Over at the website The Anchoress, the author reports about a top ten list of Bishops in the American church from a poll solicited by the Gregorian Institute. Here are those Bishops who made the list:
Archbishop John Carroll (1735-1815)
Bishop John Hughes (1797-1864)
*Saint John Neumann, (1811-1860)
Cardinal James Gibbons (1834-1921)
Archbishop Joseph Rummel (1876-1964)
Bishop Francis Xavier Ford, M.M. (1892-1952)
Bishop Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
Cardinal John O’ Connor (1920-2000)
Cardinal Terence Cooke (1921-1983)
Bishop Austin Vaughan (1927-2000)
Archbishop Charles Chaput (1944-)
Indeed it is an impressive list and I'm thrilled to see the name of Archbishop Rummel. In his tenure here in New Orleans he was instumental in fighting racism, ordering the desegregation of Catholic schools despite hostile opposition to his plans.
But I responded to this story tonight because for me there is a glaring omission; that of Archbishop Philip M Hannan. I certainly posted many articles about the good Archbishop during the coverage of his death and burial just about a month and a half ago. In short, his service in Washington D.C., including his spiritual advice to President Kennedy and then helping a nation grieve and recover after the President's assasination, his arrival in New Orleans after Hurricane Betsey, establishing charities and foundations that this Archdiocese benefits from today, bringing Pope John Paul II to New Orleans and being a media evangelizing giant in "retirement" are more than enough to include him on this list. Not to mention, Archbishop Hannan was the last living Bishop to actually attend and vote at the Second Vatican Council.
Archbishop Philip M Hannan indeed has been a most influential Bishop in the history of the Catholic Church in these United States.
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