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The American Pope: The Life and Times of Francis Cardinal Spellman
In his twenty-eight-year reign as archbishop of New York, Francis Cardinal Spellman extended the power and influence of the American Catholic Church further, and wielded them more forcefully, than anyone before or since. Spellman's mark was so great that at his death the Church was said to have become Spellmanized.
In this, the first major biography of one of the most important Americans of the twentieth century, John Cooney examines Spellman's rise from a young seminarian from Massachusetts to the clergyman with unparalleled influence on domestic and international politics as well as on American Catholicism.
From his first days at the North American College in Rome, Spellman carefully cultivated the Vatican inner circle - Cardinal Pacelli, later to become Pope Pius XII, the powerful Sister Pascalina, and Vatican banker Count Galeazzi. Through this trio and his alliances in america - with FDR, Senator Joseph McCarthy, and Joseph Kennedy, among others - Spellman's brand of strict, conservative American patriotism, in combination with his vociferous anti-Communism, was given full voice for over thirty years.
When New York's Archbishop Hayes died, Spellman quickly made it clear to Rome that he wanted to run the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful archdiocese in America.
Run it he did, as if it were a major corporation. Spellman raised more money and built more schools, churches, and hospitals than any of his predecessors. His network, already stretching to Washington and Rome, had a never-before-seen-effect. From the mayor's office to New York City banks interested in doing business with the Catholic Church, from economic sanctions against Dorothy Schiff's liberal newspaper, the New York Post, to feuds with Cardinal Cushing and Bishop Fulton Sheen, Spellman's power was everywhere. And while he ran the archdiocese, politicians seeking election, President Johnson needing a spokesman in Southeast Asia, the CIA needing an ecclesiastical emissary in Central America, Senator McCarthy eager for a supporter in his war against domestic Communism - all made their pilgrimages to the American Pope.
Spellman was to his large and admiring public the kindly man whose avowed aim in life was to be a simple parish priest. In this startling portrait, based in part on Spellman's personal diary and on hundreds of interviews, John Cooney shows us the man behind the image and reveals the extent to which power is sought, acquired, used, abused, and lost.
In this, the first major biography of one of the most important Americans of the twentieth century, John Cooney examines Spellman's rise from a young seminarian from Massachusetts to the clergyman with unparalleled influence on domestic and international politics as well as on American Catholicism.
From his first days at the North American College in Rome, Spellman carefully cultivated the Vatican inner circle - Cardinal Pacelli, later to become Pope Pius XII, the powerful Sister Pascalina, and Vatican banker Count Galeazzi. Through this trio and his alliances in america - with FDR, Senator Joseph McCarthy, and Joseph Kennedy, among others - Spellman's brand of strict, conservative American patriotism, in combination with his vociferous anti-Communism, was given full voice for over thirty years.
When New York's Archbishop Hayes died, Spellman quickly made it clear to Rome that he wanted to run the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful archdiocese in America.
Run it he did, as if it were a major corporation. Spellman raised more money and built more schools, churches, and hospitals than any of his predecessors. His network, already stretching to Washington and Rome, had a never-before-seen-effect. From the mayor's office to New York City banks interested in doing business with the Catholic Church, from economic sanctions against Dorothy Schiff's liberal newspaper, the New York Post, to feuds with Cardinal Cushing and Bishop Fulton Sheen, Spellman's power was everywhere. And while he ran the archdiocese, politicians seeking election, President Johnson needing a spokesman in Southeast Asia, the CIA needing an ecclesiastical emissary in Central America, Senator McCarthy eager for a supporter in his war against domestic Communism - all made their pilgrimages to the American Pope.
Spellman was to his large and admiring public the kindly man whose avowed aim in life was to be a simple parish priest. In this startling portrait, based in part on Spellman's personal diary and on hundreds of interviews, John Cooney shows us the man behind the image and reveals the extent to which power is sought, acquired, used, abused, and lost.
364 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 13, 2009
It's a fascinating study of power and politics. Spellman was not interested in theology -- at one time after the election of John XXIII, he is reported to have said, "I hire theologians" -- but he was enamored of authority and domination. At his peak he was in some ways more powerful than Pius XII, his friend and mentor, because of his position as head of the Catholic Church in New York, the most powerful diocese in the world after Rome. His banquets were de rigueur for politicians of all stripes, and he was noted for his extraordinary ability to raise huge sums of money. They either loved or hated him, but all paid him homage. He was a vicious anti-Communist who was close to Joseph McCarthy and J.Edgar Hoover (presumably not when he was cross-dressing -- see Anthony Summers new book). He eagerly helped the CIA throughout the world especially during the Vietnam War of which he was a vociferous proponent. Not everyone was pleased. William O. Douglas once said of him, "I came to know several Americans who I felt had greatly dishonored our American idea. One was Cardinal Spellman." (two others were Hoover and John Foster Dulles.)
Pius XII and Spellman both wanted a return to the Church of the Middle Ages, when there was little distinction between ecclesiastical and secular power. King Pepin the Short, in 756, had ceded enormous land holdings to the Church, providing enormous resources. Gradually, the state struggled to regain its lost authority and was aided by the immense corruption which led to the Reformation. By the late 19th century, virtually all its secular power was gone, and church leaders began a movement to enthrone the Pope as the world's great moral leader. The Vatican Council of 1870 which defined the Pope's infallibility was an important part of this maneuver.
Thus Spellman, who attended seminary in Rome in 1911, was a part of the the Church's redefinition movement. Americans, traditionally not having a state church, could not appreciate how the intertwining of secular and religious power could be to the detriment of both. Spellman was untroubled by this commingling and intimately studied how the ways of the Vatican could be used to obtain power.
