Edward McGlynn
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
priest and social reformer, was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
of Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
parents, Peter and Sarah McGlynn. His parents had immigrated in 1824, and his father became a contractor, acquiring a small fortune before dying in 1847, leaving a widow and ten children. McGlynn was first educated at the Thirteenth Street Grammar School. Archbishop Hughes
John Hughes (archbishop)
John Joseph Hughes , was an Irish-born clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the fourth Bishop and first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, serving between 1842 and his death in 1864....
, a family friend, was attracted by the boy's bright and studious nature, and sent him to the Free Academy, now the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
. It was determined that he would become a priest, so he was then sent to the Urban College of the Propaganda
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in Rome is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for missionary work and related activities...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. In 1859, after eight years in Rome, he transferred to the newly-opened Pontifical North American College
Pontifical North American College
The Pontifical North American College is a Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy educating seminarians for the dioceses in the United States and providing a residence for American priests studying in Rome. It was founded in 1859 by Blessed Pope Pius IX and was granted pontifical...
. He had received his doctorate in theology and philosophy after public examination, and was ordained a priest on March 24, 1860. Right after ordination he became assistant to Rev. Thomas Farrell at St. Joseph’s Church, Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)
Sixth Avenue – officially Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown"...
, New York.
As Father Farrell had been an ardent opponent of slavery and left $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
5,000 in his will for a Black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
Catholic church, in addition to having been an advocate of higher education for children, he probably was in large measure responsible for the charitable and humanitarian views and practices for which his young assistant became and remained conspicuous.
From the beginning McGlynn was known as an extremely hard worker; his health broke down in 1862 from over-exertion and he was sent to Europe to recuperate. This was a short time after he had been appointed pastor of St. Ann's Church, Eighth Street. Returning to the United States, he was appointed chaplain of the Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
Military Hospital, and retained this position until after the end of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
In 1866, Rev. Jeremiah Williams Cummings
Jeremiah Williams Cummings
Jeremiah Williams Cummings was an American Roman Catholic priest, known as a preacher and writer.-Life:...
, who had built St. Stephen's Church on East Twenty-eighth Street and had organized it into one of the most populous parishes in New York City, was on his deathbed. He asked Archbishop Hughes to appoint McGlynn as his assistant, which he did, and McGlynn succeeded Cummings as pastor when he died. There he worked with great energy and zeal, not only in the various fields of parochial activity, but on behalf of many worthy public causes. In a short time he had acquired a reputation as one of the most prominent Roman Catholic priests in the city, and as a man of decided, and in that era almost revolutionary, views. He led the enlargement and beautification of the church, and the introduction of elaborate musical services, while his eloquence in the pulpit attracted immense congregations. He remained always ready to help the poor and afflicted, making great efforts on behalf of his parishioners. He received an annual salary of $800, and possessed some private wealth, but he devoted all his money (except what was needed to support his own frugal existence) to the poor. The opening of St. Patrick's Cathedral
St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York
The Cathedral of St. Patrick is a decorated Neo-Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral church in the United States...
in 1879 took away many of McGlynn's wealthier parishioners, but the church remained crowded at almost every service.
McGlynn first drew national attention and came into conflict with his ecclesiastical superiors over his opposition to parish schools, as he claimed that public schools were good enough for all American children. He also drew criticism for his open friendship with Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
clergymen, even giving an address once in Henry Ward Beecher
Henry Ward Beecher
Henry Ward Beecher was a prominent Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, abolitionist, and speaker in the mid to late 19th century...
's church.
Additionally, after a time he began to feel that life was made a burden "by the never-ending procession of men, women and little children coming to my door begging, not so much for alms as employment." He wrote, "I began to ask myself, 'Is there no remedy?'...I began to study a little political economy, to ask, 'what is God’s law as to the maintenance of His family down here below?'"
He thought that he had found the answer in the teachings of Henry George
Henry George
Henry George was an American writer, politician and political economist, who was the most influential proponent of the land value tax, also known as the "single tax" on land...
