Alfredo José Isaac Cecilio Francesco Méndez-Gonzalez (June 3, 1907 – January 28, 1995) was an American
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
who served in Puerto Rico and who later became involved with sedevacantists.
Biography
Early life
Alfredo Méndez-Gonzalez was born in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, on June 3, 1907,
[Griff, Ruby. "The Resurrection of the Roman Catholic Church", Chapter Ten, "The Bishops of Marcel Lefebvre and Antonio de Castro Mayer".] of mixed
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
and
Puerto Rican ancestry. On June 23, he was baptized as "Alfredo José Isaac Cecilio". He took the name "Francesco" at his confirmation.
[Rev. William Jenkins. "Bishop Alfred F. Mendez and the Consecration of Bishop Clarence Kelly". In ''The Roman Catholic'' (Special Edition, 1995).]
As a boy of about nine years old, he was tapped on the head by Saint
Frances Xavier Cabrini
Frances Xavier Cabrini ( it, Francesca Saverio Cabrini; July 15, 1850 – December 22, 1917), also called Mother Cabrini, was an Italian-American Catholic religious sister. She founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a ...
, an elderly nun who came to the Mendez home to thank Mendez's mother for her work in supporting Catholic charities. Méndez said afterward that it was at that moment that he was tapped on the head by Cabrini that he knew he would become a priest. Méndez harbored a great devotion to her for the rest of his life.
[
]
Education
He attended school in New York, United States, and in Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, and finished high school in Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
, United States. In 1925, he entered the postulancy of the Congregation of the Holy Cross at Holy Cross seminary at the University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
, Notre Dame, Indiana
Notre Dame is a census-designated place and unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend in St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. It includes the campuses of three colleges: the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's Coll ...
, and made his novitiate there in 1926 at Saint Joseph's Novitiate. In 1931, he graduated from the University of Notre Dame. He performed his theological studies at Holy Cross College of Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...
in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
[
]
Priesthood
On June 24, 1935, in Washington, D.C., Méndez was ordained a priest.[Boyle, Terrence. "Outline of ''Episcopi Vagantes''": "I. The Concise Lineages:" "B. The Mendez Consecration for the Sacerdotal Society of Saint Pius V".] He then returned to the University of Notre Dame for graduate studies.[
In 1926, his religious superiors sent him to teach at ]St. Edward's University
St. Edward's University is a private, Catholic university in Austin, Texas. It was founded and is operated in the Holy Cross tradition.
History Founding and early history
St. Edward's University was founded by the Reverend Edward Sorin, CSC ...
in Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
. As a priest in Austin, he devoted himself to Mexican immigrants (the Catholic Church in Mexico was suffering persecution during this time).[ He established parishes and built churches for them during the late 1930s and early 1940s.][
In 1945, Méndez was named First Secretary of the Bishop's Committee for ]Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
-speaking Catholics in the United States. He was instrumental in the founding of the Diocese of Austin, Texas[ in 1948. Later that year, he was transferred to the University of Notre Dame to assume administrative positions in there.][ In 1956, his religious superiors named him the first Director of Province Development for the Congregation of the Holy Cross.][
]
Episcopacy
On July 23, 1960, Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
named Méndez the first bishop of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. On October 28, 1960, in the Sacred Heart Church, Notre Dame, Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, he was consecrated a bishop by Archbishop Francis Cardinal Spellman
Francis Joseph Spellman (May 4, 1889 – December 2, 1967) was an American bishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 1939 until his death in 1967, he served as the sixth Archbishop of New York; he had previously served as an auxiliary ...
, Archbishop Edwin Byrne
Edwin Vincent Byrne (August 9, 1891 – July 26, 1963) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served in Puerto Rico, as Bishop of Ponce (1925–1929) and Bishop of San Juan (1929–1943), before returning to the United St ...
, and Bishop Richard Henry Ackerman, C.S.Sp.[ He traveled to Rome for the Second Vatican Council, but soon, he and several others fell ill with hepatitis, but he sufficiently recovered to be able to return and attend the council's closing days. He is said to have been shocked upon his return and stated: "They're all Protestants!"][ On the other hand, it is also said that he stated that his big contribution to the council was his effort for a married diaconate.
