CARDINAL GIBBONS: A TRIBUTE TO AMERICA’S GREAT MAN

New Zealand Tablet, 23 June 1921, Page 32

CARDINAL GIBBONS: A TRIBUTE TO AMERICA’S GREAT MAN

One of the great men of America has died in Baltimore (says the Call, San Francisco, editorially). For a long lifetime he "was a leader and adviser of a nation, and history will place him among those precious few whose lives were always guided by sanity and wisdom. Those f who look back across" the broad stf"£ep of Cardinal Gibbons' life will .find a symmetry there that is almost architectural in its simple perfection. From narrow means and obscurity he rose to great distinction by his own energy, ability, and character. He was a grocery boy who became a prince of the Church, and there is something wonderfully appealing to the American spirit in that rise from obscurity to distinction. - James Gibbons knew poverty of the body, but Cardinal Gibbons never knew poverty of the spirit. The same sensitiveness, quiet courage, arid charm of personality remained with him through his lifetime. Perhaps some of his strength may be explained by his thoroughly American spirit. There were times in his career when the Cardinal's temper was different from the temper of Rome. But he was one of those rare men who know when to use and when to oppose their environments, and his wisdom was always triumphant. ' , And yet, though he was a prince of the Church he was not worldly. In the midst of a busy detailed life he retained a simple, all-embracing piety that called him to his devotions for several hours of each day. He was close to the spirit, but he drew the world to his side. When the golden jubilee of his priesthood was celebrated in 1912, Protestant and Catholic joined in praise and respect. At one public meeting President '• Taft, former President Roosevelt, Ambassador Jusserand of France, and Senator Root were the speakers. And when he took his daily walks in the city of Baltimore it is said that half of the people he passed, on even the busiest streets, paused to salute him. There were power and wisdom and sweetness in Cardinal Gibbons and, though the nation has lost by his death, it will still possess the gains of his living.