Author Archives: Mary Woodward

Exploring deaths of diocese former shepherds

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From the Archives
By Mary Woodward

JACKSON – November is the month to remember the dead in our Catholic faith. It opens with the Solemnity of All Saints where we honor all those ordinary people in our lives who were saints to us. The next day is All Souls, a personal favorite of mine, in which we honor the dead and, in many traditions, decorate graves and have picnics in cemeteries.

This year was a particularly poignant All Souls for me as the death of Bishop Emeritus Joseph N. Latino of happy memory is still fresh. Because of soil and settling, we were just able to move the gravestone over his plot in the diocesan bishops’ cemetery next to the cathedral.

We have a temporary marker for Bishop Latino and are awaiting the engraver’s arrival in a few months to carve his inscription on site. Apparently, there are only one or two people willing to carve out inscriptions on site on this type of stone. So, we wait patiently.

JACKSON – Flowers and candles adorn the grave sites of Bishop William Houck, Bishop Joseph Brunini and Bishop R.O. Gerow in the bishops’ cemetery next to the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle on All Souls Day, Nov. 2. (Photo by Berta Mexidor)

Dealing with this made me think about all our previous bishops and their deaths.

Bishop John Joseph Marie Benedict Chanche, SS, (1841-1852) died most likely of cholera in Maryland while visiting family after a plenary council in Baltimore. Cholera is a horrible death, but he was described as bearing it with great dignity. After spending more than 150 years in the cemetery in Baltimore, he was brought home to Natchez in 2008.

Bishop James Oliver Van deVelde, SJ, (1853-1855) was Bishop of Chicago and suffered from arthritis. He felt a warmer climate would be beneficial for his joints, so he requested a move South. A yellow fever infected warm climate mosquito got him, another terrible way to go. Bless his heart. He was originally buried in the crypt at St. Mary in Natchez, but his Jesuit confreres wanted him home in Florrisant, Missouri.

Bishop William Henry Elder (1857-1880) was elevated to Archbishop of Cincinnati and lived a long life up there into the next century (1904). He died of what we used to call “old age,” which is a medical term for not one specific thing, and he was 85, which is old for 1904.

Bishop Francis August Anthony Joseph Janssens (1881-1888) also moved on to an archdiocese when he became Archbishop of New Orleans in 1888. He died nine years later in 1897 at age 53 aboard the steamer Creole, bound for New York City. He most likely had a heart attack or a stroke.

Bishop Thomas Heslin (1889-1911) as we explored in an earlier column, flipped out of the back of a mule cart near West Point and was levered back into the cart while unconscious. He most likely sustained some broken ribs, which weakened his lung capacity, and he died a few months later. He is buried on Catholic Hill in Natchez.

Bishop John Edward Gunn, SM, (1911-1924) survived an arsenic poisoning administered by a spy during World War I at a banquet in Detroit in 1915. Suffering a major heart attack in January 1924, his health finally gave out in February at Hotel Dieu in New Orleans. He is buried in the Catholic section in Natchez next to Bishop Heslin.

Bishop Richard Oliver Gerow (1924-1966) is the first bishop to officially retire from the office of bishop in our diocese. He lived 10 years after his retirement and died in December 1976 at the age of 91 having achieved 67 years of priesthood – another death attributed to “old age.” He is buried in the bishops’ cemetery beside the cathedral.

Bishop Joseph Bernard Brunini (1967-1984), our only native son bishop from Vicksburg, died suddenly surrounded by his brother bishops on retreat in Manressa, Louisiana on the Solemnity of the Epiphany. I had eaten lunch with him that very day and was shocked when I got the news he was dead four hours later. He is buried next to Bishop Gerow.

Bishop William Russell Houck (1984-2003) also lived many years into retirement dying of heart and lung issues in 2016 at the age of 90. He, too, achieved 60-plus years of priesthood having marked 65 years when he died. Bishop Houck completes the first line of three bishops in the bishops’ cemetery.

Bishop Joseph Nunzio Latino (2003-2013) died on May 28 of this year having just celebrated his 58th anniversary of priestly ordination on May 25. Bishop Latino’s death is still too fresh to share details, so we will save that for a later date.

Throughout this month of November offer some prayers for our deceased bishops who have served as our shepherds for more than 180 years each in his own unique and dynamic ways.
Requiescant in pace.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

NATCHEZ – A photograph of Bishop John Edward Gunn, SM, as he lay in state in the rectory of St. Mary in Natchez. Bishop Gunn survived an arsenic poisoning attempt during WWI, but his health finally gave out shortly after a heart attack in January 1924. (Photo from archives)

Photos play major role in solving archive ‘mysteries’

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From the Archives
By Mary Woodward

JACKSON – “A picture says a thousand words” is an age-old adage that we often use to describe many situations. In archives, that saying is very true. The photos included this week tell many stories, but more importantly these images, along with thousands of others like them in our diocesan archives collection, help us document history and artifacts.

