45 Facts About James Gibbons

James Cardinal Gibbons was an American Catholic prelate who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 until his death.

James Gibbons was 34 years of age, serving as the first apostolic vicar of North Carolina.

James Gibbons attended the First Vatican Council in Rome where he voted in favor of defining the dogma of papal infallibility.

In 1872, James Gibbons was named Bishop of Richmond by Pope Pius IX.

In 1877, James Gibbons was appointed Archbishop of Baltimore, the oldest episcopal see in the United States.

James Gibbons defended the rights of organized labor and helped convince Pope Leo XIII to give his consent to labor unions.

In 1886, James Gibbons was appointed to the College of Cardinals, becoming the second cardinal in American history, after Cardinal John McCloskey, archbishop of New York.

James Gibbons was born on July 23,1834, in Baltimore, Maryland, the fourth of six children, to Thomas and Bridget Gibbons.

James Gibbons opened a grocery store in Ballinrobe, where James Gibbons worked as a child.

Slight of build and a little under than average height, James Gibbons suffered from gastric problems and consequent periods of anxiety and clinical depression.

Thomas James Gibbons died in Ireland in 1847; in 1853, Bridget James Gibbons moved the family back to the United States, settling in New Orleans, Louisiana.

James Gibbons suffered a severe attack of malaria while at St Mary's, leaving him so debilitated that the staff doubted his ability to handle the priesthood.

James Gibbons helped Spalding prepare for the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore in October 1866.

James Gibbons received his episcopal consecration on August 15,1868, from Spalding, with Bishops Patrick Lynch and Michael Domenec serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Baltimore Cathedral.

James Gibbons' vicariate contained fewer than 700 Catholics spread over the state of North Carolina.

James Gibbons became a popular American religious figure, gathering crowds for his sermons on diverse topics that could apply to Christianity as a whole.

Over his lifetime, Gibbons met every American president, from Andrew Johnson to Warren G Harding, and served as an adviser to several of them.

In 1869 and 1870 James Gibbons attended the First Vatican Council in Rome.

James Gibbons voted in favor of the doctrine of papal infallibility.

James Gibbons assumed the additional duties of apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, in January 1872.

James Gibbons was named by Pius IX as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Richmond on July 30,1872.

James Gibbons was installed as bishop on October 20,1872.

James Gibbons automatically succeeded as archbishop on October 3,1877, after the death of Archbishop James Bayley.

James Gibbons therefore travelled extensively throughout the archdiocese, coming to know the priests and parishioners very well.

James Gibbons was the second American cardinal after Cardinal John McCloskey.

The university opened on March 7,1889, with James Gibbons serving as its first chancellor.

In 1903, James Gibbons became the first American cardinal to participate in a papal conclave.

James Gibbons would have participated in the 1914 conclave but he arrived late.

James Gibbons allowed Reverend William A Hemmick to serve American troops in France during the war.

James Gibbons died on March 24,1921, in Baltimore at age 86.

In 1899, James Gibbons became embroiled in a controversy with the Vatican about a biography of Reverend Isaac Hecker, the founder of the Paulist Fathers.

In 1890, James Gibbons condemned pogroms targeting Jews in the Russian Empire.

James Gibbons pleaded for the public to assist Russia's Jews.

When Jewish leaders in 1915 in Ohio were opposing a state law that would promote bible readings in public schools, James Gibbons sent them a letter of support.

James Gibbons initially opposed the women's suffrage movement in the United States.

James Gibbons advocated for the protection of working people and their right to organize in labor unions.

James Gibbons believed that industrials in America's eastern cities were exploiting Catholic immigrant workers.

James Gibbons concluded that "every honest labor is laudable, thanks to the example and teaching of Christ".

In Rome in 1887 James Gibbons implored the Vatican not to condemn the Knights of Labor and defended the rights of workers to organise.

At the request of the Belgians, James Gibbons wrote a letter to the organizers, asking them to drop discussion of Congo.

Furthermore, James Gibbons had based his support on the views of the Belgian government and intermittent reports from Catholic missionaries.

James Gibbons wanted to recommend books on Catholicism to interested Protestants, but he found the existing apologetical works to be inadequate for Americans.

Understanding that many Americans viewed their faith as coming directly from the Bible, James Gibbons took pains to explain the biblical roots of Catholic doctrine and rituals.

James Gibbons wanted to show readers that Catholicism was an American faith, rebutting the claims by anti-Catholic nativists that Catholicism was a heretical belief imposed by Europeans.

James Gibbons wrote essays for the North American Review and Putnams' Monthly.