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Samuel Alphonsius Stritch (August 17, 1887 – May 27, 1958) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Chicago from 1940 to 1958 and as Prefect of the Congregation for Propagation of the Faith from March 1958 until his death two months later. He was elevated to the cardinalate by Pope Pius XII in 1946.
Stritch previously served as Archbishop of Milwaukee from 1930 to 1939 and as Bishop of Toledo from 1921 to 1930.
Once in Louisville, Garret boarded with the O'Malley family; he married Katherine in 1880. The Stritch family later moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where Garret worked as the manager of the Sycamore Mill near Ashland City.The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Samuel Alphonsus Stritch 1887–1958 The second youngest of eight children, Samuel had two brothers and five sisters. They all attended the Church of the Assumption in Nashville.
Considered a child prodigy, Samuel Stritch finished Grammar school at age ten and high school at age 14 in Nashville. Deciding to become a priest, Stritch in 1901 entered St. Gregory's Preparatory Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1903.
Bishop Thomas Byrne of Nashville then sent Stritch to study at the Pontifical Urbaniana Athenaeum De Propaganda Fide in Rome, during which time he resided at the Pontifical North American College. He later earned his doctorates in philosophy and in theology. While in Rome, Stritch befriended Monsignor Eugenio Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII.
After Stritch returned to the United States, the diocese assigned him in 1911 as pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Memphis. Byrne named him as his private secretary in 1913 and as a Diocese chancellor in 1917. The Vatican appointed Stritch as a Monsignor in May 1921.
During his tenure in Toledo, Stritch established Mary Manse College, a women's college in Toledo in 1922. He incorporated the diocesan branch of Catholic Charities in 1923. Stritch laid the cornerstone in 1926 of the new Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo.
While in Toledo, Stritch presided at the confirmation of the future comedian Danny Thomas. Stritch would mentor Thomas throughout his life and urged him, a Tennessee native, to locate St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Thomas' main charity, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Stritch provided extensive support to the victims of the Great Depression. Due to the economic downturn, he refused to spend money restoring the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, which was heavily damaged by fire in 1935, or St. Francis de Sales Seminary. Stritch once remarked "As long as two pennies are ours, one of them belongs to the poor.""
Stritch was an advocate for Catholic Action an international movement of lay people, and the Catholic Youth Organization. In November 1939, he was elected chairman of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, the predecessor of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He also served as vice-chancellor of the Extension Society.
Stritch was an opponent of Reverend Charles Coughlin, a popular anti-Semitic radio broadcaster. Stritch in December 1939 wrote a letter to a Milwaukee rabbi that rebuked those who,
In 1943, during World War II, Stritch signed a peace program developed by American Protestant, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Jewish leaders. Pius XII created him as cardinal-priest of the Basilica of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura in Rome during the Papal consistory of February 18, 1946. As archbishop of Chicago, Stritch oversaw the establishment of the first American chapter of the organization Opus Dei, the launching of the Christian Family Movement, and an outreach program to the Puerto Rico community.
In 1952, Stritch delivered the invocation at the opening session of the 1952 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, saying "Today we face a crisis as grave as that of Valley Forge." Referring to Communism and secularists, Stritch asked for divine protection against ;
After lying in state at the Pontifical North American College in Rome and then at the Cathedral of the Holy Name in Chicago, Stritch's remains were interred in the Bishops' Mausoleum at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois, on June 3.
Episcopal career
Bishop of Toledo
On August 10, 1921, Stritch was appointed the second bishop of Toledo by Pope Benedict XV. He received his episcopal consecration at the Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales in Toledo on November 30, 1921, from Archbishop Henry K. Moeller, with Bishops John Morris and Thomas Molloy serving as Consecrator.
Archbishop of Milwaukee
Following the death of Archbishop Sebastian Messmer, Stritch was named the fifth archbishop of Milwaukee on August 26, 1930, by Pope Pius IX. Stritch suffered from periods of depression early in his tenure as archbishop, but joined nationwide feelings of optimism with the 1932 election of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"...gain and hold a popular audience, degrade themselves and abuse the trust reposed in them by misquoting, half-quoting, and actually insinuating half-truths."
Archbishop of Chicago
Despite Stritch's protests, Pope Pius XII appointed him the fourth archbishop of Chicago, Illinois, on December 27, 1939. Succeeding the late Cardinal George Mundelein, Stritch was formally Enthronement on January 3, 1940. Stritch was the personal choice of Apostolic Delegate Amleto Giovanni Cicognani for the post, although Roosevelt reputedly wanted Bishop Bernard Sheil instead.
"the aggression of those within and without of Godless enslaving political systems and of those who wittingly or unwittingly seek to take away our freedoms by their advocacy of materialism and Godless humanism."Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention, published by the Democratic National Committee (1952), pp. 1–2
In 1954, Stritch issued a pastoral letter exhorting Catholics in his archdiocese to not attend the assembly of the World Council of Churches at Evanston, Illinois, writing, "The Catholic Church does not...enter into any organization in which the delegates of many sects sit down in council or conference as equals...She does not allow her children to engage in any activity...based on the false assumption that Roman Catholics, too, are still searching for the truth of Christ,"
Stritch's pastoral letter against ecumenism dismayed several Protestant and Ecumenism figures.
Pro-Prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of Faith
On March 1, 1958, Pius XII appointed Stritch as Promagistrate-prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of Faith in Rome.
Death
In May 1958, while in Rome, Stritch suffered a Thrombus on his right arm. Surgeons at the Sanatrix Clinic in the city were forced to amputate the arm above the elbow. On May 19, Stritch suffered a stroke. He died eight days later at age 70.
Legacy
See also
External links
Categories: 1887 Births, 1958 Deaths, 21st-century American Cardinals, American Roman Catholic Clergy Of Irish Descent, Roman Catholic Archbishops Of Chicago, Roman Catholic Archbishops Of Milwaukee, Cardinals Created By Pope Pius Xii, Catholics From Tennessee, Members Of The Congregation For The Propagation Of The Faith, Pontifical Urban University Alumni, Religious Leaders From Wisconsin, Roman Catholic Bishops Of Toledo, Religious Leaders From Nashville, Tennessee, Burials At The Bishop's Mausoleum, Mount Carmel Cemetery, 20th-century American People
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