In looking at the image of three bishops strolling down the street how can I conclude who is in the photo and what is happening? The main evidence fortunately is a date in the lower right corner of the photo is given as on Oct. 15, 1924. Please always date photographs and identify the people in them.

Taking the photograph by itself, I can deduce many things. It is of Bishop Gerow, it appears to be in Mobile because the columns in the background look a lot like the ones of the Cathedral there. But after that for those not familiar with the date on the photograph or Bishop Gerow the trail goes cold.

This photo portrait of Bishop R.O. Gerow displays the pectoral cross he used. Through photographs we know that the same cross was worn by Bishop Thomas Heslin before him.

However, as archivist and chancellor, knowing the importance of that date in diocesan history, I can confirm that the photo is from Bishop Gerow’s ordination as bishop, which occurred on Oct. 15, 1924, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile. How then can I identify the two other bishops? In order to do that, I need to look no further than Bishop Gerow’s meticulously maintained diary. All the information I need is right there on the page in a beautiful passage:

“The ceremony was in the Cathedral of Mobile, and this was proper. Within its shadow I had been born; within its walls, baptized; here I served for many years as Altar boy; here I had been confirmed; and since my ordination to the priesthood here had been my only appointment; here was the only parish in which I had ever had a domicile.

The Consecrating Prelate was Bishop Allen, who had always been to me a father. He had sent me to college to try my vocation; he had kept me near him during my years as a priest; and I feel that his example and training have done much to mold my priestly life.

The Co-Consecrators were Bishop Jules B. Jeanmard and Bishop James A. Griffin, the latter a close companion during my years of study in Rome. A magnificent sermon was preached by Very Reverend Edward Cummings, S.J. Provincial, with whom I had been closely associated during his years at Spring Hill College.”

From this description, one can be almost certain that the two other bishops are Bishops Jeanmard and Allen. To further solidify this, I can search the internet for images of these two men and see if they match up and determine which is which. Jeanmard is on the left for the viewer and Allen is on the right.

I can only deduce that the man on the far left is a Knight of Columbus in formal attire – sword, sash, top hat. This attire was customary for such an occasion in the early 1900s.

Photographs also help us identify various episcopal symbols such as rings and pectoral crosses. In the image of Bishop Gerow we can see a pectoral cross. That cross is kept in the vault of the archives.

The cropped image, which is of Bishop Thomas Heslin (1889-1911), has the same cross. Therefore, we can date that particular cross in the vault to 1889. It could go back further but the two previous bishops went on the become archbishops and would have taken most of their crosses and rings with them.

The ring in the cropped photo also is in the vault and is engraved as a gift from St. Michael Parish, which was the parish Bishop Heslin was pastor of in New Orleans when he was named Bishop of Natchez in 1889. Therefore, we can date and assign that ring to Bishop Heslin.

So, archives can often be a scavenger hunt and an archaeological expedition. Portraits and photos play a major role in solving so many mysteries. In 2016 our diocesan archive was awarded the Cultural Heritage Digitization Award by the Mississippi Digital Library. The award allowed 600 images from our collection to be digitized and uploaded to the MDL.

You can view this sampling of our collection on their website https://msdiglib.org/. We are a partner listed as Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson. I hope you will visit the collection and enjoy the journey through diocesan history.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson)

(Above) Ordination of Bishop R.O. Gerow (center) on Oct. 15, 1924 at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile.
(Inset) This cropped image shows the pectoral cross and ring of Bishop Thomas Heslin (1889-1911). (Photos from archives)

Synods date back to 1858 in diocese

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From the Archives
By Mary Woodward

JACKSON – On Sunday, Oct. 24, at the 10:30 Mass in the Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle, Bishop Joseph Kopacz will officially open the diocesan phase of the church’s preparation for a universal synod on the synodal process in 2023. In the Mass, Bishop Kopacz will offer prayers for the diocesan church as we undertake this important aspect of church life on the local level.

More information on the preparations for the synod is shared in this week’s paper and will be shared as the process moves forward. This is an exciting time for our church.

Bishop R.O. Gerow, seventh bishop of the diocese, sits surrounded by his clergy for a 1935 Synod held in Bay St. Louis at St. Augustine Seminary on July 9. (Photos from archives)

From an archive’s perspective, synods have been held in our diocese dating back to 1858. Bishop William Henry Elder called the First Synod of Natchez to gather his priests together to discuss diocesan life and business. In 1856 the Archdiocese of New Orleans had hosted a synod for the province, which included our diocese. Decrees, including the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, rules for the election of bishops, and several disciplinary items, were promulgated from that synod. Bishop Elder called the 1858 local synod in Natchez to discern those decrees and discuss in collegial fashion how to implement them in the diocese.

