Parish Boundaries by John T. McGreevy

Author:John T. McGreevy [McGreevy, John T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Published: 1996-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Father James Groppi leading freedom songs at a 1965 Milwaukee public school boycott. State Historical Society of Wisconsin, WHi (×3) 37641.

On the opening day of the boycott, twelve Catholic priests and twenty-five nuns were highly visible in the operation of the freedom schools. Instead of using the St. Boniface school building, Father Groppi led a group of 500 African-American students to a neighboring Baptist church for a two-hour lesson on African-American history and civil rights songs.83 The next day, the two Milwaukee dailies carried an advertisement entitled “An Open Letter To Our People,” paid for by the inner-city priests. By not using parochial facilities, the priests argued, “our church fails to give its full Christian witness here. On the other hand, should we disobey the bishop we feel that at this time in our Church many would not be able to understand our actions, and so would suffer some spiritual harm because they are not yet ready to receive the full impact of Vatican II.” Father Bleidorn began his next Sunday’s homily by reading from James, 2:12–17: “My brothers, what good is there in anyone’s professing his faith if he does nothing in practice?”84

Local reaction to these events was mixed. To the dismay of some parents, a group of Marquette High School students already participating in a discussion group focusing on racial issues applauded Groppi’s actions. (In the fall of 1964, the group had resolved that “Discussion . . . was fruitless if divorced from actual experience.”)85 Many of the letters to Groppi and his colleagues also expressed support, with a typical comment being one woman’s declaration that “I have felt for some years that the church has not been as active as it should be in the field of civil rights.” She added that “Sixteen years of parochial school education taught me that Christ was always on the side of the underdog and gave not a second thought to civil disobedience or its consequences.” Archbishop Cousins refused to discipline the priests upon his return from Rome, even after Groppi chained himself to a school construction site to protest segregated education. While terming Groppi’s behavior a “little immature,” Cousins also told a reporter that “He [Groppi] has a lot of guts and is doing things maybe others of us don’t have the courage to do.”86

Groppi’s opponents were no less impassioned. Letters of opposition poured into the chancery office and filled the editorial columns of local papers. A group of thirteen “Catholic Laymen, workers in an industrial complex,” mailed a painstakingly composed missive to the archbishop, Groppi, and Bleidorn. “It is regrettable,” the letter began, “that Catholic clergy should encourage contempt for the law by urging children and young people to aid and abet this school boycott. During their formative years, children should be taught discipline in accord with the fourth commandment. Rebellion is a primary tenet of communism.” Other letter writers denied that they were prejudiced, while attacking the tactics of the protesters. “[I]f our priests and nuns must demonstrate,”

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