Background
Albert Gregory Meyer was born on March 9, 1903, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the son of Peter James Meyer, a grocer and later a factory foreman, and of Mathilda Thelen.
Albert Gregory Meyer was born on March 9, 1903, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the son of Peter James Meyer, a grocer and later a factory foreman, and of Mathilda Thelen.
Meyer attended St. Mary's Parochial School, Marquette Academy, and St. Francis Seminary. Having demonstrated his scholastic ability, he was sent by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to the North American College in Rome to study philosophy for two years and theology for four at the Urbanian College of the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide. Meyer was ordained a priest on July 11, 1926, and received the doctorate of sacred theology a year later. After three more years of graduate work at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, Meyer was awarded the licentiate's degree in Sacred Scripture in 1930.
Meyer was appointed assistant pastor of a parish in Waukesha, Wisconsin. In 1931 he was named to the faculty of St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee, and six years later became its rector. On February 18, 1946, Pope Pius XII appointed Meyer sixth bishop of Superior. He was consecrated by Archbishop Moses E. Kiley in Milwaukee on April 11. During the seven years in which he occupied that see, Meyer held a diocesan synod and regular conferences of the clergy in the deaneries, issued four "Programs of Instructions" to assist his priests in preparing sermons, established the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (1950), and supervised an extensive building program. In 1953, after the death of Archbishop Kiley, Meyer was promoted to the metropolitan see of Milwaukee, to lead almost half a million Catholics and nearly a thousand diocesan and religious priests. He was the first native of the archdiocese to become its head. In five years he founded seventeen parishes and five missions, and oversaw the construction of thirty-four churches, seventy-four schools, forty convents, twelve rectories, three hospitals, and one college. Meyer also enlarged and modernized St. Francis Seminary, and fostered organizations for laymen, such as the Serra Club (of which he had been the first chaplain in Milwaukee while he was attached to the seminary), the Holy Name Society, the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Men, and the Catholic Youth Organization. In 1956 Meyer was elected to the Administrative Board of the National Catholic Welfare Conference and was named chairman of its Education Department; he retained that post until he was elevated to the cardinalate. He was also president general of the National Catholic Educational Association in 1956-1957. As archbishop of Milwaukee, Meyer was ex officio a member of the board of governors of the Catholic Church Extension Society, in which he took a lively interest, and from 1953 he was a member of the American Board of Catholic Missions. In September 1958, Meyer was transferred to the metropolitan see of Chicago, succeeding the late Samuel Cardinal Stritch. Besides effectively administering the temporal affairs of the archdiocese, Meyer discharged his teaching duty in an enlightened manner. He wrote profound and lengthy pastoral letters and other statements, the most memorable of which was probably his 1964 Lenten pastoral letter, "Ecumenism: The Spirit of Christian Unity, " which was designed to prepare the minds of Catholics in the archdiocese for the Second Vatican Council's forthcoming decree on that subject. Outside his own archdiocese Meyer instituted the Mission of San Miguelito in the Republic of Panama, staffed it with three priests, and supported it. Under his patronage the Extension Lay Volunteers for Home Missions were organized, and he was permanent chairman of the American Board of Catholic Missions. When Meyer was made a cardinal, he automatically became a member of the administrative board of the National Catholic Welfare Conference; at various times he was chairman of the Bishops' Committee on the Liturgical Apostolate and of the Bishops' Committee for Migrant Workers. Meyer was also called upon to share in the work of the Holy See. In the consistory of December 14, 1959, he was created cardinal-priest of the title of St. Cecilia by John XXIII and was appointed to two important congregations: de Propaganda Fide and Seminaries and Universities. In 1962 he was made a member of the Pontifical Commission for Biblical Studies.
In June 1963, Meyer took part in the conclave in which Paul VI was elected, and the following November he was added to the Papal Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law. A year later he was attached to the Supreme Congregation of the Holy Office; he was one of the first two cardinals not resident in Rome to become members of that body. It was during the Second Vatican Council that Meyer's talents were afforded the widest scope. In the initial stage he submitted some thoughtful proposals for the council's agenda. In October 1961, John XXIII appointed him to the Central Preparatory Commission, and he subsequently participated in several of its meetings in Rome. Before the Vatican council convened, Meyer was made a member of the Secretariat de Concilii Negotiis Extra Ordinem (for the extraordinary affairs of the council). When this body was abolished in 1963, he was appointed one of the twelve presidents of the council. After the original draft of a decree "on the sources of revelation" was rejected, he was appointed to the special mixed commission that drew up a new and acceptable one. On November 19, 1964, the head of the board of presidents of the Second Vatican Council, without consulting Meyer, announced that the scheduled preliminary vote on the scheme on religious liberty would be postponed until the following year.
Meyer, accompanied by two other cardinals and backed by nearly a thousand bishops who had signed hastily circulated petitions, immediately protested to the pope, but failed to induce him to reverse the decision. This dramatic effort nevertheless helped to ensure passage of the declaration at the fourth session. By the end of the third session (1964) the last he attended Meyer had emerged as the intellectual leader of the American hierarchy and had won the admiration and respect of many bishops of other nationalities. He had addressed the council more often than anyone else from the United States. After returning to Chicago, Meyer began in January 1965 to suffer the effects of a brain tumor. Despite surgery it caused his death, at Chicago, within a few months.
Meyer advocated the intensive study of the Bible, and wrote the preface to the American edition of the Revised Standard Version adapted for Catholic use. Meyer promoted equal justice for blacks, and urged his clergy and laity to incorporate black Catholics into all church affairs. He strove to transform black parishes into "mission-centers" with an apostolic program. In May 1958, Meyer testified before the President's Commission on Civil Rights, lamenting the fact that the "new and rapidly increasing Negro middle class" could not freely choose where it would live. He was one of the three cochairmen of the National Conference on Religion and Race, which was held at Chicago in January 1963, and in an address to the assembly he advocated open housing for the entire metropolitan area.
Meyer advocated many progressive changes, such as the use of the vernacular languages in the liturgy, recognition of the contributions of contemporary biblical exegesis, and admission in theory and in practice of the collegial nature of the episcopal order. In the name of more than 120 bishops of the United States, whose signatures he had personally solicited, he recommended that binding force be attributed to the collective decisions of national episcopal conferences only in a cautious, reserved manner, and later on behalf of his American colleagues he argued in favor of the proposed declaration on religious liberty. He also espoused an explicit condemnation of all forms of anti-Semitism and a refutation of the charge of deicide against the Jewish people.
a member of the Pontifical Commission for Biblical Studies
A tall and robust man, with sparse hair and benign face, Meyer had a placid temperament and simple tastes. He did not have a lively sense of humor, and wasted little time on things unrelated to his office. He tended to be withdrawn; in informal groups he was usually quiet, but on committees and commissions he collaborated with his peers. In spite of his shyness and apparent aloofness, Meyer was genuinely interested in his priests and people. As an administrator he was methodical and orderly, without being coldly impersonal. As a teacher he adhered strictly to Catholic doctrine, but sought deeper insights and fresh applications. In analyzing controverted questions he considered different points of view and obtained expert advice before coming to a conclusion. Though prudent and deliberate by nature, Meyer did not hesitate to act boldly and swiftly when he felt obliged by conscience. In pace with the renewal of the Church which he effectively advanced, his reputation has grown to ever larger proportions in the years following his untimely death.
There is nothing known about his personal life. Perhaps, he was never married.