Nowadays we get information immediately; in the mid-19th century news travelled much more slowly. It is not unusual that it took two years to discuss these decrees and how they will affect the growing church in Mississippi.

The 10th and last official diocesan synod was held in 1957. This synod took up some very weighty topics such as the teaching authority of the church, the Sacraments, Christian education for children, and the administration of church property.

After each synod, a book was published of the decrees and decisions. In the 1957 book we find some great paragraphs on the sacraments and sacred things. These quotes will sound familiar to many of us.

Paragraph 96 states: “The Sacraments should be administered with dignity and decorum and in accordance with the regulations of the church. The rubrics shall be carefully studied and scrupulously observed.”

Paragraph 100 is most important to an archivist and chancellor: “Great care should be taken that records of Sacraments administered be plainly legible. All names of recipients should be written in BLOCK CAPITAL LETTERS. Ink to be used must be of a permanent type.”

Bishop William Henry Elder called the First Synod of Natchez to gather his priests together to discuss diocesan life and business.

Paragraph 211 is most informative: “The music for all church services shall be that found in approved liturgical books and only hymns which have been approved by recognized authorities in church music shall be used.”

Those are a few of the 261 statements coming forth from the 1957 synod. The 10 synods in our history were clergy attended. Diocesan convocations grew out of the synods. These convocations up until COVID met every two years and in recent years had included parish leadership other than just priests.

The themes for the 2023 worldwide synod are: Communion, Participation and Mission. It will involve listening sessions with local parishioners around the world on these powerful foundations of our faith. Our diocese will participate in this process as stated above.

Stayed tuned to how you can be a part of this historic and spiritual process in our church.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson)

Bishop Gunn’s photo scrapbook offers glimpse of history along Gulf Coast

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From the Archives
By Mary Woodward

JACKSON – The month of September in Mississippi normally brings to mind football and a little bit of a cooler breeze coming through. September also is an active part of the hurricane season. We have started this September off with Ida and Nicholas. So far, we have been more fortunate than our Louisiana neighbors.

Archives and hurricanes are not generally talked about in the same sentences unless you are involved in archival work and are located in hurricane prone areas. Archivists throughout the Gulf Coast region have disaster preparedness and disaster recovery plans in place to help alleviate the damage wind and water can cause to artifacts and manuscripts.

In our diocesan archives, we often get requests from parishes in the Biloxi diocese for photos of their original churches. Many of those churches built in the early 1900s did not survive the years. Some were lost to fire and age, others to population shifts and neglect, but many were lost to hurricanes. These storms bring with them swells of water, triple digit winds and torrential rains.

Hurricane Camille came barreling ashore in 1969 and left a path of destruction not seen in modern times. Camille became the benchmark for destruction along the Gulf Coast until 16 years ago when Katrina removed most everything south of I-10 in the Biloxi diocese.

While the world focused on the terrible flooding in New Orleans caused by the backside of Katrina, the people of the Gulf Coast were trying to dig themselves out from under miles of debris. For the Diocese of Biloxi, which encompasses the 17 counties closest to the Gulf, nearly every church property sustained severe damage. Some were completely destroyed.

Imagine St. Clare Church in Waveland. When Katrina came ashore with a 30-foot swell of water, St. Clare’s front door stood at normal sea level, 100 feet from the water. Needless to say, there was nothing left but the front steps of the church and the slab of the school. St. Michael’s seashell roof in Biloxi looked fine from the air, but the main altar which weighed several tons was tossed off to the side and the pews were sucked out to sea.

After concerns about the safety of people, a Catholic diocesan archivist starts to think about sacramental registers, photographs and sacred vessels. Many of these items were lost.

Just recently Sacred Heart in d’Iberville called because they will be celebrating their 100th anniversary next year and were hoping we had some photos of the original church. Fortunately, we were able to provide them with a couple of photos. They had never seen what the original church looked like.

This week in a tribute to our neighbors on the Gulf Coast, we are sharing some images from Bishop John Gunn’s photo scrapbook. The photos or postcards range from 1915-1923 and give us a glimpse of churches during that time. Sacred Heart in d’Iberville (then Seymour) is among them.

As you look at them, offer a prayer to St. Medardus, patron of weather, to protect us all from storms. Amen.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson)

Photos from Bishop John Edward Gunn’s photo scrapbook share a glimpse of churches between 1915-1923 along the Gulf Coast, in the present day Diocese of Biloxi. Many churches along the Gulf Coast have been lost to the destruction of hurricanes over the years, as swells of water, triple digit winds and torrential rains pummel and destroy these historic places. (Photos courtesy of archives)

Bishop Gunn chronicled experience during 1918 influenza pandemic and end of world war

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From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
JACKSON – Rev. John Edward Gunn, a Marist priest and native of County Tyrone, Ireland, was appointed the sixth Bishop of Natchez by Pope Pius X in 1911. He was ordained a bishop at Sacred Heart Church in Atlanta where he was serving at the time on August 29 of that year.