, being deeply impressed by Progress and Poverty
Progress and Poverty
Progress and Poverty: An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth: The Remedy was written by Henry George in 1879...
, and it was with his enthusiastic support of George that he first actually defied his superiors. With his accustomed fervor, energy and eloquence he expounded the Single Tax
Georgism
Georgism is an economic philosophy and ideology that holds that people own what they create, but that things found in nature, most importantly land, belong equally to all...
doctrine as the universal and fundamental remedy for poverty. In the year 1886 he took an active part in the failed campaign of Henry George for the office of Mayor of New York City
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
. This brought him into open conflict with the conservative Archbishop Corrigan
Michael Corrigan
Michael Augustine Corrigan was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who served as the third archbishop of New York from 1885 to 1902.-Early life:...
.
About four years previously, Cardinal Simeoni
Giovanni Simeoni
Giovanni Simeoni was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Propagation of the Faith from 1878 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1875....
, prefect of the Congregation of the Propaganda, had directed the authorities of the Archdiocese to compel McGlynn to retract his views on the land question. Cardinal McCloskey, at that time head of the Archdiocese, merely required McGlynn to refrain from defending these views in public. After the death of Cardinal McCloskey, McGlynn considered himself free again to advocate the Single Tax doctrine. On September 29, 1886, Archbishop Corrigan forbade him to speak on behalf of Henry George’s candidacy at a public meeting scheduled to take place on October 1 in Chickering Hall. McGlynn replied that to break this engagement would be imprudent, but promised to refrain from addressing any later meeting during the political campaign. The Archbishop immediately suspended him from the exercise of his priestly functions for a period of two weeks. McGlynn went ahead with the address, declaring that George was worthy not only to be Mayor of New York City, but President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. Toward the end of November a second temporary suspension was imposed. The protests of conservative Catholic priests and laymen were futile, and a large number of workmen from McGlynn's parish were solidly behind him.
On January 14, 1887, Archbishop Corrigan, who had complained to the Vatican, removed McGlynn from the pastorate of St. Stephen's and notified the other American Bishops and Archbishops of his decision, effectively removing him from the priesthood. Two days later a cablegram
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
arrived from Cardinal Simeoni commanding McGlynn to retract publicly his land theory and come immediately to Rome. On February 18 Cardinal Gibbons, who was then in Rome, sent word that McGlynn ought to go to Rome as soon as possible. On March 11, the Rev. Dr. Richard Lalor Burtsell, as McGlynn’s canonical advocate
Canon law (Catholic Church)
The canon law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation. It lacks the necessary binding force present in most modern day legal systems. The academic...
, cabled a reply that his defiant client would do so on certain conditions. At the same time he wrote a long letter to Cardinal Gibbons explaining fully the canonical situation from McGlynn’s viewpoint. However, Cardinal Gibbons did not present either the cablegram or the letter to the Roman authorities, contenting himself with an oral statement of their contents. Failing to receive any written reply from McGlynn, Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
ordered him to come to Rome within forty days under penalty of excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
. Holding that he had been guilty of no stubborn resistance, and unaware that the reply made on his behalf by Burtsell had never reached the Pope, McGlynn, claiming ill health, refused to obey the order, and the excommunication became effective on July 4, 1887. For more than five years following this censure he defended the Single Tax doctrine at the Sunday afternoon meetings of the Anti-Poverty Society, which he had founded with George in March 1887 and of which he was the first president; he also made a tour of the West
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
and virtually declared himself an unbeliever in the supremacy of the Pope. He lived at the home of his widowed sister in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
.
