George Mundelein

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His Eminence
George William Mundelein
Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago
See Chicago
Installed February 9, 1916
Term ended October 2, 1939
Predecessor James Edward Quigley
Successor Samuel Stritch
Other posts Bishop of Brooklyn (1909-15)
Orders
Ordination June 8, 1895
Consecration September 21, 1909
Created Cardinal March 24, 1924
Personal details
Born (1872-07-02)July 2, 1872
New York, New York
Died October 2, 1939(1939-10-02) (aged 67)
Mundelein, Illinois
Coat of arms {{{coat_of_arms_alt}}}

George William Mundelein (July 2, 1872 – October 2, 1939) was an American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Chicago from 1915 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1924.

Early life and ministry

Styles of
George Mundelein
Reference style His Eminence
Spoken style Your Eminence
Informal style Cardinal
See Chicago
George William Mundelein circa 1916
Mundelein as Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn

George Mundelein was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to Francis and Mary (née Goetz) Mundelein.[1] One of three children, he had two sisters, Margaret and Anna. His father was of German descent, and his mother was Irish.[2] His grandfather fought in the Civil War.[3]

He attended La Salle Academy and Manhattan College, where he befriended Patrick Joseph Hayes (a future cardinal and Archbishop of New York).[4] He graduated from Manhattan in 1889 with high honors. Mundelein also studied at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, where he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Charles Edward McDonnell on June 8, 1895.[1]

Returning to the United States, he then did pastoral work in the Diocese of Brooklyn and served as secretary to Bishop McDonnell until 1897. From 1897 to 1909, he was chancellor for the Diocese.[1]

Bishop

On June 30, 1909, Mundelein was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn and Titular Bishop of Loryma by Pope Pius X.[5] He received his episcopal consecration on the following September 21 from Bishop McDonnell, with Bishops Charles H. Colton and John O'Connor serving as co-consecrators, at St. James Cathedral-Basilica.[5]

Archbishop of Chicago

Mundelein was later named the third Archbishop of Chicago, Illinois, on December 9, 1915.[5] He was formally installed as Archbishop on February 9, 1916, and was appointed an Assistant at the Pontifical Throne on May 8, 1920.

The archdiocese greatly expanded its charity functions during the Great Depression, rivalling that of Chicago's Associated Jewish Charities. A city-wide network of St. Vincent de Paul Societies was established.

Cardinal

Pope Pius XI created him Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria del Popolo in the consistory of March 24, 1924. With his elevation, Chicago became the first diocese west of the Allegheny Mountains to have a cardinal.[2] In 1933, he was appointed judge for the apostolic process for Mother Cabrini's cause for canonization.[6]

Mundelein served as papal legate to the eighth National Eucharistic Congress in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 13, 1938, and was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1939 papal conclave, which selected Pope Pius XII.[1]

Death

Mundelein died from heart disease in his sleep in Mundelein, Illinois, at age 67. He is buried behind the main altar of the chapel at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary.

Views

Church and politics

Considered a liberal,[7] Mundelein was a friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and supporter of the New Deal.[8][9] A staunch supporter of trade unions, the Cardinal once remarked,
The trouble with [the Church] in the past has been that we were too often allied or drawn into an alliance with the wrong side. Selfish employers of labor have flattered the Church by calling it the great conservative force, and then called upon it to act as a police force while they paid but a pittance of wage to those who work for them. I hope that day has gone by. Our place is beside the workingman.[10]

Despite the archbishop's political views, he was not insulated from attacks by the radical left. As early as 1916, a Chicago-based anarchist going by the assumed name of Jean Crones poisoned some 100 distinguished guests of industry, business, finance, and law at a banquet in 1916 given to honor the Archbishop when he laced their chicken soup with arsenic.[11] None of the guests died, as a hastily-prepared emetic supplied by a doctor[12] at the scene allowed the victims to vomit the poison out of their systems, though many suffered considerable agony.[13][14]

Film industry

Mundelein commented on the film industry in 1934, saying, "We don't like the Mae West type... The kind of film in which Will Rogers, Janet Gaynor, and Victor Moore appear is what we have in mind."[15]

Marriage

In 1935, he said "that not war, nor famine, nor pestilence 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 a sacrament, 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."[16] He was an outspoken opponent of contraception.[17]

Ethnic groups

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 (Colored) 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 landmark Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, Mundelein built St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Area, now Mundelein, Illinois.[18][19] Quigley Seminary was the site of Mundelein's 1937 "Paper hanger" speech, criticizing Adolf Hitler. He also organized the construction of other churches in the See, such as the Saint Philip Neri (Chicago) church and the Corpus Christi Church (Chicago), both designed by Chicago architect Joseph W. McCarthy.[20] He publicly sparred with Rev. Charles Coughlin.[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Miranda, Salvador. "MUNDELEIN, George William". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Two Americans". TIME Magazine. 1924-03-17. 
  3. ↑ Walsh, James Joseph. Our American Cardinals. 1969, Ayer Publishing.
  4. ↑ "Catholics in Cleveland". TIME Magazine. 1935-09-30. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "George William Cardinal Mundelein". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. 
  6. ↑ "Chicago Tribunal". TIME Magazine. 1933-09-18. 
  7. ↑ "Builder's Death". TIME Magazine. 1939-10-09. 
  8. ↑ "Plot". TIME Magazine. 1938-11-21. 
  9. ↑ "Religion and Democracy". TIME Magazine. 1939-01-16. 
  10. ↑ "Catholics for Labor". TIME Magazine. 1941-06-02. 
  11. ↑ Avrich, Paul, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background, Princeton University Press (1991), p. 214
  12. ↑ The doctor was J.B. Murphy, who although mildly stricken himself, was able to help the other victims.
  13. ↑ Avrich, Paul, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background, Princeton University Press (1991), p. 98
  14. ↑ Bruns, Roger A., The Damndest Radical: The Life and World of Ben Reitman, University of Illinois Press (1987), ISBN 0-252-06989-7, p. 154
  15. ↑ "Mundelein Message". TIME Magazine. 1934-10-01. 
  16. ↑ "Marriage". TIME Magazine. 1935-10-01. 
  17. ↑ "Birth Control". TIME Magazine. 1923-12-17. 
  18. ↑ Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary
  19. ↑ University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary - Contact us
  20. ↑ Joseph William McCarthy at Emporis
  21. ↑ "Not Authorized". TIME Magazine. 1938-12-19. 
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
James Edward Quigley
Archbishop of Chicago
1915–1939 		Succeeded by
Samuel Stritch
Bishops
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Archbishops
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