Thomas Bonacum: Difference between revisions

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Line 62: Line 62:
===Legal troubles===
===Legal troubles===
Bonacum's tenure was largely consumed by legal battles. In 1888, he sued [[Patrick Egan (activist)|Patrick Egan]], a prominent Lincoln citizen and later [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Chile|U.S. Ambassador to Chile]], for failing to pay a pledge he had made for the improvement of St. Teresa's Pro-Cathedral.<ref name=egan>{{cite news|date=October 16, 1888|title=The Bonacum Case|work=Lincoln Evening Call}}</ref> It was rumored that Egan, a staunch [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], was unhappy that Bonacum attended a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] reception.<ref name=enquirer>{{cite news|date=February 25, 1894|title=The Cause of the Trouble Between Bishop Bonacum and His Parish Priests|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer}}</ref> The case went to the [[Nebraska Supreme Court]], which ruled in Bonacum's favor and ordered Egan to pay the pledge.<ref name=wins>{{cite news|date=January 4, 1894|title=Bishop Bonacum Wins|work=Lincoln Journal Star}}</ref> Bonacum also suspended the pastor of St. Teresa's and his successor for opposing the cathedral project due to costs.<ref name=enquirer/>
Bonacum's tenure was largely consumed by legal battles. In 1888, he sued [[Patrick Egan (activist)|Patrick Egan]], a prominent Lincoln citizen and later [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Chile|U.S. Ambassador to Chile]], for failing to pay a pledge he had made for the improvement of St. Teresa's Pro-Cathedral.<ref name=egan>{{cite news|date=October 16, 1888|title=The Bonacum Case|work=Lincoln Evening Call}}</ref> It was rumored that Egan, a staunch [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], was unhappy that Bonacum attended a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] reception.<ref name=enquirer>{{cite news|date=February 25, 1894|title=The Cause of the Trouble Between Bishop Bonacum and His Parish Priests|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer}}</ref> The case went to the [[Nebraska Supreme Court]], which ruled in Bonacum's favor and ordered Egan to pay the pledge.<ref name=wins>{{cite news|date=January 4, 1894|title=Bishop Bonacum Wins|work=Lincoln Journal Star}}</ref> Bonacum also suspended the pastor of St. Teresa's and his successor for opposing the cathedral project due to costs.<ref name=enquirer/>

His most extensive battles were with his own priests. In 1891, he brought Rev. Martin Corbett of [[Palmyra, Nebraska|Palmyra]], with whom he had many quarrels, before the diocesan court that consisted of five other priests.<ref name=wins>{{cite news|date=December 2, 1896|title=BISHOP BONACUM BEATEN: The Metropolitan Court Decides in Favor of the Priests|work=Sioux City Journal}}</ref> The charges against Corbett were dismissed, but Bonacum later tried to remove Corbett from his position in 1894. But Corbett refused and sued Bonacum for libel after the bishop wrote a letter announcing Corbett's suspension to his congregation.<ref name=enquirer/><ref name=libel>{{cite news|date=February 6, 1894|title=BISHOP BONACUM LIBEL SUIT|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1894/02/07/archives/bishop-bonacum-libel-suit-trial-in-lincoln-neb-which-greatly.html|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Bonacum gained a victory when the libel suit was dismissed in court.<ref name=dismiss>{{cite news|date=February 11, 1894|title=NO MALICIOUS INTENT: Libel Suit Against Bishop Bonactun Dismissed—Had a Vested Right|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SJMN18940211.2.48&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1|work=[[The Mercury News]]}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 23:24, 7 July 2022

Thomas Bonacum
Bishop of Lincoln
ChurchCatholic Church
DioceseDiocese of Lincoln
PredecessorOffice established
SuccessorJohn Henry Tihen
Orders
OrdinationJune 18, 1870
by Joseph Melcher
ConsecrationNovember 30, 1887
by Peter Richard Kenrick
Personal details
Born(1847-01-29)January 29, 1847
Penane, County Tipperary, Ireland
DiedFebruary 4, 1911(1911-02-04) (aged 64)
Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.

Thomas Bonacum (January 29, 1847 – February 4, 1911) was an Irish-born American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of Lincoln, serving from 1887 until his death in 1911.

Early life and education

Thomas Bonacum was born January 29, 1847 in Penane,[1] near Thurles, County Tipperary, the youngest of four children of Edmund and Mary (née McGrath) Bonacum.[2] While he was still an infant, the family immigrated to the United States in 1848, settling in St. Louis, Missouri.[3]

He received his early education in St. Louis before attending Saint Francis de Sales Seminary, near Milwaukee, from 1863 to 1867.[4] Returning to Missouri, he completed his studies for the priesthood at St. Vincent's Seminary in Cape Girardeau.[2]

Priesthood

Bonacum was ordained a priest on June 18, 1870 at St. Mary of Victories Church in St. Louis.[5] He was ordained by Joseph Melcher, the Bishop of Green Bay and a former St. Louis priest, since Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick was in Rome attending the First Vatican Council.[6] After serving for a few months as assistant pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Edina, Bonacum served as pastor of St. Stephen's Church in Indian Creek from 1871 to 1874.[7] He then served as pastor of St. Peter's Church in Kirkwood (1874-1877).[7]

Bonacum then furthered his studies in Europe, attending the University of Würzburg in Bavaria for two years. While there, he studied theology under Franz Hettinger and canon law and church history under Joseph Hergenröther.[6] After returning to the United States, he served as pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Rolla until 1880,[8] when he was transferred to Immaculate Conception Church in St. Louis.[6] He remained there for a year before serving as pastor of Holy Name Church (1882-1887).[7]

While pastor at Holy Name, Bonacum attended the third Plenary Council of Baltimore from November to December 1884, as a theological consultant to Archbishop Kenrick.[9] He greatly impressed the bishops at the Council, who nominated Bonacum to be the first bishop of the proposed Diocese of Belleville, Illinois.[2] However, the establishment of the diocese was postponed for three years and Bonacum remained at St. Louis during that time.