On January 21, 1974, at the age of 66, after only 14 years of active service as a diocesan bishop,][ he resigned as Bishop of Arecibo due to ill-health][ and returned to ]California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Numerous diocesan bishops in the United States invited him to assist in their dioceses, but Méndez refused such invitations.[
He began to study the issues in the Catholic Church, and came to repudiate the liberal ways that he had learned from the Holy Cross Fathers.][ From his retirement, he had steady correspondence with the Vatican and with other bishops, urging the return of the traditional Latin Mass.][ He is said to have offered the traditional Latin Mass daily in his private chapel, but is also said to have used the 1967 Missal. He never took a public stand against the Second Vatican Council and the Mass of Paul VI, is not known to have offered the Tridentine Mass in public at a traditionalist chapel after the promulgation of the Mass of Paul VI, and is criticized by some as a non-traditionalist.][Rev. Anthony Cekada. "Bp. Mendez, SSPV and Hypocrisy". September 11, 2001. Retrieved August 30, 2021.] At some time, he favored the idea of a separate "Traditional Latin Rite" with independent status similar to the Eastern Catholic rites, but abandoned that idea as unworkable.[ He then recommended and entertained the notion of some sort of Tridentine Ordinariate][ which, like the U.S. Military Ordinariate, would be independent of bishops throughout the world, but eventually judged that idea to be also unworkable.][
He supported Archbishop ]Marcel Lefebvre
Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre (; 29 November 1905 – 25 March 1991) was a French Catholic archbishop who greatly influenced modern traditional Catholicism. In 1970, he founded the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a community to train ...
of the Society of Saint Pius X
The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) ( la, Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii X; FSSPX) is an international fraternity of traditionalist Catholic priests founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a leading traditionalist voice at the Sec ...
(SSPX). Méndez friendship with and admiration for him dated back to 1961, when some of Lefebvre's Holy Ghost Priests were in Méndez's Diocese of Arecibo. Méndez wrote to the Vatican defending Lefebvre, who was criticized by the Vatican.[ In return, ]Giovanni Benelli
Giovanni Benelli (12 May 1921 – 26 October 1982) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Florence from 1977 until his death. He was made a cardinal in 1977.
Biography
Early life and ordination
Giovann ...
from the Vatican defended the Vatican's criticism of Lefebvre, stating that Lefebvre rejects Paul VI and the Second Vatican Council. On the other hand, Lefebvre thanked Méndez for his help and "courageous intervention to heHoly See."
In 1988, in California, Méndez was visited by Paul Baumberger and Joseph Greenwell, two former seminarians of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) who were then associated with the Society of Saint Pius V
The Society of Saint Pius V (SSPV; lat, Societas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii Quinti), is a Traditionalist Catholicism, traditionalist Catholic society of priests, formed in 1983, and based in Oyster Bay Cove, New York, Oyster Bay Cove, New York (stat ...
(SSPV), about the possibility of future priestly ordinations. Méndez encouraged them to find an active bishop who would ordain them. He attempted to help them, though all his efforts were in vain. On April 25, 1990, Méndez asked Bishop Juan Fremiot Torres Oliver to supply a "canonical cover" (in Oliver's expression) for traditionalist priests.[ Oliver rejected his proposal. In July 1990, after two years of attempts to negotiate a regular ordination for Baumberger and Greenwell with some as yet active bishop, Méndez decided that he himself will ordain them without the ordinary authorizations. The ordinations to the diaconate occurred on August 1, 1990, and with about four dozen people present, including five priests, the ordinations to the priesthood occurred on September 3.][Cuneo, Michael W., ''The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Dissent in Contemporary American Catholicism'', JHU Press, 1999, p. 96] Contrary to traditionalist Catholic laws, Méndez did not ordain Baumberger and Greenwell to the subdiaconate first and refused to wear all the traditional vestments.[
Thereafter, he took a more active role in the support of the SSPV.][ Méndez was a prominent, avid, and financial supporter of the television program "What Catholics Believe"][ of Father ]Clarence Kelly
Clarence Kelly (born 1941) is an American sedevacantist traditionalist Catholic bishop. He is a co-founder of the Society of Saint Pius V and the founder of the Congregation of Saint Pius V.
