John Joseph Hughes

Archbishop John Hughes

John Joseph Hughes (born June 24, 1797 in Annaloghan , County Tyrone , Ireland , † January 3, 1864 in New York City , United States ) was an American clergyman and the fourth bishop and first archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York .

He was a person of national renown and exerted great moral and social influence. He headed the diocese and archbishopric during a period of explosive growth of Catholicism in New York. Hughes was known as "the most famous, if not the most popular, Catholic bishop in the country". Hughes was also known as "Dagger John", on the one hand because of his habit of adding a dagger-shaped cross to his signature, on the other hand because of his personality that was not afraid of conflict.

Childhood, youth and education

John Hughes was born in Annaloghan, County Tyrone, the third of the seven children of Patrick and Margaret (née McKenna) Hughes. Regarding the anti-Catholic penal laws in Ireland at the time, he later stated that, prior to his baptism , he lived in "social and civic equality with the most favored subjects of the British Empire" for the first five days of his life. He and his family suffered religious persecution in their homeland; his late sister was refused a funeral administered by a Catholic priest, and Hughes himself was nearly attacked by a group of Orange when he was about fifteen years old. He was sent to a school in Augher with his older brothers and then attended a grammar school in Aughnacloy .

His father was a poor but respected farmer who was forced to take Hughes out of school and use it on his farm. However, since he was not inclined to life as a farmer, he became an apprentice of Roger Toland, the gardener of Favor Royal, to learn horticulture .

His father immigrated to the United States in 1816, and Hughes followed that decision a year later and settled with his parents in Chambersburg , Pennsylvania , where he lived until 1819. During this time he made several attempts to enroll at Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg , Maryland . Eventually, Bishop John Dubois hired him as a gardener. During this time he befriended mother Elisabeth Anna Bayley Seton , who was impressed by Hughes and convinced Dubois to reconsider Hughes' rejection as a student. Hughes was admitted to Mount St. Mary's College in September 1820. In addition to his studies, he continued to oversee the school's garden and worked as a tutor in Latin and mathematics .

First years of priesthood

As a deacon , he managed to join the Diocese of Philadelphia , which was then headed by Bishop Henry Conwell . Bishop Conwell was on a visiting tour of the diocese when he met Hughes at his parents' house in Chambersburg and invited him to accompany him on the remainder of his trip. On October 15, 1826 Hughes was given by Bishop Conwell at St. Joseph's Church in Philadelphia , the ordination .

His first appointment was as an assistant priest at St. Augustine Church in Philadelphia, where he assisted Rev Michael Hurley with confession, preaching, and other pastoral duties. Before the end of the year he was sent as a missionary to Bedford , Pennsylvania, where he succeeded in converting several Protestants . In January 1827 he was recalled to Philadelphia and appointed pastor of St. Joseph's Church. In 1829 he founded the St. John's orphanage. At this stage he was embroiled in a controversy with the Presbyterian Rev. John A. Brekenridge that garnered Hughes widespread attention and recognition. Subsequently, his name was brought into play for the vacant Bishopric of Cincinnati and as Coadjutor Bishop of Philadelphia.

Episcopate

The episcopal coat of arms of John J. Hughes

On August 8, 1837 Hughes was appointed coadjutor bishop in the Diocese of New York with the titular seat of Basilinopolis and consecrated bishop on January 7, 1838 by the New York Bishop John Dubois . Co- consecrators were the Bishop of Boston , Benedict Joseph Fenwick SJ , and the Coadjutor of Philadelphia, Francis Patrick Kenrick . With the death of Bishop Dubois on December 20, 1842 Hughes was his successor at the head of the diocese of New York; with the elevation of the diocese to the archbishopric on July 19, 1850, he became the first archbishop.

Archbishop Hughes' body is being prepared for burial

Hughes was particularly committed to helping Irish immigrants and tried to secure state support for denominational schools. He protested the United States government for using the King James Anglican Bible in public schools. It is an attack on the constitutional rights of Catholics. The Catholics would be double taxed because they would pay taxes on the one hand for the public schools and on the other hand for private schools to which they would have to send their children to avoid the Protestant translation of the Bible. When his attempts to get state funding failed, he established an independent Catholic school system that was enshrined in the American Catholic Church at the Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884. From then on, all parishes in the United States had to establish a Catholic parish school to which all Catholic school children had to attend.

Hughes caused u. a. the construction of the New York Emigrant Bank Building for Irish migrants. He founded the ultramontane newspaper New York Freeman as well as the educational institutions Manhattan College , St. John's College (now Fordham University ), the Academy of Mount St. Vincent (now the College of Mount Saint Vincent ) and Marymount College . He also began building what is now St. Patrick's Cathedral . After his death he was buried in the old St. Patrick's Cathedral . He was later exhumed and reburied under the altar of the new cathedral.

supporting documents

1. ^ ^{A b c} William Bryk: Dagger John and the Triumph of the Irish (English) . In: New York Press , March 25, 2003. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved January 1, 2010.  
2. ^ ^{A b} William J. Stern: How Dagger John Saved New York's Irish . In: City Journal . .
3. ^ ^{A b c d e} John Hassard : Life of the Most Reverend John Hughes, DD, First Archbishop of New York . D. Appleton and Company, New York 1866.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Richard Henry Clarke: Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States , Volume II 1888.
5. ^ ^{A b} John Hughes ( English ) In: Catholic Encyclopedia . Retrieved October 31, 2010.
6. ^ Archbishop John Joseph Hughes ( English ) In: Catholic-Hierarchy.org . Retrieved October 31, 2010.
7. ^ Newadvent.org Catholic Encyclopedia

Web links

Commons : John Joseph Hughes  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Entry for John Joseph Hughes on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Catholic Encyclopedia 1913 biography (English)
• Mr. Lincoln and New York: Archbishop John J. Hughes (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
John Dubois	Archbishop of New York 1842–1864	John Cardinal McCloskey