| The Most Reverend Joseph Schrembs |
|
|---|---|
| Bishop of Cleveland | |
| See | Cleveland |
| Enthroned | June 16, 1921 |
| Reign ended | November 2, 1945 |
| Predecessor | John Patrick Farrelly |
| Successor | Edward Francis Hoban |
| Other posts | Bishop of Toledo (1911–21) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | June 29, 1889 |
| Consecration | February 22, 1911 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 12, 1866 Wutzlhofen, Regensburg, Germany |
| Died | November 2, 1945 (aged 79) Cleveland, Ohio, United States |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
Joseph Schrembs (March 12, 1866—November 2, 1945) was a German-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Toledo (1911–21) and Bishop of Cleveland (1921–45).
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Joseph Schrembs was born in the village of Wutzlhofen[1] (since 1924 a township of Regensburg), Bavaria. One of sixteen children, he was born to George and Mary (née Gäß) Schrembs. Shortly afterwards he and his family moved to Regensburg, where Joseph received his early education. In 1877 he came to the United States under the patronage of Bishop Rupert Seidenbusch, and enrolled at St. Vincent's College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where his older brother Rudesind had become a Benedictine monk.[2] After completing his classical course at St. Vincent's at age sixteen, he taught at the parochial school of St. Martin's Church in Louisville, Kentucky, until 1884. He was then accepted as a seminarian by Bishop Henry Richter, who sent him to study philosophy and theology at the Grand Seminary of Montreal in Quebec, Canada.
Returning to Grand Rapids, Michigan in March 1889, Schrembs was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Richter on June 29, 1889.[3] He then served as a curate at St. Mary's Church in Saginaw until 1895, when he became pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Bay City. He was named pastor of St. Mary's Church in Grand Rapids in 1900, and vicar general of the Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1903.[2] In January 1906 he was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate of His Holiness by Pope Pius X.[2]
On January 8, 1911, Schrembs was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Grand Rapids and Titular Bishop of Sophene by Pius X.[3] He received his episcopal consecration on the following February 22 from Bishop Richter, with Bishops Camillus Paul Maes and John Samuel Foley serving as co-consecrators.[3] Shortly afterwards he was named the first Bishop of Toledo, Ohio, on August 11, 1911.[3] On June 16, 1921, he was appointed the fifth Bishop of Cleveland.[3]
He once described Prohibition as "fanaticism."[4] In 1925 the body of St. Christine was presented to Schrembs by Pope Pius XI, and moved from its resting place in a Roman monastery to St. John's Cathedral.[5] When physicist Charles F. Brush advocated birth control as a means of the "betterment of the human stock" and population control, Schrembs condemned his 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!"[6] He promoted the cause for canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha.[7] When fan dancer Sally Rand rode in Cleveland's St. Patrick's Day parade in 1937 next to a float dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Schrembs declared, "I am deeply humiliated and ashamed...[Rand's] inclusion does not represent the mind of the great Irish people."[8]
Schrembs was given the personal title of Archbishop on March 25, 1939.[3] In 1940 he placed Holy Redeemer Church in Cleveland under interdict for refusing to accept his appointment as pastor.[9] During his tenure, he erected 27 parishes in Cleveland and 35 outside the city.
| Preceded by none |
Bishop of Toledo 1911–1921 |
Succeeded by Samuel Stritch |
| Preceded by John Patrick Farrelly |
Bishop of Cleveland 1921–1945 |
Succeeded by Edward Francis Hoban |