Joseph Schrembs | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop (personal title) Bishop of Cleveland | |
 | |
| Church | Catholic |
| See | Diocese of Cleveland |
| In office | June 16, 1921– November 2, 1945 |
| Predecessor | John Patrick Farrelly |
| Successor | Edward Francis Hoban |
| Previous posts | Auxiliary Bishop of Grand Rapids (February to August 1911) Bishop of Toledo (1911-1921) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | June 29, 1889 by Henry Richter |
| Consecration | February 22, 1911 by Henry Richter,Camillus Paul Maes andJohn Samuel Foley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1866-03-12)March 12, 1866 Wutzlhofen,Kingdom of Bavaria (now Germany) |
| Died | November 2, 1945(1945-11-02) (aged 79) Cleveland, Ohio, USA |
| Buried | Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist |
| Nationality | German |
Joseph Schrembs (March 12, 1866 – November 2, 1945) was a German-bornprelate of theCatholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of theDiocese of Grand Rapids in Michigan for five months in 1911, as bishop of theDiocese of Toledo in Ohio from 1911 to 1921, and as bishop of theDiocese of Cleveland inOhio from 1921 to 1945.
Joseph Schrembs was born inWutzlhofen in theKingdom of Bavaria (present day Germany) on March 12, 1866. He was one of sixteen children born to George and Mary (née Gäß) Schrembs. Joseph Schrembs received his early education inRegensburg.
In 1877, Schrembs immigrated to the United States under the patronage of BishopRupert Seidenbusch. He enrolled atSt. Vincent's College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where his older brother Rudesind had become aBenedictinemonk.[1] After completing hisclassical course at St. Vincent's at age sixteen, Joseph Schrembs taught at theparochial school of St. Martin's Parish[2] until 1884. He was then accepted as aseminarian by BishopHenry Richter of the Diocese of Grand Rapids in Michigan. Richter sent him to studyphilosophy and theology at theGrand Seminary of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec. Schrembs returned toGrand Rapids, Michigan, in March 1889.
Schrembs wasordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Grand Rapids by Bishop Richter in Grand Rapids on June 29, 1889.[3] After his ordination, Schrembs was assigned as acurate at St. Mary's Parish inSaginaw, Michigan. In 1895, he was transferred to serve as pastor at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish[4] inWest Bay City, Michigan. Schrembs preached at St. Mary in both English and French.
In 1900, Schrembs was appointed pastor of St. Mary's, a German language parish in Grand Rapids. While on a tour of Europe in 1902, Schrembs purchased agrotto ofOur Lady of Lourdes, which he donated to the parish.
In addition to his role as pastor, Schrembs was namedvicar general of the diocese in 1903.[1] During the 1905 flood of theGrand River in southern Michigan, he used the school at St. Mary's as adisaster relief center. In 1905, Schrembs built a new convent for the sisters. In January 1906, he was raised to the rank ofdomestic prelate byPope Pius X.[1] After the1906 San Francisco earthquake, Schrembs took up collections to aid the survivors there.[5]
On January 8, 1911, Schrembs was appointed as anauxiliary bishop of Grand Rapids and titular bishop ofSophene by Pius X.[3] He received hisepiscopalconsecration at theCathedral of Saint Andrew in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 22, 1911, from Bishop Richter, with BishopsCamillus Maes andJohn Foley serving asco-consecrators.[3]
On August 11, 1911, only months after becoming auxiliary bishop of Grand Rapids, Pius X appointed Schrembs as the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Toledo.[3] Schrembs requested theSisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota send nuns to the Toledo area to work with the children of the Polish immigrants. Sister Adelaide Sandusky, director of theCollege of St. Teresa, and 22 other Sisters established a home in Toledo and began teaching in area schools. This community became the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio[6] From 1911 to 1921, Schrembs established 13 new parishes and 33 schools. At Schrembs' invitation, Visitation nuns came to Toledo in 1915 from theirGeorgetown monastery in Washington, D.C.[7]
In 1912, Schrembs led the fundrasing to build a hospital inTiffin, Ohio. Seven acres of land were purchased for the construction of a four-story fireproof building. Tiffin Hospital, nowMercy Health Tiffin Hospital opened in 1913.[8]