Bishop of Lincoln

On July 7, 1887, a cablegram from Rome announced that Pope Leo XIII appointed Bonacum to be the first bishop of the newly-erected Diocese of Lincoln in Nebraska.[10] The official papal document confirming his appointment was dated August 9, 1887,[9] arriving the following September.[3] Bonacum received his episcopal consecration on November 30 from Archbishop Kenrick, with Bishop Louis Mary Fink of Leavenworth and Bishop James O'Connor of Omaha serving as co-consecrators, at St. John's Church in St. Louis.[5]

Bonacum took formal charge of the Diocese of Lincoln on December 21, 1887, when he was installed at St. Teresa's Pro-Cathedral.[9] In 1888, the first full year of his episcopate, the young diocese contained a Catholic population of 23,000 with 32 priests, 29 parishes, and three parochial schools.[11] By the time of Bonacum's death in 1911, there was a Catholic population of 37,000 with 84 priests, 135 churches and 65 with resident pastors, and 28 parochial schools.[12]

Bonacum died from complications of pneumonia and Bright's disease on February 4, 1911, aged 64.[13] Upon his death, Lincoln mayor Don Lathrop Love issued the following proclamation: "By this sad event we have lost not only a great prelate but a distinguished and public-spirited citizen as well...It would be a fitting tribute to display emblems of mourning along our public streets and to close our offices and places of business during the hour of his funeral."[3]

Legal troubles

Bonacum's tenure was largely consumed by legal battles. In 1888, he sued Patrick Egan, a prominent Lincoln citizen and later U.S. Ambassador to Chile, for failing to pay a pledge he had made for the improvement of St. Teresa's Pro-Cathedral.[14] It was rumored that Egan, a staunch Republican, was unhappy that Bonacum attended a Democratic reception.[15] The case went to the Nebraska Supreme Court, which ruled in Bonacum's favor and ordered Egan to pay the pledge.[16] Bonacum also suspended the pastor of St. Teresa's and his successor for opposing the cathedral project due to costs.[15]

His most extensive battles were with his own priests. In 1891, he brought Rev. Martin Corbett of Palmyra, with whom he had many quarrels, before the diocesan court that consisted of five other priests.[16] The charges against Corbett were dismissed, but Bonacum later tried to remove Corbett from his position in 1894. But Corbett refused and sued Bonacum for libel after the bishop wrote a letter announcing Corbett's suspension to his congregation.[15][17] Bonacum gained a victory when the libel suit was dismissed in court.[18]

References

  1. ^ Hackett, James Dominick (1936). Bishops of the United States of Irish Birth Or Descent. New York: American Irish Historical Society.
  2. ^ a b c Morton, Julius Sterling (1906). Illustrated History of Nebraska. Vol. II. Lincoln, NE: Jacob North & Company.
  3. ^ a b c Bruskewitz, Fabian (August 17, 2012). "Our Hundred and Twenty-Fifth". Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln.
  4. ^ "Necrology". Salesianum. VI (III). April 1911.
  5. ^ a b "Bishop Thomas Bonacum". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  6. ^ a b c "The Appointment of Father Bonacum as Bishop of Lincoln, Neb". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. July 9, 1887.
  7. ^ a b c Gosen, Loretta (1986). History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, 1887-1987. Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln.
  8. ^ "Parish History". St. Patrick Parish.
  9. ^ a b c Meehan, Thomas (1910). "Lincoln". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  10. ^ "FATHER BONACUMA A BISHOP: A Well-Known St. Louis Priest Raised to the Episcopate". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. July 8, 1887.
  11. ^ "Diocese of Lincoln". Sadliers' Catholic Directory, Almanac And Ordo. New York: D.& J. Sadlier & Co. 1888.
  12. ^ "Diocese of Lincoln". The Official Catholic Directory. New York: M.H. Wiltzius. 1911.
  13. ^ "THE DEATH OF BISHOP BONACUM". Lincoln Journal Star. February 4, 1911.
  14. ^ "The Bonacum Case". Lincoln Evening Call. October 16, 1888.
  15. ^ a b c "The Cause of the Trouble Between Bishop Bonacum and His Parish Priests". The Cincinnati Enquirer. February 25, 1894.
  16. ^ a b "Bishop Bonacum Wins". Lincoln Journal Star. January 4, 1894. Cite error: The named reference "wins" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  17. ^ "BISHOP BONACUM LIBEL SUIT". The New York Times. February 6, 1894.
  18. ^ "NO MALICIOUS INTENT: Libel Suit Against Bishop Bonactun Dismissed—Had a Vested Right". The Mercury News. February 11, 1894.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
none
(diocese erected)
 Bishop of Lincoln
1887–1911 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Bonacum&oldid=1096983585"