As Archbishop of New York, he was an outstanding administrator, reorganizing a decentralized parish financial system that New York bankers had long taken advantage of. Between 1954 and 1959 he personally controlled over $168 million in building projects.
Business did not always go smoothly with the Vatican. Often Spellman felt it necessary to prove American Catholicism was purer than Rome's. An example was the flap over the movie The Miracle, which had been seen and widely praised in Rome. Spellman, who had not seen the movie, decided it was perverted, and led a vicious campaign to have the movie's license withdrawn. Perhaps his ambivalence about his own sexuality (he was widely assumed to be homosexual) led to his overreaction to a film that treated sexuality with some frankness. His campaign backfired, of course, as these things usually do. The film, which had been doing quite poorly, now began playing to packed houses, and the suit that Spellman brought ultimately led to the seminal decision by the Supreme Court essentially declaring that blasphemy was not a crime. Justice Frankfurter wrote in the decision, "Blasphemy was the chameleon phrase which meant the criticism of whatever the ruling authority of the moment established as orthodox doctrine."
His decline began shortly before Pius' death, when the Pope discovered that Spellman had been trying to extort funds from the Propagation of the Faith, an agency Spellman controlled, but which was under the direction of Bishop Sheen, a bitter enemy. When Sheen finally managed to get the case before the Pope, Spellman made the mistake of lying about his role and was easily proved incorrect. The Pope was not a happy camper.
Then Pius died, and with the ascendancy of John XXIII, who emphasized the pastoral role of his bishops rather than the administrative, Spellman's decline became precipitous. He had also worked diligently against the election of Kennedy, arguing that a Catholic in the White House would work against Catholics, who would no longer be able to use the "we're victims of persecution and bigotry" ploy to squeeze federal funds for parochial schools. Kennedy himself was not sympathetic and in fact did everything possible to maintain a large chasm between church and state. His election meant a further decline in Spellman's power.
This is a fascinating biography of an important figure in 20th century politics.
Pius XII and Spellman both wanted a return to the Church of the Middle Ages, when there was little distinction between ecclesiastical and secular power. King Pepin the Short, in 756, had ceded enormous land holdings to the Church, providing enormous resources. Gradually, the state struggled to regain its lost authority and was aided by the immense corruption which led to the Reformation. By the late 19th century, virtually all its secular power was gone, and church leaders began a movement to enthrone the Pope as the world's great moral leader. The Vatican Council of 1870 which defined the Pope's infallibility was an important part of this maneuver.
Thus Spellman, who attended seminary in Rome in 1911, was a part of the the Church's redefinition movement. Americans, traditionally not having a state church, could not appreciate how the intertwining of secular and religious power could be to the detriment of both. Spellman was untroubled by this commingling and intimately studied how the ways of the Vatican could be used to obtain power.
As Archbishop of New York, he was an outstanding administrator, reorganizing a decentralized parish financial system that New York bankers had long taken advantage of. Between 1954 and 1959 he personally controlled over $168 million in building projects.
Business did not always go smoothly with the Vatican. Often Spellman felt it necessary to prove American Catholicism was purer than Rome's. An example was the flap over the movie The Miracle, which had been seen and widely praised in Rome. Spellman, who had not seen the movie, decided it was perverted, and led a vicious campaign to have the movie's license withdrawn. Perhaps his ambivalence about his own sexuality (he was widely assumed to be homosexual) led to his overreaction to a film that treated sexuality with some frankness. His campaign backfired, of course, as these things usually do. The film, which had been doing quite poorly, now began playing to packed houses, and the suit that Spellman brought ultimately led to the seminal decision by the Supreme Court essentially declaring that blasphemy was not a crime. Justice Frankfurter wrote in the decision, "Blasphemy was the chameleon phrase which meant the criticism of whatever the ruling authority of the moment established as orthodox doctrine."
His decline began shortly before Pius' death, when the Pope discovered that Spellman had been trying to extort funds from the Propagation of the Faith, an agency Spellman controlled, but which was under the direction of Bishop Sheen, a bitter enemy. When Sheen finally managed to get the case before the Pope, Spellman made the mistake of lying about his role and was easily proved incorrect. The Pope was not a happy camper.
Then Pius died, and with the ascendancy of John XXIII, who emphasized the pastoral role of his bishops rather than the administrative, Spellman's decline became precipitous. He had also worked diligently against the election of Kennedy, arguing that a Catholic in the White House would work against Catholics, who would no longer be able to use the "we're victims of persecution and bigotry" ploy to squeeze federal funds for parochial schools. Kennedy himself was not sympathetic and in fact did everything possible to maintain a large chasm between church and state. His election meant a further decline in Spellman's power.
This is a fascinating biography of an important figure in 20th century politics.
September 12, 2014
A book that shows there is no spirituality in the upper echelons of the Catholic Church.
April 14, 2017
Surprising behind-the-scenes story of Francis Cardinal Spellman, perhaps the most influential American Catholic priest of all time. A good introduction to contemporary Church politics: Spellman worked with the administrations of FDR, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and LBJ to "fight communism" in Vietnam, Latin America, and other places; this legacy can be seen in the relationship between the Vatican and the U.S. today, as we see the Church repairing relations between the U.S. and Cuba. The book is left-leaning and critical of Spellman, focusing on his controversial political role and only briefly mentioning his hard work to earn money for the Church.
January 18, 2016
good examination of a influential prelate
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews