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The
following story first appeared in the Summer 2003 Glenmary
Challenge.
For a free copy of the next issue
Father
William Howard Bishop
Fifty
years after his death, Glenmarians share memories of this
man on a mission
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| PATRONESS:
Father Bishop, in 1948, in front of Mary, patroness
of the new Home Missioners of America, in Glendale,
Ohio, Thus the Society’s name: Glenmary. |
In
a community as young as Glenmary (founded in 1939), there
are many who still remember the founder. Glenmary Challenge
asked all priests and brothers who entered before Father
Bishop’s death, June 11, 1953, to share a memory, a
quote, a story. A selection follows.
A
simple man with a single focus
Father
Bishop [born 1886] was raised in what we might call an upper
middle-class family in Washington, D.C. His father was a
doctor. He spent two years at Harvard before going to the
diocesan seminary in Baltimore, and his chalice at ordination
was a gift from a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Yet
none of this was evidenced in his lifestyle. His room was
the same as the rest of ours. His attire was simple black.
We all had the same allowance. He encouraged us to live
simply, and he led by example.
And
he was focused—always true to his principles. Here
is one example of that focus.
One
of our early missioners was lost to Glenmary because of
a disagreement with Father Bishop over starting a school
in a new mission in South Carolina. Father Bishop was not
opposed to Catholic rural schools in principle. But schools
required a great amount of time and money to build and maintain.
They benefited but a small number of the children in the
large territories which we served. The great effort detracted
from our purpose of making new converts to the faith.
But
that missioner could not be dissuaded, and Father Bishop
would not be diverted from what he set out to do: launch
a Society focused on the conversion of the least. The defiant
missioner parted ways with Glenmary.
Father Jim Kelly
First
men ordained at Glenmary
I heard about Glenmary while still in high school. Being
a Cincinnati boy, I looked up the number and called. Father
Bishop answered the phone—not a secretary! I said I
wanted to talk about Glenmary. He said, “Why don’t
you come out on Easter Monday.”
When
I came for that appointment in the spring of 1944, we talked
less than 45 minutes, and I signed up. He said he would
take care of everything. I told my mom, who was waiting
in the car, “I’ve found what I am looking for.”
The date was 4/4/44.
Nine
years later in May 1953, Father Bishop was proudly present
as our class became the only one to be ordained at Glenmary
with Father Bishop present. Before then, Glenmary men were
just added to the ordination class at Cincinnati’s
cathedral. But in 1953 Cincinnati Archbishop Karl J. Alter
said he would come to Our Lady of the Fields Seminary Chapel
for our first ordination there.
We
were Roland Hautz, Frank Korzinek, Bernie Quinn and Ray
Orlett. After it was over, I remember Father Bishop reflecting
on the wonderful day and saying, “We now have men ordained
in our own chapel. I feel as though we have finally arrived.”
Twenty-five
days later he died in Norton, Va.
Father Rollie Hautz
Common
sense
When I was a novice, Father Bishop came to interview all
25 of us. When he asked me how things were going, I told
him I could not read with my left eye. Since that was what
the Church named as the “canonical eye” to read
the Gospel at Mass, I had doubts about going on. He told
me to see a priest in my home town, who was presumably a
canon lawyer.
Then,
as he led me out of the room, he dropped his handkerchief
on my left side, and I picked it up and handed it to him.
Later I realized this was a foxy move on his part to test
my vision. Nothing more was ever said about my eye. I was
ordained in 1955.
Father Bob Rademacher
The
importance of the laity
It was a hot Sunday in early June 1953. Father Bishop had
spent the previous night in Hunter’s Valley, Va. He
was scheduled to speak that afternoon at the little log
chapel in Dungannon to Legion of Mary members from Glenmary
missions in Norton, Appalachia, Big Stone Gap, Gate City
and St. Paul.
Father
Bishop commended these lay people for their apostolic work
of visiting the sick, the elderly, non-Cathoics and fallen-away
Catholics in this coal-mining area of Southwest Virginia.
He emphasized that missionary priests, brothers and sisters
could not possibly do all this. They needed the hands, hearts,
talents and personal contacts of these lay men and women
to build up the Church in all the mission areas.
He
cited the important role of lay people in Communist China
in keeping the Catholic faith alive in that hostile atmosphere
where priests were imprisoned. He envisioned that lay people
would be equally important in spreading the gospel and the
Catholic faith throughout our home missions.
Later
that week he had a heart attack and died at St. Mary’s
Hospital in Norton.
In
light of Vatican II’s later emphasis on evangelization
and the role of the laity, I find it interesting that Father
Bishop’s last public address, in a backwoods area of
the Appalachian mountains, was on this very topic.
Father Leo Schloemer
Promoting
the home mission cause
Father Bishop was a handsome, serious man with a warm smile,
a handshake to remember, and a will of iron. My first impressions
were gleaned during a trip made with him to look over some
missionary territory in central Tennessee. He enjoyed stopping
for a cold drink or a cup of coffee. But his driving was
not as good as his character or his administration.
Early
in the game, Father Bishop saw the need to make friends
to support Glenmary’s work. His very attractive personality
and skill with a pen made this easy for him.
Before
long Father Bishop spent all of his time in correspondence
with potential candidates, in money-raising and publicity
activities. When Father Raphael Sourd arrived on the scene,
it was like Father Bishop had acquired a second right hand.
Father Pat O’Donnell
Focus:
On the most neglected
Father Bishop always insisted that Glenmary should focus
on the most neglected areas and the most neglected people.
I
clearly remember a visit with him to Manchester, Ohio, in
the late 1940s. This was Glenmary’s very first mission.
As
we drove into town, Father Bishop commented, “We made
a mistake here. Instead of locating the church among the
middle- and upper-class folks on Eighth St., we should have
been down on the riverfront with the struggling people.”
His
captivation with working in the most neglected areas was
again apparent to me on a visit with him to New York City.
The only interest he expressed was to visit the Catholic
Worker and Dorothy Day. When we arrived, it was obvious
that Dorothy knew him well and that she had a deep admiration
for him, as he did for her.
Father Bill Smith
The
last mission trip
Father Bishop asked me to drive him on a mission visitation
in June 1953. We left June 2 and visited the Ohio missions
in West Union and Otway. We arrived in Norton, Va., the
evening of Friday, June 5. On Saturday we spent the night
at our mission chapel in Hunter’s Valley, built by
Father Bob Berson. I believe of all the missions we visited,
this chapel was Father Bishop’s pride and joy.
On
Tuesday we had the first hint that something might be wrong.
He experienced a pain in his chest and the doctor admitted
him to the hospital in Norton to check things out. It seemed
that he only needed to rest several days. But after a bad
night with severe chest pains, Father Joe O’Donnell
anointed Father Bishop early Thursday morning.
When
some of the pain subsided, Father Bishop turned to Father
Joe and said distinctly: “Tell Father Sourd that I
leave everything in his hands with complete confidence.
I’m glad I finished my visitation. We have a good company.
I’m not concerned about anything now.” He died
the next day.
Brother Bob Hoffman
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