty, but amid the environments of an humble child of toil. He is the reputed son of an artisan, and his early manhood is spent in a mechanic’s shop". He concluded that "every honest labor is laudable, thanks to the example and teaching of Christ".
In Rome in 1887 Gibbons implored the Vatican not to condemn the Knights of Labor and defended the rights of workers to organise.
Colonialism
thumb|King Leopold II of Belgium (pre-1891)
thumb|Balolo Mission in Belgium Congo 1900 to 1910
In early 1904, Congolese activists established the Congo Reform Association in England to protest atrocities and injustices against the people of the Congo Free State in Africa. It was a colony under the direct control of King Leopold II, the Catholic king of Belgium. In October 1904, organizers were staging the 13th Universal Peace Congress in Boston, Massachusetts, with Congo being on the agenda. The Belgian Government protested this topic because the organizers had not invited Leopold II to send a representative. At the request of the Belgians, Gibbons wrote a letter to the organizers, asking them to drop discussion of Congo. Gibbons' efforts not only failed to sway the organizers, but made him the target of much criticism. Gibbons responded to his critics, saying "I fear, that this agitation against King Leopold's administration is animated partly by religious jealousy and partly by commercial rivalry."
According to the historian John Tracy Ellis, rival business and religious interests were indeed supporting the Congo Reform Association. However, Leopold was exploiting and oppressing the Congolese population. Furthermore, Gibbons had based his support on the views of the Belgian government and intermittent reports from Catholic missionaries.</blockquote>Author Adam Hochschild’s book, King Leopold’s Ghost, gives a less flattering account of Gibbons' involvement with the Congo issue; <blockquote>"[King Leopold’s] representatives in Rome successfully convinced the Vatican that this Catholic king was being set upon by unscrupulous Protestant missionaries. A stream of messages in Latin flowed from the Holy See across the Atlantic to the designated Catholic point-man for Leopold in the United States, James Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore. Cardinal Gibbons believed that the Congo reform crusade was the work of "only a handful of discontented men... depending largely upon the untrustworthy hearsay of the natives." </blockquote>Leopold later awarded Gibbons with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown for his assistance. His support of Leopold gained the recognition of Pope Pius X.
Works
The Faith of Our Fathers
During his many speaking engagements as a priest, Gibbons' audiences included many Protestants wanting to learn about Catholicism. He wanted to recommend books on Catholicism to interested Protestants, but he found the existing apologetical works to be inadequate for Americans. To fill that need, Gibbons in 1876 published The Faith of Our Fathers: A Plain Exposition and Vindication of the Church Founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Understanding that many Americans viewed their faith as coming directly from the Bible, Gibbons took pains to explain the biblical roots of Catholic doctrine and rituals. He also wanted to show readers that Catholicism was an American faith, rebutting the claims by anti-Catholic nativists that Catholicism was a heretical belief imposed by Europeans.