Background
John Baptist was born on February 26, 1800 in Mallow, Ireland, son of Edmond and Johanna (O'Keefe) Purcell. Though of a conspicuous family, his parents were in poor circumstances.
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John Baptist was born on February 26, 1800 in Mallow, Ireland, son of Edmond and Johanna (O'Keefe) Purcell. Though of a conspicuous family, his parents were in poor circumstances.
John was sent to the local St. Patrick's College, however, and here he obtained sufficient classical lore to enable him on his arrival in Baltimore (1818) to pass an examination at Asbury College for a teacher's certificate. Thus equipped, he obtained a private tutorship in Queen Anne's County, where his ability challenged the attention of the authorities of Mount St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, who arranged for him to enter the institution as a seminarian (1820). His scholarship won the favor of Simon Bruté and John Dubois, who in 1823 sent him to complete his theological studies under the Sulpicians in Paris.
Ordained at the Cathedral of Notre Dame by Archbishop Quelen on May 21, 1826, John Baptist Purcell spent some months in travel before returning to America. He was assigned the chair of moral philosophy at Mount St. Mary's, of which college he became president in 1829. During a short tenure of office, he made a permanent impression on the college, among other services obtaining for it a charter of incorporation.
On the death of Bishop Edward D. Fenwick, Rome appointed Purcell to the see of Cincinnati on the recommendation of Bishop P. R. Kenrick of St. Louis, despite the opposition of Archbishop Whitfield of Baltimore, who feared that the "Mount" would suffer in losing a progressive rector. Consecrated in the cathedral at Baltimore, Purcell remained to attend the Second Provincial Council.
With a loan of $300, he went to Cincinnati, where he was formerly installed by two old friends, Bishop David and Bishop Flaget. He ruled his diocese, but did so with tact. Above racial bias, he won the Germans, who soon outnumbered English-speaking Catholics in the Ohio region. He did not hesitate to advance German priests or to nominate them for bishoprics, and hence he had no more loyal supporter than John Martin Henni, who edited Der Wahrheits Freund.
In 1835 and again in 1838-39, he visited Europe in quest of missionaries and financial aid from the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, of Paris, and from the Leopoldine Society of Austria. He invited the Ursulines and Sisters of Charity into the diocese. While in Europe, he encouraged the Fathers of the Precious Blood to enter the American mission field and establish their seminary and college at Carthagena (1844); he also gave similar encouragement to the Passionists.
It was not surprising, therefore, that when Cincinnati was erected into an archepiscopal see, Purcell should be named archbishop (July 19, 1850). Going to Rome the following year, he received the pallium at the hands of Pius IX.
On his return to Cincinnati, he became a more ardent temperance advocate as a result of Father Mathew's visit. He was a leading preacher in the Second Council of Baltimore, 1866, and a year later took part in the centennial celebration of St. Peter's martyrdom in Rome. At the Vatican Council, Purcell believed that the time was not propitious for a definition of infallibility and voted non placet (July 13, 1870).
Leaving the Council before the final ballot, he returned to his diocese. Then came the collapse. During the panic of 1857 and the Civil War, Catholics deposits increased; millions of dollars were handled; and the funds were invested in church properties the revenues. But about 1877 fear caused a run on the "Purcell bank. " The resultant failure in 1879 was for about four million dollars.
Edward died a broken man, on July 4, 1883.
John Baptist Purcell, elevated to the rank of Archbishop, became the most influential figure in the American hierarchy, and probably noone was better known in Rome. For fifty-three years he had been a power in the church and he was highly interested in improvement of education. Thus, he commenced the erection of the new Mount St. Mary's Seminary at Price Hill, Cincinnati, laid the cornerstone for the new Cathedral of St. Peter, aided in founding academies. He also assisted the Jesuits in establishing St. Francis Xavier College and brought the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to Cincinnati, where they founded their first American convent.
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Though an ardent supporter of the Mexican War, John Baptist was opposed to slavery and its extension. He was on intimate terms with Ewing, Harrison, and lesser political figures in the Mid-West, but he took no active partisan interest, not even voting for twenty years, until he supported Lincoln in both campaigns.
He displayed both physical and moral courage.
Quotes from others about the person
According to David J. Endres, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell of Cincinnati was . .. the first American Catholic bishop to offer public support for immediate emancipation of slaves. "
