George Mundelein | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Cardinal,Archbishop of Chicago | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Archdiocese | Chicago | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appointed | December 9, 1915 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Installed | February 9, 1916 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Term ended | October 2, 1939 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | James Edward Quigley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Samuel Stritch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1872-07-02)July 2, 1872 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | October 2, 1939(1939-10-02) (aged 67) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motto | Dominus Adjutor Meus (Latin for 'The Lord Is My Help') | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source(s):Catholic-Hierarchy.org[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
George William Mundelein (July 2, 1872 – October 2, 1939) was anAmerican Catholic who served asArchbishop of Chicago from 1915 until his death in 1939. He was elevated to thecardinalate in 1924.
| Styles of George Mundelein | |
|---|---|
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Religious style | Cardinal |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Chicago |
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George Mundelein was born onAvenue C in theEast Village neighborhood ofManhattan,New York City.[2] He was the only son of Francis and Mary (née Goetz) Mundelein, who were of German descent; he had two sisters, Margaret and Catherine.[3] George Mundelein's grandfather fought in theAmerican Civil War.[4]
Mundelein received his early education at the parochial school ofSt. Nicholas Kirche in Manhattan. He attendedLa Salle Academy andManhattan College, where he befriendedPatrick Hayes (a futurecardinal andarchbishop of New York).[5] Mundelein graduated from Manhattan College in 1889 with high honors. He then studied atSt. Vincent Seminary inLatrobe, Pennsylvania, and thePontifical Urbaniana University inRome.[6]
Mundelein wasordained to the priesthood for theDiocese of Brooklyn by BishopCharles McDonnell on June 8, 1895.[7]
After Mundelein returned to the United States, the Diocese assigned him to pastoral work in its parishes. He served assecretary to McDonnell until 1897. In 1897, Mundelein was appointedchancellor for the diocese.
On June 30, 1909, Mundelein was appointedauxiliary bishop of Brooklyn andtitular bishop ofLoryma byPope Pius X. He received hisepiscopal consecration on September 21, 1909, from McDonnell, with BishopsCharles H. Colton andJohn O'Connor serving asco-consecrators, atSt. James Cathedral-Basilica.[7] At age 36, Mundelein was the youngest bishop in the country.[6]
Mundelein was named the third archbishop of Chicago on December 9, 1915, byPope Benedict XV.[7] The pope had originally intended to appoint Mundelein as bishop of theDiocese of Buffalo, with the more experienced BishopDennis Dougherty becoming archbishop of Chicago. However, the British government reportedly objected to having a bishop of German ancestry in Buffalo, so close to the Canadian border, duringWorld War I.[8][9] To placate them, Benedict XV named Dougherty to Buffalo and Mundelein to Chicago.
Mundelein was formallyinstalled as archbishop on February 9, 1916, and was appointed anassistant at the pontifical throne on May 8, 1920.[7]
The archdiocese greatly expanded its charity outreach during theGreat Depression, rivaling the efforts of Chicago'sAssociated Jewish Charities. It established a city-wide network ofSt. Vincent de Paul Societies.
At a large dinner held at theUniversity Club of Chicago on February 12, 1916, chef Jean Crones slippedarsenic into the soup. His intent was to poison Mundelein and over 100 other guests, including Illinois GovernorEdward F. Dunne. However, the potency of the arsenic was reduced because the kitchen staff was forced to water down the soup to accommodate 50 extra guests.
As the diners started exhibiting symptoms ofarsenic poisoning, a doctor at the event prepared a makeshiftemetic that the victims could drink to promote vomiting.[10][11] As he wasdieting on the evening of the dinner,[12] Mundelein ate only a bite or two of the soup and was unharmed.[13] There were three fatalities, includingAndrew J. Graham (a banker who had been a mayoral candidatein 1911).[14] Newspapers later referred to the incident as the "Mundelein poison soup plot".
Police were unable to apprehend Crones after the supper. Their investigation revealed that his real name was Nestor Dondoglio and that he belonged to theGalleanist circle of anarchists.[15]
Almost half the Chicago population was Catholic by the 1920s. For decades, the parishes had been building and running their own schools, employing religious sisters as inexpensive teachers. The languages of instruction were often German or Polish. On taking office, Mundelein centralized control of the parish schools. The archdiocesan building committee now picked the locations for new schools while its school board standardized the schoolcurricula, textbooks, teacher training, testing, and educational policies.[16] Simultaneously he gained a voice in city hall, and CatholicWilliam J. Bogan became superintendent of public schools.[16]
Pope Pius XI created Mundelein ascardinal-priest of theBasilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome during theconsistory of March 24, 1924. With his elevation, Chicago became the first archdiocese west of theAllegheny Mountains to have a cardinal.[3] In 1926, Mundelein presided over the28th International Eucharistic Congress in Chicago.
In 1933, the Vatican appointed Mundelein as judge for the apostolic process for MotherFrances Cabrini's cause forcanonization.[17]
Mundelein served aspapal legate to the eighthNational Eucharistic Congress inNew Orleans, Louisiana, on September 13, 1938. He also served as acardinal elector in the1939 papal conclave that selectedPope Pius XII.[18]
Mundelein died fromheart disease in his sleep on October 2, 1939, inMundelein, Illinois (a village renamed in his own honor 14 years prior to his death), at age 67. He is buried behind the mainaltar of the chapel at Mundelein Seminary, which was founded on his initiative.
Considered aliberal,[19] Mundelein was a friend of US PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt and a supporter of Roosevelt'sNew Deal initiative.[20][21] A staunch supporter oftrade unions, Mundelein once remarked:
Selfish employers of labor have flattered the Church by calling it the greatconservative force, and then called upon it to act as apolice force while they paid but a pittance ofwage to those who work for them. I hope that day has gone by. Our place is beside the workingman.[22]
Mundelein commented on thefilm industry in 1934, saying, "We don't like theMae West type ... The kind of film in whichWill Rogers,Janet Gaynor, andVictor Moore appear is what we have in mind."[23]
In 1935, Mundelein said "that not war, nor famine, norpestilence have brought so much suffering and pain to the human race, as have hasty, ill-advised marriages, unions entered into without the knowledge, the preparation, the thought even an important commercial contract merits and receives. God made marriage an indissoluble contract, Christ made it asacrament, the world today has made it a plaything of passion, an accompaniment of sex, a scrap of paper to be torn up at the whim of the participants."[24] He was an outspoken opponent ofartificial contraception.[25]
During his tenure in Chicago, Mundelein launched an effort to unify ethnic Catholic groups such as the Poles and Italians into territorial, instead of ethnic, parishes with mixed success. St. Monica's parish, however, was endorsed by Mundelein as the city's sole black parish, leading to distaste for the archbishop in both the early 1900s and today. After constructing the landmarkArchbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, Mundelein builtSt. Mary of the Lake Seminary, later renamed Mundelein Seminary in his honor, in what is now Mundelein, Illinois.[26][27] Quigley Seminary was the site of Mundelein's 1937 "paper hanger" speech, criticizing German ChancellorAdolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders. He also organized the construction of other churches in thesee, such as theSaint Philip Neri church and the Corpus Christi Church, both designed by Chicago architectJoseph W. McCarthy.[28] He publicly sparred with the FatherCharles Coughlin,[29] the Detroit Catholic priest who broadcast anti-banking andanti-Semitic views to millions of radio listeners until he was forced off the air in 1939.
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| Preceded by |  Archbishop of Chicago 1915–1939 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by – | Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn 1909–1915 | Succeeded by – |
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