In 1892, Msgr. Satolli came to the United States as Papal Ablegate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
with instructions from the Pope to examine the McGlynn case. A church trial was held behind closed doors at the Catholic University
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
; McGlynn had authorized Burtsell to promise that he would no longer promulgate doctrines unauthorized by the Church. This combined with the assurance of four professors at the university that McGlynn's Single Tax views were not contrary to Catholic teaching led Satolli to lift the excommunication on December 23 and reinstate him in the ministry the next day. On Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
morning 1892 McGlynn said mass for the first time since his excommunication in 1887, celebrating three liturgies in Brooklyn. That evening he spoke at Cooper Union
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...
before an immense and enthusiastic gathering, not uttering a word of regret for his actions, instead declaring that he intended to continue advocating Single Tax doctrines; he then delivered a traditional Christmas sermon. The following June he visited Rome and was cordially received in private audience by the Pope. In his description of this event shortly afterwards, McGlynn reported that the Pope had said to him, "But surely you admit the right of property," and that he had answered in the affirmative as regards "the products of individual industry." Apparently the Pope was satisfied with this answer. In the years following his restoration to his priestly functions he frequently spoke at Single-Tax meetings and made it quite clear that he had not been required by the Pope to retract his view on the land question.
A passage in the Pope's 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on May 15, 1891. It was an open letter, passed to all Catholic bishops, that addressed the condition of the working classes. The encyclical is entitled: “Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour”...
, reads: "The right to possess private property is derived from nature, not from man; and the State has the right to control its use in the interests of the public good alone, but by no means to absorb it altogether. The State would therefore be unjust and cruel if under the name of taxation it were to deprive the private owner of more than is fair." The implication of McGlynn's reinstatement is that if the Single Tax could be shown to be fair, it would not be a contravention of the Church's ethical teachings.
Archbishop Corrigan was zealous in his enforcement of canon law, but was not personally bitter toward McGlynn, acting against him with extreme reluctance. He expressed his joy when McGlynn was restored to the priesthood and presided over his Requiem
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead , is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal...
mass. McGlynn, in turn, remained a friend of Henry George's, delivering his eulogy in 1897.
In 1894, McGlynn, to his parishioners' regret, was assigned as pastor of St. Mary’s in Newburgh, NY
Newburgh (city), New York
Newburgh is a city located in Orange County, New York, United States, north of New York City, and south of Albany, on the Hudson River. Newburgh is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown metropolitan area, which includes all of Dutchess and Orange counties. The Newburgh area was...
. He celebrated his first mass there on January 1, 1895. After a six-week illness that reduced his robust physique to an emaciated appearance, he died primarily of Bright's disease
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
in the church rectory on January 7, 1900. His last audible words were, "Jesus, have mercy on me." Prayers had been offered in Catholic and Protestant churches for his recovery; his funeral, which occasioned widespread expressions of sorrow and appreciation by members of both communities, was held at Newburgh on January 10 and was attended by a packed crowd, about a hundred Catholic priests, and all the city's Protestant clergymen, there by special invitation. His close friend of half a century, Dr. Burtsell, delivered the eulogy. That night, some 30,000 people filed by his coffin in his old parish of St. Stephen's. A second, similarly packed funeral was held there the next day, after which he was buried in Calvary Cemetery
Calvary Cemetery, Queens
The Roman Catholic Calvary Cemetery in Queens has the largest number of interments of any cemetery in the United States.The offices of Calvary Cemetery are located at 49-02 Laurel Hill Blvd. in Woodside in the New York City borough of Queens, New York. The cemetery is managed by the Trustees of...
. A review of his personal affairs found that he was at least $10,000 in debt due to his charitable activities.
Though McGlynn is actually buried in Calvary Cemetery, Queens (then the Archdiocese of New York's principal cemetery), a life-sized bronze statue of him stands in the non-denominational Woodlawn Cemetery
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City and is a designated National Historic Landmark.A rural cemetery located in the Bronx, it opened in 1863, in what was then southern Westchester County, in an area that was annexed to New York City in 1874.The cemetery covers more...
in the Bronx -- supporters had paid for the creation of the monument, but the archdiocese had refused to allow it to be placed on his grave, so they instead bought land in Woodlawn just to erect it.