In a 1914 sermon inBaltimore, at a meeting of theAmerican Federation of Catholic Societies, Schrembs criticized the U.S. Government for not doing anything to protect Catholics from violence during theMexican Revolution.[9] After the American entry intoWorld War I in 1917, he served on the Administrative Committee of theNational Catholic War Council.[10][11]
On June 16, 1921, Schrembs was appointed the fifth bishop of Cleveland byPope Pius XI .[3] In 1924, Schrembs offered theinvocation on the third day of the1924 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. He characterized Republican PresidentCalvin Coolidge as;
"a chieftain whose record of faithful public service, and whose personality, untarnished and untainted by the pollution of political corruption, will fill the heart of America with the new hope of a second spring."[12]
In 1925,Pope Pius XI presented therelics of Saint Christine to Schrembs. Christine was a 13-year-old girl who died as a martyr around 300 AD. Her relics were moved from theRoman catacombs toSt. John's Cathedral in Cleveland. The diocese had previously donated money to the Vatican for the establishment of the House of Catacombs outside Rome.[13][14] Schrembs promoted the cause forcanonization ofKateri Tekakwitha, a 17th-centuryNative American woman from what is todayUpstate New York who converted to Catholicism.[15] Tekakwitha was proclaimed a saint byPope Benedict XVI in October 2012.[16]
Pope Pius XII gave Schrembs the personal title ofarchbishop on March 25, 1939.[3] In 1940, he placed Holy Redeemer Parish in Cleveland underinterdict for refusing to accept his appointment of a pastor.[17] During his tenure, Schrembs erected 27 parishes in Cleveland and 35 outside the city. In 1942, as Schrembs'diabetes worsened, Pius XII named BishopEdward Hoban as Schrembs' coadjutor bishop to help him with his duties.[18]
Joseph Schrembs died on November 2, 1945, in Cleveland at age 79.[19]
In 1923, speaking to a meeting of the National Council of Catholic Women in Washington, D.C., Schrembs criticized the U.S. Government for spending millions of dollars trying to enforceProhibition, the ban on alcoholic beverages in the United States. He said that the law, based on theEighteenth amendment to theUS Constitution, was unenforceable and that high officials were breaking the law themselves by consuming alcohol.[20]
In 1927, in an address to the National Council of Catholic Women inWashington, D.C. Schrembs charged that a large group of "Godless Jews combined nationally and internationally in activities in the amusement world, the results of which were to menace public morality." Schrembs tried to temper his remarks by claiming that he had "...the utmost respect for the Jewish race" and that many "right-minded Jews" also opposed these threats topublic morality.[21]
When fan dancerSally Rand rode in Cleveland'sSt. Patrick's Day parade in 1937 next to a float dedicated to theVirgin Mary, Schrembs declared, "I am deeply humiliated and ashamed...[Rand's] inclusion does not represent the mind of the great Irish people."[22]
In 1928, physicistCharles F. Brush, an advocate ofeugenics, established the Brush Foundation in Cleveland. In a statement, Brush advocatedbirth control as a means of the "betterment of the human stock" andpopulation control. He specifically mentioned preventing the births of babies with physical and mental disabilities.[23] Schrembs condemned Brush's remarks, saying,
"In older times we referred to humans as the human race, but according to this foundation we are being classed with the animals on the farm, the cow, the horse, the mule...According to this foundation, I have no right to be born, for I am the youngest of 16 children and God bless my mother for every one of them!"[23]
In August 1936, Schrembs expressed his admiration for Italian dictatorBenito Mussolini and hisFascist regime in Italy:
I admire what fascism has done for Italy. There is no doubt that Mussolini saved Italy from communism and has made this one of the front rank countries of Europe.[24]
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| Preceded by | Bishop of Cleveland 1921–1945 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by none | Bishop of Toledo 1911–1921 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by – | Auxiliary Bishop of Grand Rapids 1911–1911 | Succeeded by – |
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