Bishop Gunn was known as a brilliant orator and for having tremendous energy. He cultivated the diocese’s relationship with Catholic Extension to help in the building of chapels throughout the state. By the time of his death in 1924, almost every Catholic in Mississippi was able to reach one of these chapels for Mass at least once a month. Catholic churches grew from 75 to 149 during his administration, and Catholics grew in number from 17,000 to more than 31,000.

He also helped found St. Augustine Seminary with the Society of the Divine Word in Greenville for the formation of African American clergy in 1923. The seminary later moved to Bay St. Louis.

It is rumored that Bishop Gunn preferred Pass Christian to Natchez and had hoped to move the diocesan offices there.

Bishop Gunn’s 13 years of service to the Diocese were marked by the difficult four years of the first World War and the ravages of Spanish influenza.

ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Red Cross Motor Corps are on duty in October 1918 during the influenza epidemic. Mary Woodward reveals an excerpt from Bishop John Edward Gunn’s diary chronicling his travels to St. Louis in November of 1918 during the Spanish flu pandemic. (Photo/Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ds-01290)

Not only was he a gifted orator, but he was a fine chronicler of daily life as is proven in his diary. From his diary we find an interesting entry from Nov. 8-10, 1918, that is very relevant to today’s pandemic atmosphere. It also contains a noteworthy bit of information about the end of the war.

“I left [Nov. 8] for St. Louis to assist at the consecration of the new Bishop of Galveston, Bishop Byrne. When I reached St. Louis, I got into the midst of the flu. Not only were the churches, schools, and public buildings closed but all the stores, soda water fountains and everything.”

“On Saturday night I walked the streets of St. Louis for more than an hour and could not buy a cigar and the question was – how could the consecration take place in St. Louis Cathedral on November 10th when it was forbidden to open a church door?”

“I went ‘round on Saturday night to see Archbishop Glennon and found Bishop Allen with him. The Archbishop seemed to take everything very quietly and said that it was forbidden to open the main door of the Cathedral but there were several other doors that were not officially closed, with the result that the consecration took place on Nov. 10. The crowd was small, the ceremonies were beautiful, the dinner was as heavy as the oratory and there was an atmosphere of unrest everywhere.”

“The papers were filled with the flu conditions of the country; the war conditions were reaching a climax, and everybody was on edge.”

“I left St. Louis on Sunday night [Nov. 10] and on my way home, at Fulton [Missouri], I thought that the world had come to an end. I was in the Pullman compartment when noise broke loose in the form of whistles, bells, bands and every kind of thing that could make a rattle and a screech at the time when ghosts are supposed to appear and graves yawn, etc.”

“It was occasioned by the fake news that had gone over the world that the Germans had signed the armistice. When the real news of the Armistice came nobody believed it.”

“I managed to get to New Orleans on the 11th and the city looked like the morning after Mardi Gras. The people had shouted themselves hoarse over the fake armistice and had no voice for the real one.”

Although WWI was a very complex time for those of Irish heritage due to British rule and treatment of them, the Bishop believed strongly in service to one’s country. “In life and death, I am proud of three things: my Irish birth, my Catholic faith, and my American citizenship,” he said. “I tried to translate my love for all three into service and sacrifice,” he wrote in his will.

NATCHEZ – In this photo from the archives, Bishop Joseph Latino visits the resting place of Bishop John Edward Gunn, on Catholic Hill in the Natchez City Cemetery. Bishop Gunn died in New Orleans on Feb. 19, 1924 and is buried beside his fellow Irishman Bishop Thomas Heslin. (Photo from archives)

Bishop Gunn died at Hospital Hotel Dieu in New Orleans on Feb. 19, 1924, and is buried beside his fellow Irishman Bishop Thomas Heslin on Catholic Hill in the Natchez City Cemetery. His portrait hangs in the dining room of the Cathedral rectory in Jackson. As in any good portrait, Bishop Gunn’s eyes follow you as you move through the room.

In his will the Bishop also wrote, “I believe in God. I believe all He has said because He said it and because His infallible Church heard Him and told me what He said. I love Him with my whole heart and soul and strength and for His sake I love others.”

Bishop Gunn’s diary is so rich that we will share some more gems from it in the future.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson)

Bishop Gunn’s diary provides insight to perils of travel in the early days of diocesan life

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From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
JACKSON – A bishop’s life is full of travel around the diocese to visit parishes, schools and missions. This time of year, it involves school masses for the opening of the new academic year. Because of COVID, these celebrations did not occur last August.

