Thomas Gumbleton
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Thomas John Gumbleton is a retired Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit. He was born in Detroit, Michigan on January 26, 1930.
| Image:Thomas Gumbleton.jpg | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
| Senior posting | |
| See | Archdiocese of Detroit |
| Title | Emeritus Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit |
| Period in office | 1968 — 2006 |
| Consecration | 4 March 1968 |
| Predecessor | Not applicable |
| Successor | Incumbent |
| Religious career | |
| Priestly ordination | 1956 |
| Previous bishoprics | None |
| Previous post | Vicar General |
| Personal | |
| Date of birth | 26 January 1930 |
| Place of birth | Detroit, Michigan |
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Thomas Gumbleton |
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[edit] Education and Career
Born in Detroit in 1930, Gumbleton has been a Roman Catholic throughout his entire life. He attended Sacred Heart Seminary High School, and later Sacred Heart Seminary. Gumbleton then went on to study at St. John's Pontifical Seminary in Plymouth, and also the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome.
Gumbleton earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952, a Master of Divinity degree in 1956, and then later earned a Doctorate of Canon Law in 1964. He was ordained into the priesthood on 2nd June, 1956.
After this Bishop Gumbleton held a number of pastoral positions. He served as Associate Pastor to St. Alphonsus, Dearborn, and then held position as Assistant Chancellor and Vice Chancellor.
In 1968 Gumbleton was made the Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Detroit, and was later named Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit on March 4th, 1968. From then he served as the pastor to a number of parishes, including St. Aloysius, Holy Ghost and also St. Leo's, where he is currently still serving as pastor. To this day Gumbleton remains the longest serving bishop in the United States.
Bishop Gumbleton has been awarded a number of honorary degrees, including an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from a number of Education Institutions. He holds degrees from:
- Seton Hall Law School (New Jersey)
- Anna Maria College (Paxton, MA)
- Marygrove College (Detroit)
- St. Joseph’s College (Philadelphia, PA)
- Aquinas College (Grand Rapids, MI)
- St. Edward’s University (Austin)
- Ohio Dominican University (Columbus, OH)
- St. Norbert College (Du Pere, WI)
Bishop Gumbleton was the founding president of Pax Christi USA in 1972. Pax Christi is an organisation devoted to promoting peace, and Bishop Gumbleton remains one of the organisation's "Ambassadors for the Peace".
He is also a member of the following organisations:
- SHARE Foundation (El Salvador)
- New Ways Ministry
- Triangle Foundation
- Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance
- Religious Leaders for Justice at the Detroit Newspapers
- Call to Action
- Institute for Public Accuracy
- Nevada Desert Experience
- Pastors for Peace
The bishop has also frequently travelled the world promoting a message of peace, and has most recently returned to Iraq to view how the war has affected the country. Gumbleton also sparked some controversy over travelling to Ireland to defend a priest in court over prosecution for breaking the law.
Bishop Gumbleton has participated in prayer vigils and television and radio appearances. He has given countless public speeches. Gumbleton's Sunday homilies from St Leo's parish are documented by the National Catholic Reporter, a Catholic newspaper, in which he often publishes articles.[1]
[edit] Controversy
Bishop Gumbleton is often thought of as one of the most controversial American Catholic bishops due to his views on a number of Church topics. He is recognised as a pacifist and one of the most liberal prelates in America. Most notably Gumbleton has spoken out on the need for change on church teaching in regard to homosexuality.
The bishop has written extensively on the need to reconsider Roman Catholic attitude towards homosexuality, and has called for theological reform and intelligent thought in that field. In his call for change Gumbleton often draws from his personal experience of having a homosexual brother [2] His brother Dan revealed to his family that he was a homosexual through a letter. Gumbleton has discussed how he had previously ignored the topic, however his brother's revelation forced him to consider the matter.
Gumbleton's personal involvement with the topic has given him insight to the matter, and he has often discussed his past and how he came to his current beliefs in regard to homosexuality at conferences. Bishop Gumbleton has consistently been a supporter of New Ways Ministry and has also called for homosexual priests and bishops to "come out" and be truthful to themselves and others. However, his activism for change with regard to homosexuality is not limited to New Ways Ministry, Gumbleton has also acted as a key note speaker at Call to Action conferences, where he discusses many topics alongside other liberal Catholic figures such as Professor Hans Küng and Bishop Jacques Gaillot.
Gumbleton caused some controversy in 2005 when he revealed that he had not submitted the mandatory letter offering resignation. Upon reaching 75, all bishops must offer a letter of resignation to the pope, however Bishop Gumbleton did not, instead claiming that he wrote a letter asking to continue his work, on the topic Gumbleton said:
"“It’s so arbitrary, some of them they ignore, but if you are the least bit progressive, they accept it immediately.”
