Joseph Francis Rummel (October 14, 1876 – November 8, 1964) was a German-born American Catholic prelate of the

Roman Catholic Church 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 ...

. He served as bishop of the

Diocese of Omaha The Archdiocese of Omaha ( la, Archidioecesis Omahensis) is Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its current archbishop, George Joseph Lucas, was installed in Omaha on July 22, 2009. The ar ...

in Nebraska from 1928 to 1935 and as archbishop of the

Archdiocese of New Orleans The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans ( la, Archidioecesis Novae Aureliae, french: Archidiocèse de la Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Arquidiócesis de Nueva Orleans) is an ecclesiastical division of the Roman Catholic Church spanning Jefferson ...

from 1935 to 1964. Rummel is best known for

excommunicating Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

several Catholics who vocally opposed his racial desegregation of parochial schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Biography

Early life

Joseph Rummel was born in the village of Steinmauern in the Grand Duchy of Baden,

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

(in what is today Germany), on October 14, 1876. His family immigrated to the United States when he was six years old. Like many recent German immigrants, the Rummels settled in the Yorkville District of Manhattan in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

.''
"The Archbishop Stands Firm."
Friday, Apr. 27, 1962. Pages 45-46. Rummel attended St. Boniface Parochial School, then went to

Archbishop Rummel High School Archbishop Rummel High School is a Catholic, Lasallian secondary school for boys located in Metairie, a community in unincorporated Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. The school is named after Archbishop Joseph Rummel, a former Archbishop in the Arc ...

.
Biography of Archbishop Rummel.
/ref> St. Mary's College, a

Redemptorist The Redemptorists officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, links=no, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brother ...

minor seminary in North East,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He graduated from Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire in 1889.''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

.''
"The Archbishop Dies - 88."
Friday, Nov. 9, 1964 Rummer was then sent to study in Rome. Rummel 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 for the

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the State of New York. It encompasses the boroug ...

at the

Basilica of St. John Lateran The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...

in Rome on May 24, 1902.Cheney, David M.
Catholic Hierarchy Website.
/ref> Rummel returned to New York and served as a parish priest in several parishes around the city for the next 25 years.John Smestad Jr.

Loyola University, New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a private Jesuit university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit founder, Saint Ign ...

.
The Role of Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel in the Desegregation of Catholic Schools in New Orleans.
' 1994.

Bishop of Omaha

Rummel was named the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Omaha by

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 ...

on Mar. 30, 1928. He was consecrated on May 29, 1928, at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York by Cardinal Patrick Hayes.

Archbishop of New Orleans

Rummel was named by Pius XI as the ninth archbishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans on March 9, 1935. He succeeded Archbishop John Shaw. Archdiocese of New Orleans.
"Bishops and Archbishops".
Rummel transferred to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. At the time, New Orleans was rapidly urbanizing as farmers flocked to the city in search of factory jobs. Also, recent European immigrants, many of whom were Catholic, were also settling in the city. Over the next thirty years, the Catholic population in the archdiocese would double to over 762,000, and the number of students in Catholic schools grew from fewer than 40,000 to over 85,000.Nolan, Charles E. ''A History of the Archdiocese of New Orleans''.
"World War II and the Post-War Years 1941-1965".
May 2001. During Rummel's episcopacy, 45 new

church parishes Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

were created throughout the archdiocese, increasing the number of parishes from 135 to 180. In 1945 he launched the Youth Progress Program, a major initiative to raise money for the expansion of the parochial school system. This program resulted in the construction of 70 new Catholic schools, including several new high schools. Saint Augustine High School in

Orleans Parish New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

In 1935, Rummel mandated the creation of CCD programs in every parish. He streamlined the accounting procedures of the archdiocese. He also created new lay organizations to support an expansion of the many charity programs within the archdiocese. In October 1960, at age 83, Rummel broke an arm and a leg in a fall, after which he nearly died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. Rummel recovered and continued to serve as archbishop for another four years, but his health was a recurring concern . He was given a coadjutor bishop,

John Cody John Patrick Cody (December 24, 1907 – April 25, 1982) was an American bishop and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. A native of St. Louis, he served as Bishop of Kansas City–Saint Joseph (1956–1961), Archbishop of New Orleans (196 ...