Confirmation celebrations have Bishop Joseph Kopacz all over the diocese from one end to the other. These celebrations normally take place between Easter and Pentecost, but due to schedules and once again the pandemic, Confirmation celebrations have been spread out into the summer months.

This weekend Bishop Kopacz will be in Ripley at St. Matthew Mission to confer Confirmation on more than a dozen young people. Ripley is in Tippah County, and I have a special connection to the area because my maternal grandmother’s family is from Tippah County. My great-grandparents are buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery just outside of Ripley on the way to Walnut.

Bishop Thomas Heslin, the fifth bishop of the diocese, died on Feb. 22, 1911. He guided the diocesan church through the turn of the century. A few weeks prior to his death while visiting churches in East Central Mississippi, he met with an unfortunate accident. Bishop Heslin most likely suffered a broken rib from this accident and may have ultimately succumbed to pneumonia. (Photos from archives)

Suffice it to say that our diocese being the largest diocese geographically east of the Mississippi River creates long drives. Tippah County borders Tennessee and is part of the rolling hills section of the state where beautiful views can be found around various bends in the road. Ripley is close to a four-hour drive from Jackson.

Imagine travelling to Ripley on horseback or in a cart from Natchez as was done in the early days of our diocese. This was the life of our bishops back in the day even up into the early 1900s when Bishop Thomas Heslin was making his way around the diocese for Confirmation celebrations.

Let me share a particular instance from Bishop John Gunn’s diary dated June 8, 1912, in which he accounts for an unfortunate incident that led to Bishop Heslin’s ultimate demise. It may give a better appreciation for a bishop’s life on the road.

“Visit to Montpelier. This is a little mission chapel about 13 miles from West Point, without a railroad and with the poorest roads imaginable. On the way out from West Point to Montpelier I heard a story about Bishop Heslin which is worth recording.

“The good Bishop was, like myself, going out to the little chapel to give Confirmation. The best pair of mules in the neighborhood were commandeered to bring the Bishop out. The Bishop’s carriage was a spring wagon and a plank put over the sideboards formed the cushions for the driver and the Bishop.

“The roads were of that peculiar type known in Mississippi as ‘corduroy’ roads. Branches of trees, stumps, logs, etc. are imbedded in the mud roads during the Winter, In the Spring these are covered with dirt and there is a good road until the first rain comes. Then the dirt is washed up and the stumps are very much in evidence, especially when the mules get into a trot.

“It seems that on the past visit of Bishop Heslin, the driver talked all he knew about cotton, lumber, and the country and talked so much that the mules fell asleep. It is thought that Bishop Heslin – if he was not asleep, was at least nodding – and at the moment the driver woke up and commenced to whip the mules into some kind of activity.
“The sudden start caught the Bishop unprepared and he made a double somersault over the spring wagon and fell on the road. The driver was so busy with the mules that he forgot the Bishop and did not know of the mishap for nearly half a mile.

“Then there was the difficulty of turning the pair of mules on the road and a convenient turning spot had to be reached. This delayed the recovery of the Bishop for a considerable time and when the mule driver and his mules found the Bishop – Bishop Heslin was in a dead faint.

“The good Bishop was a big man and a heavy man, and the mule driver was lean and lanky and there was no help in sight or available. There was nothing to do only to take the sideboards from the wagon and form an inclined plane and roll the Bishop up the plane and make him comfortable in the wagon. “He recovered consciousness before he reached West Point.

“It is said that the Bishop never really recovered from the shock and the injury sustained by this fall.

“The driver who brought me out to Montpelier was the same one who had brought Bishop Heslin and he gave me the story as written.”

Bishop John Edward Gunn, a Marist priest, was the sixth Bishop of Natchez. He was known as brilliant orator and for having tremendous energy. Through his writings, we learn that Bishop Heslin suffered a fall while travelling around the diocese for Confirmation celebrations in 1910.

This incident would have occurred most likely in 1910 because Bishop Heslin died in February 1911.

Bishop Gunn concludes his description of his own arrival and visit in Montpelier thusly: “I arrived at Montpelier for supper. The day was hot, and all the neighbors of the little village were invited to sup with me.

“There was a table spread for all comers on a kind of porch. The neighbors supplied the feed and there was plenty of it. I think that all the flies of the country got notice because they were present like the locusts of Egypt. They were in everything, tasting everything, and lighting everywhere, especially on the bishop’s nose.

“A few girls got branches of trees and used them to keep the flies away. It was all right as long as the girls minded their business but when they forgot the flies and hit the guests there was some embarrassment.

“We had Mass and confirmation in the little chapel, which strange to say was dedicated to St. Patrick and for that reason several parts of it were painted green. We returned to celebrate Sunday.”

