John Joseph Glennon | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal,Archbishop of St. Louis | |
 Cardinal Glennon | |
| See | St. Louis |
| Appointed | April 27, 1903 (Coadjutor) |
| Installed | October 13, 1903 |
| Term ended | March 9, 1946 |
| Predecessor | John Joseph Kain |
| Successor | Joseph Ritter |
| Other post | Cardinal-Priest ofS. Clemente |
| Previous posts |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | (1862-06-14)June 14, 1862 |
| Died | March 9, 1946(1946-03-09) (aged 83) |
| Motto | Perennis crux fidelis lux (Faithful cross, everlasting light) |
Ordination history of John J. Glennon | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Styles of John Joseph Glennon | |
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Religious style | Cardinal |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | St. Louis |
John Joseph Glennon (June 14, 1862 – March 9, 1946) was anAmerican Catholic prelate who served asArchbishop of St. Louis from 1903 until his death in 1946. He was elevated to thecardinalate in 1946.
John Glennon was born inKinnegad,County Westmeath,Ireland, to Matthew and Catherine (née Rafferty) Glennon.[1] After graduating fromSt. Finian's College, he enteredAll Hallows College nearDublin in 1878. He accepted an invitation from BishopJohn Joseph Hogan in 1882 to join the newly erectedDiocese of Kansas City in the United States.[2] Glennon, after arriving inMissouri in 1883, wasordained to the priesthood by Hogan for the Diocese of Kansas City in theCathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, Missouri, on December 20, 1884.[1]
After his ordination, the diocese assigned Glennon as a curate at St. Patrick's Parish in Kansas City. He later returned toEurope, furthered his studies at theUniversity of Bonn in theGerman Empire. Upon his return to Kansas City, Glennon was namedrector of theCathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He was later namedvicar general of the archdiocese (1892) and was appointedapostolic administrator (1894).[1]
On March 14, 1896, Glennon was appointedcoadjutor bishop of Kansas City andtitular bishop ofPinara byPope Leo XIII. He received hisepiscopal consecration on June 29, 1896, from ArchbishopJohn Joseph Kain, with BishopsMaurice Francis Burke andJohn Joseph Hennessy serving asco-consecrators.[1] At age 34, he became one of the youngest bishops in the world.[2] However, he never succeeded to bishop in the diocese.
Glennon was namedcoadjutor Archbishop of St. Louis on April 27, 1903. He succeeded Kain as the third archbishop of St. Louis upon the latter's death on October 13, 1903.[1] Realizing theCathedral of St. Louis could no longer accommodate its growing congregation, Glennon quickly began raising funds for anew cathedral, the cornerstone of which he laid on October 18, 1908.[2]
Glennon opened the newKenrick Seminary in 1915, followed by theminor seminary inShrewsbury.[2] He delivered theeulogy at the funeral of CardinalJames Gibbons in March 1921, and was appointed anassistant at the pontifical throne by the Vatican in June 1921.[1]
On opening day forMajor League Baseball, Glennon on several occasions threw the traditional first pitch atSportsman's Park in St. Louis for theSt. Louis Cardinals However, he did not play any sports, once saying, "I once triedgolf, but I so disfigured the scenery that I never played again, in fear of public indignation and reprisal."[2]
In 1926, Italian dictatorBenito Mussolini bestowed the Iron Crown of Italy on Glennon, praising him as a sympathetic voice for Italy in the United States.[3]
On December 24, 1945, the Vatican announced that it was elevating the 83-year-old Glennon to theCollege of Cardinals.[2] Glennon originally thought himself too old to make the journey toRome for the ceremony, plus he was suffering frombronchitis.[4] However, he decided to fly to Europe rather than go by ship, joining fellow Cardinals-electFrancis Spellman andThomas Tien Ken-sin.[2]Pope Pius XII created Glennon ascardinal priest ofBasilica of Saint Clement in Rome during theconsistory of February 18, 1946. Glennon felt too weak to participate in some of the rituals.[4][3]
Before flying back to the United States from Ireland, Glennon's aides persuaded him to stay in Ireland for a week to regain his health. On March 7th, he felt strong enough to attend a dinner with Irish PresidentSeán T. O'Kelly and TaoiseachÉamon de Valera.[2] However, within 48 hours, his bronchitis had progressed into a serious pulmonary infection. Glennon died in Dublin at the presidential residence on March 9, 1946. His body lay in state at All Hallows College and theCathedral of Christ the King in Mullingar, Ireland for several days. It was then flown to St. Louis and interred at the cathedral.[1][4][3]
Glennon is the namesake of the community ofGlennonville, Missouri.[5] The only diocesan hospital for children,Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, affiliated with St. Louis University Medical Center, was created in his name.
Glennon was an outspoken opponent oflegalized divorce, saying, "The modern attitude makes a joke of thesacrament of matrimony."[4]
In 1936, Glennon condemnedgambling games as "unworthy of our Catholic people...causing much scandal," and bannedbingo games on church property.[6]
On July 7, 1904, Glennon offered theinvocation at the opening of the second session of the1904 Democratic National Convention in St. Louis[7] He opposedBritish rule in Ireland, and supported the leaders of the 1916Easter Rebellion in Dublin.
Following thebombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan in 1941, Glennon declared,
"We are not a military nation, but we are atwar.... Churches have a duty in time of war not to promote hatred, racial or otherwise. Churches should give their moral aid and their physical support to the nation."[2]
Glennon opposed the 1919 passing of the18th Amendment of theUS Constitution, which prohibited the manufacture and sale of most alcoholic beverages in the United States. He believed that the prohibition of alcohol was contrary to the spirit of the Constitution.[3]
Glennon opposedracial integration in the city'sCatholic schools, colleges, and universities. During the early 1940s, many local priests, especially the Jesuits, challenged the segregationist policies at the city's Catholic schools. The St. Louis chapter of the Midwest Clergy Conference on Negro Welfare, formed locally in 1938, pushed the all-femaleWebster College inWebster Groves, Missouri, to integrate first. However, in 1943, Glennon blocked the enrollment of a young black woman at the college by speaking privately with the Kentucky-based superior of theSisters of Loretto, which staffed the college.
When approached directly by pro-integration priests, Glennon called the integration plan a "Jesuit ploy," and quickly transferred one of the complaining priests away from his mission at an African-American parish. ThePittsburgh Courier, anAfrican-American newspaper with national circulation, discovered Glennon's intervention and ran a front-page feature on the Webster incident. In response, Reverend Claude Heithaus a professor of classical archaeology atSaint Louis University (SLU), delivered an angry sermon, accusing his own institution of immoral behavior in its segregation policies. SLU began admitting African-American students that summer when its president, Reverend Patrick Holloran, managed to secure approval from the reluctant Glennon.[8]
Glennon in 1936 prohibited dancing and alcohol consumption at church-sponsored events.[6]
Glennon was an opponent ofwomen's suffrage and coeducational colleges and universities.[3]Glennon once complained about women competing with men in the workforce, saying, "Some of the women go downtown in the race and race beside the men...It is regrettable that men have to let them, are compelled to let them."[2]
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| Preceded by | Archbishop of St. Louis 1903–1946 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by – | Coadjutor Bishop of Kansas City 1896-1903 | Succeeded by – |
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