IRELAND, JOHN. - The most popular of the American bishops, alongside Card. Gibbons, b. at Burnchurch (Ireland) on Sept. 11, 1838, d. at St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sept. 25, 1918. After moving with his parents to the United States (1852), he returned to France for his studies. Ordained a priest on Dec. 21, 1861, he was a military chaplain during the Civil War; in 1875 he was elected titular bishop of Maronea and coadjutor of Bishop Grace of St. Paul, Minnesota, whom he succeeded after the latter's resignation (1884).
A zealous bishop in his diocese, which he endowed with a seminary (1886), colleges, schools, etc., he was also the organizer of the new ecclesiastical province. An ardent and bold temperament, he oriented himself decisively toward current issues, especially toward the social question and the new democratic direction. Certain bold propositions found in his numerous speeches must be explained by this temperament of his. He was one of the principal supporters of parochial schools against the state monopoly and had a large part in the founding of the Catholic University of Washington.
His principal work is The Church and the century (2nd ed., New York 1908), translated into many languages, which is an exaltation of the Church and an invitation to the faithful of all countries to work for the Christian conquest.
He may be considered one of the liveliest interpreters of the good and imitable side of Americanism; the Christianizer of North American progress.
Bibliography4 works
Pietro Palazzini