More from Bishop Gunn next time…

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson)

New Orleans Archbishop committed to ending segregation, remembered by Bishop Emeritus

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From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
JACKSON – This week I am highlighting a neighbor to the south of us – Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel, who was Archbishop of New Orleans from 1935 to his death in November 1964. His tenure runs almost parallel to our own Bishop R.O. Gerow (1924-66).

In talking with our Bishop Emeritus, Joseph Latino, who grew up and went to seminary during the Rummel years, Bishop Latino shared some insight into the life of the archbishop saying he was very much committed to ending segregation even in the face of strong push back from Catholic community and business leaders. An interesting timeline develops beginning in 1949.

It seems in 1949, Archbishop Rummel canceled an outdoor liturgy when city officials would not allow African American Catholics to participate. In 1950 he had “White” and “Colored” signs removed from churches. Rummel mandated an end to the practice of making African American Catholics receive Communion last in 1953. These measures met with resistance from laity and clergy.

Pictured is Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel, who served as Archbishop of New Orleans from 1935 until his death in November 1964. Archbishop Rummel met much resistance when he began taking steps to end segregation in his archdiocese in 1949. (Photo courtesy of Bishop Joseph Latino)

To ground his efforts solidly in Catholic theology, Rummel issued a letter to be read in all parishes Feb. 11, 1956. Now Rummel was famous for his long letters to be read to parishioners at Sunday Masses, but this one rocked the entire archdiocese. The letter was laying groundwork to integrate the archdiocesan school system. In the letter Rummel gives three main points quoted below courtesy of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Archives.

“Racial segregation is morally wrong and sinful ‘because it is a denial of the unity and solidarity of the human race as conceived by God in the creation of man in Adam and Eve. Male and female He created them and breathed into them the spirit of life and commanded them to increase and multiply and fill the earth. Throughout the pages of the Old Testament and the New there is constant recurrence of this truth, that all mankind has in Adam and Eve one common father and mother and one common destiny, namely, to serve God in this world and find eternal happiness with Him in the world to come.

“Racial segregation is morally wrong and sinful because it is a denial of the unity and universality of the Redemption. The Eternal Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, came into the world to redeem and save all men, to die for all men on the cross, to make the life of grace available through the Church and the Sacraments for all men, to embrace all men in His Mystical Body on earth and in the life of glory in heaven. Racial segregation would draw the color line across the inspiring plan of the Redemption and thus sin against the divine providence. the love and the mercy that conceived and carried out the wonderful Mystery.

“Racial segregation is morally wrong and sinful because it is basically a violation of the dictates of justice and the mandate of love, which in obedience to God’s will must regulate the relations between all men. To deny to members of a certain race, just because they are members of that race, certain rights and opportunities, civic or economic, educational or religious, recreational or social, imposes upon them definite hardships and humiliations, frustrations and impediments to progress which condemn them to perpetual degradation which is only a step removed from slavery. Such indignities are grievous violations of Christian justice and charity, which cannot be justified in this modem age of enlightenment and loudly proclaimed democracy.”

Rummel concludes the letter aware of opposition by calling for calm and prayer: “May we likewise unite in prayer that the decision, when made, will be accepted in the spirit of Christian charity and justice and in that unity of mind, heart and will, which must always characterize the family of God. This is a problem which should be worked out not in an atmosphere of wrangling or contention or discord or hatred but in a spirit of conciliation and with a desire to achieve peace through justice and charity. Prayer and calmness of spirit are much needed in all our hearts, and for these we plead in the name of the Divine Prince of Peace…”

Despite warnings of possible excommunication, local Catholic political, business and community leaders formed opposition groups to combat Rummel’s move to push for integrated Catholic schools in 1957. They even appealed to the Vatican but were rebuffed by the Holy See. Rummel was even the recipient of a burning cross on the front lawn of the archbishop’s residence.

Ultimately, three leaders were excommunicated, but the opposition continued and delayed the integration plans of Rummel. One reason for delaying was the recognition that white Catholics would leave Catholic schools if integrated and go to the public schools which were not yet integrated. So, archdiocesan leaders advised Rummel to wait to integrate Catholic schools until the public schools integrated in 1960.

In listening to Bishop Latino talk about his memories of all the events, he lamented the fact Archbishop Rummel suffered greatly from the intolerance and disrespect, but admired Rummel’s steadfastness in his mission in the face of that suffering. Latino even remarked that the church missed an opportunity to make a bold statement to the world by bestowing Rummel with the red hat of a Cardinal – honoring a man with principles like rails of steel from which he did not waiver.