Biography
Clarence Kelly was born in 1941, in B ...
and Father William Jenkins (both priests of the SSPV). Méndez even invited Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, an ...
to be a guest in the show.[ Méndez financially supported the SSPV elsewhere, notably in generously giving financial gifts towards the purchase of the Immaculate Heart Seminary in Round Top, New York (the seminary is owned today by the Congregation of Saint Pius V).][
On September 8, 1993, Méndez was visited by Kelly and Jenkins to be asked about the possibility of consecrating a bishop, but before Kelly and Jenkins had a chance to ask him, Méndez himself proposed to Kelly to consecrate him a bishop.][ They discussed the question of excommunication at some length and talked about an interview with canon lawyer Count Neri Capponi that appeared in the May–June 1993 issue of ''The Latin Mass'' magazine, where Capponi expressed the view that Archbishop Lefebvre was not really excommunicated for the ]Écône consecrations
The Écône consecrations were a set of episcopal consecrations that took place in Écône, Switzerland, on 30 June 1988. They were performed by Catholic Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer, and the bishops who were co ...
. Méndez gave the whole matter further consideration. He then became ill and suffered pneumonia. He was rushed into the critical care unit (CCU). Jenkins arrived at the hospital in Vista, California
Vista (; Spanish for "view") is a city in San Diego County, California. Vista is a medium-sized city within the San Diego-Carlsbad, CA Metropolitan Area and has a population of 101,638. Vista's sphere of influence also includes portions of u ...
, and administered the Sacrament of Extreme Unction and gave the Apostolic Benediction to Méndez, who then gradually but swiftly improved and recovered.[
On October 19, 1993, in his private chapel in his home in ]Carlsbad, California
Carlsbad is a coastal city in the North County region of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is south of downtown Los Angeles and north of downtown San Diego. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 114,746. ...
, Méndez consecrated Kelly a bishop,[ in secret and without papal permission.]
Death
In January 1995, the priests of the SSPV brought Méndez to Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
to show him a church property they hoped he would buy for them. During the stay, Méndez became ill, suffered pancreatic tumor, and went into hospital. He died on January 28, 1995, at the age of 87.[
The SSPV priests arranged for a Requiem Mass for Mendez at the school chapel in Cincinnati on January 31. It was planned for Méndez's body to be flown to New York for the Solemn Requiem Mass and to be buried in the cemetery of Saint Joseph's Novitiate in Round Top. Mendez's family strenuously objected. A court restraining order prevented Méndez's remains from leaving ]Hamilton County, Ohio
Hamilton County is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 830,639, making it the third-most populous county in Ohio. The county seat and largest city is Cincinnati. The county i ...
. Mendez's family instituted lawsuit (''Laugier vs. Jenkins'', Common Pleas, Hamilton Cy., A95–507, Judge Nay). A court hearing on February 7, 1995, occurred. On January 26, two days before Méndez's death, Kelly typed a document for Méndez to sign, requesting burial at Round Top. The judge dismissed the signed document, stating that the signature looked like "some sort of Japanese hieroglyphics" and that it seems that it "was not knowingly, intelligently, voluntarily entered into", and gave Mendez's family custody of body.[
At that week, Mendez's consecration of Kelly in 1993 was announced by the SSPV.][
On February 11, 1995, Mendez was buried in the Catedral de San Felipe Apostol, ]Arecibo, Puerto Rico
Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, the ...
.[
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendez-Gonzalez, Alfredo
1907 births
1995 deaths
20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Puerto Rico
American people of Puerto Rican descent
American people of Spanish descent
American Roman Catholic priests
Congregation of Holy Cross bishops
Participants in the Second Vatican Council
University of Notre Dame alumni
Roman Catholic bishops of Arecibo