The bishop retired one year later at the age of 76.
During his time as bishop, Gumbleton also caused further upset, as he wore a mitre at a church service on which were symbols of the cross, a rainbow and a pink triangle. The pink triangle caused particular complaints by some due to its history as a symbol of gay rights, after its use to identify homosexuals in Nazi Concentration Camps [3]
In the past the bishop has caught attention due to his public protesting towards violent actions. In 1999 he was arrested outside The White House along with eleven other anti war protesters for disturbing the peace [4] Bishop Gumbleton has more recently been a very vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, being arrested once again outside The White House for engaging in civil disobedience, he was arrested along with United Methodist Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Nobel Peace Prize laureates Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Jody Williams and members of pacifist organisations.[5] Gumbleton has distinguished himself as being the only Roman Catholic bishop in America to have taken such action in protest of the war.
As well as this, Gumbleton also came into the public eye before the Vatican's Instruction with regard to the ordination of homosexual men was released, arguing against Fr. Baker's article on the issue in America (magazine) [6]
More recently Gumbleton attracted media attention when he revealed that he was sexually abused by a priest as an adolescent in seminary. Gumbleton stated; "I don't want to exaggerate that I was terribly damaged. It was not the kind of sexual abuse that many of the victims experience.", further adding, "They are intimidated, embarrassed, and they just bury it. I understand that," explaining that, "I never told my parents. . . . I never told anybody." Gumbleton spoke out as a measure to encourage Catholics who have been abused to make complaints through the official channels [7]
[edit] Awards
Bishop Gumbleton has been presented with a number of awards during his lifetime:
- Isaac Hecker Peacemaker (1975)
- Metro Detroit Council of Churches (1976)
- Pacem in Terris (1979)
- Public Citizen of the Year Natl. Assoc. of Social Workers (1980)
- Institute for Peace and Justice (1981)
- Justice and Peace Medal - St. Bonaventure University (1981)
- Jewish National Fund - Trees for Israel (1981)
- American Personnel & Guidance Assoc. (1981)
- Life Achievement Award - Interfaith Peace Ministry (1987)
- Groundwork Discipleship Award (1989)
- The Institute for International Peace - University of Notre Dame (1990)
- Palestine Aid Society (1990)
- University of Notre Dame Peacemaker (1991)
- Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace - Pax Christi USA (1991)
- Pax Christi MI Purple Ribbon Award (1992)
- Pax Christi Ambassador of Peace (1992)
- Joseph C. Wilson Award - Xerox Corp. (1992)
- Pax Christi N.Y. Peacemaker Award (1992)
- Certificate of Appreciation - Dignity Detroit (1992)
- Honorary Chaplaincy Aids Award (1994)
- Outstanding Service & Witness Award Dignity/USA (1995)
- Bridge Building Award - New Ways Ministry (1995)
- Lifelong Honorary membership - In Pax Christi International (1995)
- Call to Action Leadership Award (1995)
- San Damiano - Madonna U. Press Symposium (1996)
- National Peace Foundation - Award of Peacemaker/Peacebuilder (1997)
- The Francis House Award (1997)
- Spirit of Detroit Award (1998)
- Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (1998)
- Bishop Dozier Peace & Justice Award - Christian Brothers University (1998)
- Humanitarian Award, MI Coalition for Human Rights (1998)
- 1998 PHD Award, Harambee, Core City Neighborhoods (1998)
- 1999 Peacemaking Award - Nebraskans for Peace (1999)
- 1999 Washington Theological Union - Distinguished Service Award (1999)
- Prophets of Peace Award - Benedictine Sisters of Erie (2000)
- Faithful Revolutionary Award - St. James Justice Action Ministry (2000)
- Civic & Humanitarian Award - Arab-American & Chaldean Council (2000)
- Lou Kousin Award - New Jersey Peace Action (2001)
- Humanitarian Service Award - LIFE for Relief & Development (2001)
- Lifetime Achievement Peacebuilder Award - Peace Action of Michigan (2002)
- Lifetime Achievement in Peacemaking - University of Missouri (2002)
- Dignity USA (2003)
- Sadako Peace Citation - Disarmament and Economic Conversion Committee of Sisters & Co-members of the Loretto Community (2003)
- Reconciler Award - National Franciscan Federation (2003)
- Theresa Maxis Award for Social Justice - Marygrove College, National Franciscan Federation (2003)
- Philip A. Hart Award - Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame (2003)
- Community Peace Maker Award - Wayne State University (2003)
- 2005 Global Peace Award (2005)
- Mercyhurst College's Arch Bishop Oscar Romero Award (2007)
