Joseph Rummel

Joseph Francis Rummel (October 14, 1876 – November 8, 1964) was a German-born American Catholic prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Omaha in Nebraska from 1928 to 1935 and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans in Louisiana from 1935 to 1964.

A staunch advocate for racial equality, Rummel received national attention for excommunicating several people who vocally opposed racial desegregation of parochial schools in the archdiocese.

Early life Joseph Francis Rummel was born in the village of Steinmauern in the Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire (present-day Germany), on October 14, 1876. His family immigrated to the United States when he was six-years-old. Like many recent German immigrants, the Rummels settled in the Yorkville District of Manhattan in New York City.

Rummel attended St. Boniface Parochial School, then went to St. Mary's College, a Redemptorist minor seminary in North East, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire in 1889. Rummel was then sent to study in Rome.

Priesthood Rummel was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of New York at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome by Cardinal Pietro Respighi on May 24, 1902. Rummel returned to New York City and served as a parish priest in several parishes for the next 25 years.

Bishop of Omaha Rummel was named the fourth bishop of Omaha by Pope Pius XI on March 30, 1928. He was consecrated on May 29, 1928, at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City by Cardinal Patrick Hayes.

Archbishop of New Orleans Rummel was named by Pius XI as the ninth archbishop of New Orleans on March 9, 1935. He succeeded Archbishop John Shaw. Rummel became archbishop during the Great Depression of the 1930s. At the time, New Orleans was rapidly urbanizing as farmers flocked to the city in search of factory jobs. Also, recent European immigrants, many of whom were Catholic, were also settling in the city. Over the next thirty years, the Catholic population in the archdiocese would double to over 762,000, and the number of students in Catholic schools grew from fewer than 40,000 to over 85,000.

During Rummel's episcopacy, 45 new church parishes were created throughout the archdiocese, increasing the number of parishes from 135 to 180. In 1945 he launched the Youth Progress Program, a major initiative to raise money for the expansion of the parochial school system. This program resulted in the construction of 70 new Catholic schools, including several new high schools.

In 1935, Rummel mandated the creation of CCD programs in every parish. He streamlined the accounting procedures of the archdiocese. He also created new lay organizations to support an expansion of the many charity programs within the archdiocese.

The city of New Orleans has always had a large population of black Catholics. Previous archbishops, such as Francis Janssens and James Blenk, established dedicated schools for black children in an attempt to improve the educational opportunities for black parishioners. But the segregated parochial school system suffered from the same problems with underfunding and low standards as the segregated public school system. No archbishop attempted to desegregate the archdiocese until the American Civil Rights Movement began after the end of the Second World War. In 1953, Rummel issued "Blessed Are the Peacemakers", the pastoral letter that officially ordered the end to racial segregation in the entire archdiocese:

We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. (Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. May 17, 1954.)

The Louisiana State Legislature promptly passed Act 555 and Act 556, protecting its segregated public school system from being dismantled by the Supreme Court. Both acts were rendered unconstitutional by Judge J. Skelly Wright, a federal judge from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans, in the case Earl Benjamin Bush v. Orleans Parish School Board in February 1956. Nevertheless, the Orleans Parish School Board and neighboring parish school boards vowed to postpone desegregating their public schools indefinitely.

Rummel praised Brown v. Board of Education, but he was reluctant to desegregate his own parochial school system. He had announced his intention to desegregate the Catholic schools as early as 1956. However, most archdiocesan parish school boards had voted against desegregation. After Bush v. Parish School Board, some parents had transferred their students from public schools to parochial schools to avoid desegregation. A few local Catholics sent a petition to Pope Pius XII, requesting a papal decree supporting segregation. The pope responded by describing racism as a major evil.

But by 1962, Judge Wright had issued a barrage of court orders neutralizing the Orleans Parish School Board's attempts at evading the Supreme Court. A handful of black students were already being admitted into previously all-white public schools. Rummel formally announced the end of segregation in the New Orleans parochial school system on March 27, 1962. The 1962–1963 school year would be the first integrated school year in the history of the archdiocese.

On April 16, 1962, the Monday before Easter, Rummel excommunicated three local Catholics for defying the authority of the Church and organizing protests against the archdiocese. The first of the three was Judge Leander Perez, a parish judge from Plaquemines Parish, who called on Catholics to withhold donations to the archdiocese and to boycott Sunday church collections. The second was Jackson G. Ricau, a political commentator, segregationist writer, and director of the "Citizens Council of South Louisiana". The third was Una Gaillot, a mother of two, housewife, and president of "Save Our Nation Inc." The excommunications made national headlines and had the tacit support of Pope John XXIII. Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie is named after him.