In future articles, we will explore the integration of Catholic schools in our diocese which has a similar path though I am not aware of any excommunications. We also will throw in some more insights from our Emeritus.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson)

Bishop pierces ‘cloud of hate and fear’ with statement after 1963 assassination of civil rights leader, Evers

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From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
JACKSON – June 12, 1963, is a date that every Mississippian should remember for it was on this day that Medgar Evers was gunned down outside his home in Jackson upon returning home at night after meetings of the NAACP. It was just before midnight of June 11. Evers was the local Field Secretary and was a target of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
Normally, Evers’ routine upon arriving at home was to walk around the front of his car and into his house, thus putting the car between himself and the darkness where someone could be hiding. That fateful night because of items in the back of the car to be unloaded he went the opposite direction and a gunman shot from the bushes and killed him.
One of the bullets went through Evers’ body through the window of the house and into the kitchen. He bled to death in his driveway in front of his wife and children. The driveway still holds the stain of his blood. Byron de la Beckwith was convicted of the crime some 30 years later. Evers is buried in Arlington National Cemetery as he was a veteran of WWII.
During this same time, the diocesan priests and Bishop Gerow were on retreat in Bay St. Louis. Word of the assassination arrived there later that morning. The following accounts are taken from the diary of Bishop Gerow. It was a very volatile time.

“While everything is going so beautifully here at the retreat, currently, it is not going so well in Jackson in reference to the race question. I got news over the radio that today Medgar Evers, who has been the Field Secretary for the NAACP, and who, according to Father Gasper, was a fine, honest and respectable gentleman, was murdered. This murderer shot him at a distance when he was going from his automobile to his home. So far, the identity of the murderer is not known. I know that this is going to cause much trouble.”
As a point of information, the Evers sent their children to Christ the King Catholic School because they felt they would be safer there.
Bishop Gerow writes on June 14, 1963: “Naturally, the city is very much upset over the assassination of Medgar Evers. Up to this time, I have refrained from making any public statements in the newspaper. However, now the time has arrived for some sort of statement, so with the help of Father Law and Bill Minor, one of our fine Catholic newspapermen in the city, we drafted a statement and sent it to the local newspapers…and gave it to the national press and radio. Then as an act of charity…we visited the wife of the murdered man.”
“The assassination of Medgar Evers is certainly a shocking and saddening occurrence in our community and is more meaningful than the death of one man. I personally extend my heartfelt sympathy to the wife and children of Mr. Evers and convey to them my blessing and assurance of my prayers.
“I am saddened when I review the events of recent days and weeks. As a loyal son of Mississippi and a man of God, I feel in conscience compelled to speak out in the face of the grave racial situation in which we now find ourselves.
“This problem is unmistakably a moral one. We need frankly to admit that the guilt for the murder of Mr. Evers and the other instances of violence in our community tragically must be shared by all of us. Responsible leadership in some instances has been singularly lacking.
“I entreat our leaders and men of good will of both races to find some common ground on which to build a civic order based on human dignity and a concept of justice under God’s law. Rights which have been given to all men by the Creator cannot be the subject of conferral or refusal by men.
“The Declaration of Independence of this great nation has given us the proper attitude in this regard, in the words, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’
“Our conscience should compel us all to acknowledge the deep moral implications of this problem, and to take some positive steps towards recognizing the legitimate grievances of the Negro population. In the name of our common faith in God the Father let us all join together in prayer that the clouds of hate and fear may be pierced by the light of justice and fraternal love.”
Bishop Gerow received hate mail and phone calls from people, including Catholics, around the state and country for his visit to Mrs. Evers and for his statement. To one of these who expressed dismay that Bishop Gerow had visited Mrs. Evers, he replied: “I did it; I wanted the world to know it, and I was proud of the fact that I had done it because the family had suffered a tremendous injustice and it was really a national disgrace.”
The words of Bishop Gerow’s statement if put in modern terms would be very fitting to today’s climate. It seems we really are still in a climate where we need the cloud of hate and fear to be pierced by the light of justice and love.
Next issue a visit to New Orleans…

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson)

The archives vault, a ‘national treasure’

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From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
JACKSON – This week I thought I would share some photos of the diocesan archives vault. This space was built into the ground floor of the diocesan chancery building during its construction in 1947.

Bishop R.O. Gerow moved the bishop’s office to Jackson from Natchez and brought most of the files with him. Our archives have documents dating back to the 1780s and has some books that date back farther than that.

To be honest we have one of the most complete archives of Mississippi history in the state albeit a history through the unique lens of the development of the Catholic Church in the region. The collection is a national treasure.

As a meticulous historian who knew the importance of maintaining proper records and information, Bishop Gerow, assisted by various chancellors along the way, built this comprehensive collection we have in the vault over a period of 42 years.

He kept a detailed diary as did his predecessors of the daily events in the life of the church as he lived them. His diary is several thousand pages typed up neatly and bound in volumes. His last entry details his retirement in 1966.
He also oversaw the indexing of his predecessors’ papers and correspondence along with all the official acts of the office of bishop and the diocesan church.

