Michael Joseph Ready

Michael Joseph Ready (April 9, 1893 – May 2, 1957) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Columbus in Ohio from 1944 until his death.

Biography

Early life The second youngest of 14 children, Michael Ready was born on April 9, 1893, in New Haven, Connecticut, to Michael T. and Mary A. (née Ellis) Ready. His parents were Irish immigrants who immigrated to the United States in the 1880s. He then served as an assistant pastor, teacher, and director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the diocese.

In 1939, Ready joined Bishops John Gannon and James Griffin in a visit to Mexico to confer with Archbishop Luis Martínez. They were discussing the founding of a seminary in Las Vegas, New Mexico, to supply priests for the Mexican Church, since seminaries were at that time illegal in that country. During the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, Ready denounced the Spanish government for its anti-clerical policies. In 1940, Ready expressed his opposition to military conscription in the United States, favoring volunteer recruiting

Ready delivered the benediction at the 1941 inauguration in Washington of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Later that year, he met with Roosevelt after the latter made controversial remarks regarding the status of religious freedom in the Soviet Union.

In 1942, after the American entry into World War II in December 1941, Ready declared that "the liberty and institutions" of the United States were threatened by the same "rampant totalitarian military forces which harass the Church and all that the Church has built," in an implicit reference to the Japanese Empire. In 1944, Reverend Stanislaus Orlemanski visited the Soviet Union to meet Premier Joseph Stalin, who signed a document pledging support for religious freedom. Ready described the priest's trip as "a political burlesque...staged and directed by capable Soviet agents," saying, "What we need from Stalin is his declaration of full religious freedom in Russia, not his signature."

Bishop of Columbus Bishop Ready's grave, St. Joseph Cemetery, Lockbourne, Ohio (2017) On November 11, 1944, Ready was appointed the fifth bishop of Columbus by Pope Pius XII. During his tenure, Ready also served as chair of the Bishops' Committee on Motion Pictures; he reported that the Hollywood studios were producing more films with "wholesome and moral qualities" in 1952.

Ready also organized the diocesan branch of the Holy Name Society, a Parent-Teacher Organization, the Council of Catholic Women, the Catholic Youth Council, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society in the diocese.