James Aloysius Griffin (February 27, 1883 – August 5, 1948) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

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. He served as bishop of the

Diocese of Springfield in Illinois The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois ( la, Diœcesis Campifontis in Illinois) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the south central Illinois region of the United States. The prelate is a bishop serving ...

from 1924 until his death in 1948.

Biography

Early life

James Griffin was born on February 27, 1883, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to Thomas and Catherine (née Woulfe) Griffin. He attended St. Gabriel High School and St. Ignatius College, both in Chicago. He then went to Rome to study at the College of Propaganda, obtaining a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1906 and a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

degree in 1910. While in Rome, Griffin served as secretary to Cardinal

Rafael Merry del Val Rafael Merry del Val y Zulueta, (10 October 1865 – 26 February 1930) was a Spanish Roman Catholic cardinal. Before becoming a cardinal, he served as the secretary of the papal conclave of 1903 that elected Pope Pius X, who is said to have ac ...

Priesthood

Griffin was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood in Rome for the Archdiocese of Chicago by Patriarch

Giuseppe Ceppetelli Giuseppe Ceppetelli (15 March 1846 – 12 March 1917) was an Italian Roman Catholic archbishop. At the time of his death, he was the Titular Patriarch of Constantinople. He was ordained on Holy Saturday of 1870 and was consecrated by the Vicar G ...

on July 4, 1909. On his return to Chicago in 1910, Griffin was assigned as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at St. James' Parish in Chicago. In 1915, he was transferred to St. Brendan's Parish in Chicago. Griffin was named pastor in 1917 of Assumption Parish in

Coal City, Illinois Coal City is a village in Grundy and Will Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is considered a fringe town of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 5,587 at the 2010 census. Its school district serves an area with over 11,000 r ...

. He was transferred in 1913 to St. Mary's Parish in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

, to serve as pastor.

Bishop of Springfield

On November 10, 1923,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

suppressed the Diocese of Alton, replacing it with the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, and appointed Griffin as the first bishop of the new diocese. He received his episcopal

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on February 25, 1924, from Archbishop

George Mundelein George William Mundelein (July 2, 1872 – October 2, 1939) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Chicago from 1915 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1924. Early life and ministry ...

, with Bishops

Samuel Stritch Samuel Alphonsius Stritch (August 17, 1887 – May 27, 1958) was an American Cardinal prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago from 1940 to 1958 and as pro-prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Pro ...

and Edward Hoban serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

. According to author Peter R. D'Agostino, Griffin was an admirer of dictator

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

and his

Fascist regime Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

in Italy. In a 1931 address to a

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

group in Chicago, he praised Mussolini and delivered a

roman salute The Roman salute, alternatively called the Fascist salute, is a gesture in which the right arm is fully extended, facing forward, with palm down and fingers touching. In some versions, the arm is raised upward at an angle; in others, it is held ...

, a trademark of the Fascist state. Griffin dedicated the new Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield in 1928. During his tenure as bishop, Griffin erected 51 new churches, schools,

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

s and charitable institutions; the total cost spent in his first ten years was close to $6.5 million. He established Marquette Catholic High School in Alton, Illinois, and Springfield Junior College in Springfield. In 1939, Griffin joined Bishop John Gannon and Monsignor Michael Joseph Ready in a visit to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to confer with Archbishop Luis Martínez, the archbishop of Mexico City. Since seminaries were illegal in Mexico at that time, Martinez was hoping to established a seminary for Mexican priests in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. Following the appointment of Dr. George D. Stoddard as president of the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

in 1945, Griffin condemned Stoddard's assertion in his book ''The Meaning of Intelligence'' that, "Man-made concepts, such as devils, witches, taboos, hellfire, original sin...and divine

revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

...have distorted the intellectual processes of millions of persons." Griffin said, "We want to know what we're paying for...Thousands of r. Stoddard'sfuture students believe in the objective validity of riginal sin and hell..He will evidently try to dispossess his charges of their feeble-mindedness." In response, Stoddard said he "should be much happier if the Bishop and his group read the whole book" and that, taken as a whole, it actually urged a "return to religion." James Griffin died in Springfield on August 5, 1948, at age 65. He is buried in one of five

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

s of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, James Aloysius 1883 births 1948 deaths Clergy from Chicago Loyola University Chicago alumni 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic bishops of Springfield in Illinois