James Robert Hoffman (June 12, 1932 – February 8, 2003) was an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as Bishop of Toledo from 1981 until his death in 2003. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the same diocese from 1978 to 1980.

Early life

James Hoffman was born on June 12, 1932, in Fremont,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He studied at St. Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Indiana and St. Mary Seminary in Norwood,

. Hoffman was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood by Bishop George Rehring for the Diocese of Toledo on July 28, 1957. He then served as a curate at the following Ohio parishes: * St. Peter's in Mansfield * St. Joseph's in Marblehead * Blessed Sacrament in Toledo In 1966, Hoffman earned a

Licentiate of Canon Law Licentiate of Canon Law ( la, Juris Canonici Licentiatus; JCL) is the title of an advanced graduate degree with canonical effects in the Roman Catholic Church offered by pontifical universities and ecclesiastical faculties of canon law. Licentiat ...

from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Hoffman was later named secretary to Bishop John Donovan and chancellor of the diocese. In addition to these duties, he also served as

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of St. Joseph's Parish in Sylvania, Ohio.

Auxiliary Bishop and Bishop of Toledo

On April 18, 1978, Hoffman was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Toledo and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

of ''

Italica Italica ( es, Itálica) was a Roman town founded by Italic settlers in Hispania; its site is close to the town of Santiponce, part of the province of Seville in modern-day Spain. It was founded in 206 BC by Roman general Scipio as a settleme ...

'' by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on June 23, 1978, from Bishop Donovan, with Archbishop

Joseph Bernardin Joseph Louis Bernardin (April 2, 1928 – November 14, 1996) was an American Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Cincinnati from 1972 until 1982, and as Archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until his death in 1996 from ...

and Bishop Albert Ottenweller serving as co-consecrators. Hoffman selected as his episcopal

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

: ''"Omnia Omnibus"'', meaning, "All things to all men" (). Hoffman was named by Pope John Paul II as the sixth bishop of Toledo on December 16, 1980. He was installed by Archbishop Bernardin at Rosary Cathedral in Toledo on February 17, 1981. Hoffman was criticized for his handling of sexual abuse cases in the diocese, which had 11 lawsuits filed against it. In 1992, he placed the Rev. Robert J. Fisher in active ministry after the latter admitted to molesting a 14-year-old girl and spent 30 days in prison. He later suspended Fisher in 2002 due to "the media climate," but said he had no plans to remove other such priests. He later declared, "My difficulty with

zero tolerance A zero tolerance policy is one which imposes a punishment for every infraction of a stated rule.zero tolerance, n.' (under ''zero, n.''). The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Ed. 1989. Retrieved 10 November 2009. Italy, Japan, Singapore China, Indi ...

is that the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

teaches reconciliation. We believe in forgiveness." James Hoffman died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at the Ursuline Center in Toledo on February 8, 2003, at age 70. He is buried at St. Ann Cemetery in Fremont.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, James Robert 1932 births 2003 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Toledo 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Catholic University of America alumni People from Fremont, Ohio