John T. McNicholas

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Roman Catholic Church

John Timothy McNicholas,

Roman Catholic Church. A Dominican, he served as bishop of the Diocese of Duluth in Minnesota (1918–1925) and archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati
in Ohio (1925–1950).

Biography

Early life and education

Timothy McNicholas was born in

St. Joseph's Preparatory College in Philadelphia.[1] In 1894, at age 17, he entered the Order of Friars Preachers (more commonly known as the Dominicans) at St. Rose Priory in Springfield, Kentucky.[2] He continued his studies at St. Joseph Priory in Somerset, Ohio

Priesthood

McNicholas was

priesthood by Bishop Henry K. Moeller on October 10, 1901.[3] Following his ordination, McNicholas went to Rome to study in the Dominican studium at Santa Maria sopra Minerva, where he obtained a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree in 1904.[1]

McNicholas returned to the United States later in 1904 and assumed the role of

canon law.[2] He contributed a number of articles to the Catholic Encyclopedia.[4]

In 1909, McNicholas became the national director of the

Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.[2]

Bishop of Duluth

On July 18, 1918, McNicholas was appointed the second bishop of the Diocese of Duluth by

assistant at the pontifical throne in 1923.[1]

Archbishop of Cincinnati

In May 1925, McNicholas was named

St. Peter in Chains Cathedral on August 12, 1925.[3]

During the 1928 presidential election, which featured the first Catholic to win a major party nomination in the person of Al Smith, McNicholas addressed concerns that Smith would take orders from church leaders in Rome in making decisions affecting the country by declaring, "We, as American Catholics, owe no civil allegiance to the Vatican State."[6]

While observing the conversion of a group of seventy

National Catholic Education Association (1946-1950) and national chairman of the Catholic Student Mission Crusade and held a thirteen-year membership on the Episcopal Committee for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.[2] He also served on the board of Catholic University of America. Between 1945 and 1950, he held five terms as chair of the Administration Board of the National Catholic Welfare Conference.[2]
In 1948, Pope
Displaced Persons by accepting them as immigrants. The letter, later quoted in the Church's 1952 document Exsul Familia on the rights of refugees, declares that such refugees sometimes have a right in natural law to be admitted to rich countries:

"The sovereignty of the State, although it must be respected, cannot be exaggerated to the point that access to this land is, for inadequate or unjustified reasons, denied to needy and decent people from other nations, provided of course, that the public wealth, considered very carefully, does not forbid this."[8]

Death and legacy

On April 22,1950, at the age of 72, John McNicholas died from a heart attack at his residence in the College Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati.[9]Archbishop McNicholas High School in Cincinnati was named in his honor.[10]

Viewpoints

Denunciation of Hitler

In 1938, McNicholas condemned the persecution of

Bolshevism of Stalin."[9] That same year, he issued a pastoral letter in which he wrote,

"Governments that have no fixed standards of morality, and consequently no moral sense, can scarcely settle the question of war on moral grounds for Christians ... who see and know the injustice of practically all wars in our modern pagan world. There is the very practical question for informed Christians who acknowledge the supreme dominion of God ... Will such Christians in our country form a mighty league of conscientious non-combatants?"[11]

Media morality

In response to Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani's call for a movement to counteract the influence of "salacious cinema",[6] McNicholas founded the Catholic Legion of Decency (later renamed the National Legion of Decency) in 1933.[12] The organization, which at the height of its influence claimed to have more than 22,000,000 Catholic members, sought to influence decency standards and boycott films deemed offensive by the Catholic Church.

Social justice

During the Great Depression, McNicholas advocated "conscription of excess wealth" as "wholly in harmony with the principles of Christian social justice" and named extreme concentration of wealth as one of the "crimes of the country".[9] He also said the state could not place on charity the full burden of caring for the unemployed.[9]

Ecumenism

In 1931, McNicholas joined clergymen of various faiths in speaking over "The Church in the Air", a CBS radio program.[9] However, he strongly prohibited Catholics from participating in non-Catholic religious ceremonies, saying, "The Catholic Church cannot give the impression that one religion is as good as another or that she must strive with those of other faiths for a common denominator in religion."[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "John T. McNicholas". The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives. Archived from the original on 2010-06-10.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Archbishop John Timothy McNicholas, O.P." Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  4. ^ The Catholic Encyclopedia and Its Makers, Encyclopedia Press, Incorporated, 1917, p.109Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ a b "Religion: Rome". TIME Magazine. 1925-07-20. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012.
  6. ^ a b Fortin, Roger (2002). Faith and Action: A History of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati (1821-1996). Columbus: The Ohio State University Press.
  7. ^ "Religion: Archdiocese". TIME Magazine. 1926-09-27. Archived from the original on January 31, 2011.
  8. ^ "Apostolic Letter from Pope Pius XII to Archbishop John T. McNicholas". The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "M'NICHOLAS DEAD; ARCHBISHOP, WAS 72; Head of Cincinnati Archdiocese 25 Years Sponsored Plan for Legion of Decency". The New York Times. 1950-04-23.
  10. ^ McNicholas High School
  11. ^ "Religion: Peace". TIME Magazine. 1938-03-14. Archived from the original on August 26, 2010.
  12. ^ "Religion: Legion of Decency". TIME Magazine. 1934-06-11. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
  13. ^ "Religion: No Common Denominator". TIME Magazine. 1945-03-05. Archived from the original on December 21, 2011.

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Duluth
1918–1925 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Archbishop of Cincinnati

1925–1950 		Succeeded by

Archbishop McNicholas High School website

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