Joseph Schrembs

The Most Reverend

Joseph Schrembs
Bishop of Cleveland
See Cleveland
Installed June 16, 1921
Term 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 the bishop of the Diocese of Toledo (1911–21) and the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio (1921–45).

Biography

Early life and education

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.

Ordination and ministry

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]

Auxiliary Bishop of Grand Rapids, Michigan

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]

Bishop of Toledo, Ohio

Shortly after his consecration in February, Schrembs was named the first Bishop of Toledo, Ohio, on August 11, 1911.[3]

Bishop of Cleveland, Ohio

On June 16, 1921, he was appointed the fifth Bishop of Cleveland.[3]

Schrembs 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.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Website of the Parish Sallern, to which Wutzlhofen belonged 800 years up to 2006 (with photos, but in German)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Toledo (Ohio)". Catholic Encyclopedia.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Archbishop Joseph Schrembs". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  4. ↑ "Milestones". TIME Magazine. 1945-11-12.
  5. ↑ "Saint's Body". TIME Magazine. 1925-08-03.
  6. ↑ "Better Babies". TIME Magazine. 1928-07-02.
  7. ↑ "Saintly Causes". TIME Magazine. 1935-11-18.
  8. ↑ "People". TIME Magazine. 1937-03-29.
  9. ↑ "Interdict". TIME Magazine. 1940-03-04.

External links

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
John Patrick Farrelly		 Bishop of Cleveland
1921–1945 		Succeeded by
Edward Francis Hoban
Preceded by
none		 Bishop of Toledo
1911–1921 		Succeeded by
Samuel Stritch
Preceded by
–		 Auxiliary Bishop of Grand Rapids
1911–1911 		Succeeded by
–