, in 1961, to assist with administering the archdiocese. Five high schools were built in 1962: * Archbishop Shaw in Marrero Louisiana * Archbishop Chapelle in Metairie, Louisiana * Archbishop Blenk in Gretna, Louisiana * Archbishop Rummel in Metairie

The desegregation of the archdiocese

Rummel spent most of his tenure in New Orleans expanding the parochial school system. However, he is perhaps best remembered for his controversial decision to

desegregate Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

the archdiocese, including the Catholic schools. All of the Southern States, including

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and the city of New Orleans, had been

racially segregated Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

by law ever since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

ended in the 1870s. Like the rest of the city, church parishes and schools within the Archdiocese were also segregated. The community had accepted segregation as a normal part of life.Finney, Peter. ''Clarion Herald''. . Jan. 18, 2001. The city of New Orleans has always had a large population of black Catholics.Saint Augustine Church

Faubourg Tremé "Faubourg" () is an ancient French term historically equivalent to " fore-town" (now often termed suburb or ). The earliest form is , derived from Latin , 'out of', and Vulgar Latin (originally Germanic) , 'town' or 'fortress'. Traditionally, thi ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. Previous archbishops, such as Archbishop

Francis Janssens Francis August Anthony Joseph Janssens (October 17, 1843 – June 9, 1897) was a Dutch-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Natchez in Mississippi (1881–1888) and as archbishop of the Archdiocese o ...

and Archbishop

James Blenk James Hubert Herbert Blenk, S.M. (July 28, 1856 – April 20, 1917) was a German American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Puerto Rico (1899–1906) and Archbishop of New Orleans (1906–1917). Biography James B ...

, established dedicated schools for black children in an attempt to improve the educational opportunities for black parishioners. But the segregated parochial school system suffered from the same problems with underfunding and low standards as the segregated public school system. No archbishop attempted to desegregate the Archdiocese until the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

began after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Once the movement did begin, Rummel embraced the cause of racial equality. He admitted two black students to the

Notre Dame Seminary Notre Dame Seminary is a Catholic seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. It operates under the auspices of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. It serves the other six Catholic dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of New Orleans, six additional dioces ...

in 1948. He ordered the removal of "white" and "colored" signs from churches in 1951. That year he opened Saint Augustine High School, the first high school dedicated to the higher education of young black men in the history of the archdiocese.''Clarion Herald''.
"St. Aug celebrates 50 years of education."
August 30, 2001. In 1953, Rummel issued "Blessed Are the Peacemakers", the

pastoral letter A pastoral letter, often simply called a pastoral, is an open letter addressed by a bishop to the clergy or laity of a diocese or to both, containing general admonition, instruction or consolation, or directions for behaviour in particular circumst ...

that officially ordered the end to segregation in the entire Archdiocese:

: ''"Ever mindful, therefore, of the basic truth that our Colored Catholic brethren share with us the same spiritual life and destiny, the same membership in the Mystical Body of Christ, the same dependence upon the Word of God, the participation in the Sacraments, especially the Most Holy Eucharist, the same need of moral and social encouragement,'' : ''let there be no further discrimination or segregation in the pews, at the Communion rail, at the confessional and in parish meetings, just as there will be no segregation in the kingdom of heaven."'' : ("Blessed Are the Peacemakers." Pastoral letter 15. 1953.) ::

The letter was read in every church in every parish of the archdiocese. Some parishioners organized protests against the diocesan order. Rummel closed a church in 1955 when its members began protesting the assignment of a black priest to their parish. He issued another pastoral letter the following year, reiterating the incompatibility of segregation with the doctrines of the Catholic Church.

: ''"Racial segregation as such is morally wrong and sinful because it is a denial of the unity and solidarity of the human race as conceived by God in the creation of Adam and Eve."'' : ("The Morality of Racial Segregation." Pastoral letter. Feb. 1956.) ::::::

Most parishioners reluctantly accepted the desegregation of church parishes, but school desegregation was a very different matter. The

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

issued its '' Brown v. Topeka Board of Education'' decision on May 17, 1954, declaring segregated schools

unconstitutional Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...

and reversing all state laws that had established them.Warren, Earl. Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Cornell Law School.
Brown v. Topeka Board of Education.
/ref> :

''We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.'' (
Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presided over a major shift in American constitution ...
, Chief Justice of the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
. May 17, 1954.)

The

Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 repres ...

promptly passed Act 555 and Act 556, protecting its segregated public school system from being dismantled by the Supreme Court. Both acts were rendered unconstitutional by Judge J. Skelly Wright, a federal judge from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans, in the case '' Earl Benjamin Bush v. Orleans Parish School Board'' in February 1956. Nevertheless, the

Orleans Parish School Board The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) governs the public school system that serves New Orleans, Louisiana. It includes the entirety of Orleans Parish, coterminous with New Orleans. The OPSB directly administers 6 schools and has granted charte ...

and neighboring parish school boards vowed to postpone desegregating their public schools indefinitely.Devore, Donald E., and Logsdon, Joseph.
Crescent City Schools.
' Jul. 1991. . Pages 235-236. Rummel praised ''Brown v. Board of Education'', but he was reluctant to desegregate his own parochial school system. He had announced his intention to desegregate the Catholic schools as early as 1956. However, most archdiocesan parish school boards had voted against desegregation. After ''Bush v. Parish School Board'', some parents had transferred their students from public schools to parochial schools to avoid desegregation. A few local Catholics sent a petition to

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

, requesting a papal decree supporting segregation. The Pope responded by describing racism as a major evil. There was also a very real threat that the Louisiana State Legislature would withhold funding from parochial schools if they desegregated. The State of Louisiana funded free textbooks, reduced-price lunches, and free buses for all students in the state, even students attending parochial schools. This was a legacy of

Huey Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

Share Our Wealth Share Our Wealth was a movement that began in February 1934, during the Great Depression, by Huey Long, a governor and later United States Senator from Louisiana. Long first proposed the plan in a national radio address, which is now referred t ...

program, and exists to this day.''