These photos show the enormous amount of work he did and the work that continues today. The vault is stacked to the ceiling and records since 1966 are slowly being indexed for future research. There is a great need for space and the vision is to one day have a building for the diocesan archives that can serve as a research center and small museum for educational purposes. Right now, we manage the best we can with the allotted space for our treasure. And we hope one day to be able to better share that treasure in a more appropriate environment.

Until then, I hope you will continue to appreciate the history we share in the space provided in this column.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

SVDs, Jim Crow and growing a better future for African Americans

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From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
JACKSON – Not many people are aware that the first seminary for African American candidates to the priesthood began in Greenville, Mississippi at Sacred Heart Parish in 1920. A small group of devoted young men were formed in the attic of the original school building there.
In 1923, the seminary moved to Bay St. Louis to the newly established St. Augustine Seminary built by the Society of the Divine Word priests (SVD’s) after years of dialogue with Bishop Thomas Heslin and after his death in 1911, Bishop John Gunn.

JACKSON – 1936 ordination of Father Clarence Howard and Father Orion Wells, SVDs by Bishop R. O. Gerow. (Photos from the archives)

Bishops Heslin and Gunn had a strong desire and mission to evangelize and grow the faith in the African American communities of Mississippi. A large percentage of African Americans in those years were former slaves and children of slaves. A good number had been catechized in the Catholic faith and baptized by the earlier Bishops of the diocese.
Bishop Heslin and his successor Bishop Gunn saw a real need for this growing Catholic community to have priests from their own ranks. At the turn of the 20th century, Bishop Heslin invited the SVD’s to serve in the diocese and establish missions to specifically serve African Americans.
The SVD’s, founded in 1875 by Rev. Arnold Janssens in the Netherlands, first arrived in the U.S. in 1897 near Chicago. A few years later in 1905, they found themselves in Mississippi establishing these missions and growing the faith – the earliest of these being Vicksburg St. Mary, Jackson Holy Ghost, and Yazoo City St. Francis. They also would be in Meridian, Indianola, Mound Bayou and Clarksdale along with many smaller missions that have been absorbed by larger parishes throughout the years.
Getting back to the first seminary, the point of dialogue made more than 100 years ago was, the seminary training for these young men of color should be done by a religious order and not at a seminary forming diocesan clergy.

One may think this is an obvious choice because the SVD’s had a charism to serve the African American community, but actually, that was an afterthought according to correspondence in the archives. Both Bishop Heslin and Bishop Gunn believed the current diocesan clergy being ingrained in the culture and climate of the diocese would not be accepting or welcoming of African American priests among their ranks.
Rectory-living would have been considered illegal if black and white priests were assigned together. The Jim Crow laws and culture of intimidation are far too complex to address in an archives column. I will share the following from David H. Jackson’s section in the Mississippi Encyclopedia:
“After 1877 African Americans lost their political rights in Mississippi through intimidation, fraud, and outright murder, and racial segregation became largely a matter of custom. According to historian Neil McMillen, ‘Mississippi seems to have had fewer Jim Crow laws during the entire segregation period than most southern states.’ Wherever they turned, black Mississippians faced segregation. More often than not, Jim Crow customs required both separation and exclusion. The state legislature passed laws segregating trains in 1888 and streetcars in 1904. At weddings and funerals, in courtrooms, public facilities, and other places used for social gathering, habit kept the races apart. The code of racial etiquette prohibited any form of interracial activity that might have even remotely implied equality. Nonetheless, blacks were more concerned with having equal access to facilities than they were with integration per se.”
“In 1890 the Mississippi legislature called a constitutional convention expressly to disfranchise blacks. The Second Mississippi Plan emerged from this meeting, imposing literacy requirements, poll taxes, and laws denying the vote to anyone convicted of bribery, arson, murder, theft, or burglary — crimes for which African Americans were much more likely to be convicted than whites. Following Mississippi’s lead, other southern states began to enact laws to deny blacks the franchise. The US Supreme Court’s decision in Williams v. Mississippi (1898) added to African Americans’ political impotence by denying them federal civil rights law protection.”
As we have explored in previous columns, blacks and whites were together sacramentally in the early days of the diocese. This continued even after the Civil War, but when the protections of reconstruction were gone, segregation took hold fiercely.

In navigating these evil circumstances, Bishops Heslin and Gunn found a way to persevere in serving the African American community by arranging for the SVD’s to establish a seminary for black men to study for the priesthood and serve in their own communities. Following the path of their times to establish a parallel society, these two bishops opened the door to the empowerment of the African American Catholic community in our diocese and in the United States.
Seeing the need for black Catholics to see the face of Christ as a familiar one was a profound step in the journey of faith and justice in our state. Looking back on this effort, it seems to have been a calculated move in the hopes of growing a better future for the African American community and for the universal church. And it all started in the Mississippi Delta.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)