.''
"Spirit v. Reality."
Friday, Mar. 3, 1961. But by 1962, Judge Wright had issued a barrage of court orders neutralizing the Orleans Parish School Board's attempts at evading the Supreme Court. A handful of black students were already being admitted into previously all white public schools. Rummel formally announced the end of segregation in the New Orleans parochial school system on March 27, 1962. The 1962–1963 school year would be the first integrated school year in the history of the archdiocese. White segregationists were outraged. Politicians organized "

Citizens' Councils The Citizens' Councils (commonly referred to as the White Citizens' Councils) were an associated network of white supremacist, segregationist organizations in the United States, concentrated in the South and created as part of a white backlash a ...

", held public protests, and initiated letter writing campaigns. Parents threatened to transfer their children to public schools or even boycott the entire school year. Rummel issued numerous letters to individual Catholics, pleading for their cooperation and explaining his decision. He even went so far as to threaten opponents of desegregation with

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

, the most severe censure of the Church. The threats were enough to convince most segregationist Catholics into standing down. Nevertheless, some parishioners continued to organize protests.''

.''
"Squeeze in New Orleans."
Friday, Apr. 13, 1962. On April 16, 1962, the Monday before

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

, Rummel excommunicated three local Catholics for defying the authority of the Church and organizing protests against the archdiocese.''

Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...

.'' "Church Excommunicates Leander Perez, 2 Others." April 16, 1962. Sec. A:1. The first of the three was Judge

Leander Perez Leander Henry Perez Sr. (July 16, 1891 – March 19, 1969) was the Democratic political boss of Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes in southeastern Louisiana during the middle third of the 20th century. Officially, he served as a district ...

, 70, a parish judge from St. Bernard Parish, who called on Catholics to withhold donations to the Archdiocese and to boycott Sunday church collections. The second was Jackson G. Ricau, 44, political commentator, segregationist writer, and director of the "Citizens Council of South Louisiana". The third was Una Gaillot, 41, mother of two, housewife, and president of "Save Our Nation Inc.".Nolan, Bruce. ''ReligionJournal.com''.
"The blow fell just before Easter 1962, in a city attuned to the solemn rhythms of traditional Catholicism."
Aug. 3, 2004. The excommunications made national headlines and had the tacit support of

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 ...

. Perez and Ricau were reinstated into the Church after public retractions. A few months later, the 1963 school year began in September 1962. A handful of black students were admitted to previously all-white Catholic schools. Earlier threats of boycotts and mass student transfers to public schools never materialized. No violence took place between whites and the black students. Parents and students grudgingly surrendered to Rummel's decision, and racial segregation in the Archdiocese quietly faded from memory.

Second Vatican Council

By October 1962, Rummel was eighty-six years old, in declining health, and almost completely blind from

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

. Nevertheless, he left New Orleans for

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

to attend the first session of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

Death and legacy

Joseph Rummel died in New Orleans on November 9, 1964, at the age of 88. He was succeeded by

, the Coadjutor Archbishop (1961–1964). Rummel is interred under the sanctuary at Saint Louis Cathedral in the

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Sq ...

.Saint Louis Cathedra
"Archbishop Rummel, Ninth Archbishop".
Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie is named after him.

References

Notes

;General * Nolan, Charles E.
A History of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
' "World War II and the Post-War Years 1941-1965". May 2001. * Smestad, John Jr.

.
The Role of Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel in the Desegregation of Catholic Schools in New Orleans.
' 1994. ;Further reading * ''

.'
"The Archbishop Stands Firm."
Friday, Apr. 27, 1962. Pages 45–46. * Finney, Peter. ''Clarion Herald''. Jan. 18, 2001. * Rummel, Most Reverend Joseph Francis. "Blessed Are the Peacemakers." Pastoral letter 15. 1953. * Rummel, Most Reverend Joseph Francis. "The Morality of Racial Segregation." Pastoral letter. Feb. 1956. * Anderson, R. Bentley.
Black, White, And Catholic: New Orleans Interracialism, 1947-1956.
' Oct. 30, 2005. . Book review fro
America, The National Catholic Weekly.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rummel, Joseph 1876 births 1964 deaths People from Rastatt (district) German emigrants to the United States People from the Grand Duchy of Baden 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Clergy from Omaha, Nebraska Saint Anselm College alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Omaha Roman Catholic archbishops of New Orleans Participants in the Second Vatican Council People from Yorkville, Manhattan African-American Roman Catholicism