Thomas John Gumbleton (born January 26, 1930) is an American social activist and retired prelate of the

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 ...

. Gumbleton served as an auxiliary

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the

Archdiocese of Detroit The Archdiocese of Detroit ( la, Archidiœcesis Detroitensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church covering the Michigan counties of Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne. It is ...

from 1968 to 2006. According to Gumbleton, the Vatican forced him to resign as auxiliary bishop when he publicly supported passage of a state legislative bill in another diocese without the approval of that diocese's bishop.

Biography

Early life

Born in Detroit in 1930, Gumbleton attended Sacred Heart Seminary High School in that city. He then studied at

St. John's Provincial Seminary St. John's Provincial Seminary was a Catholic major seminary in the Archdiocese of Detroit that operated between 1949 and 1988 in Plymouth, Michigan. Catholic Seminary St. John's was founded in 1949 for the Province of the Archdiocese of Detroi ...

in Plymouth, Michigan, and also the

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pont ...

in Rome. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1952, a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

in 1956, and a

Doctor of Canon Law Doctor of Canon Law ( la, Juris Canonici Doctor, JCD) is the doctoral-level terminal degree in the studies of canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. It can also be an honorary degree awarded by Anglican colleges. It may also be abbreviated ICD ...

in 1964. On June 2, 1956, Gumbleton was ordained to the priesthood in Rome by Cardinal Edward Mooney for the Archdiocese of Detroit. In 1968 Gumbleton was appointed as

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

for the Archdiocese.

Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit

On March 4, 1968, Pope Paul VI appointed Gumbleton as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit and titular bishop of Ululi. He was consecrated on May 1, 1968, by Archbishop

John Dearden John Francis Dearden (October 15, 1907 – August 1, 1988) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Detroit from 1958 to 1980, and was created a cardinal in 1969. He previously served as Bishop of Pittsb ...

. Gumbleton served as the pastor to a number of parishes, including St. Aloysius, Holy Ghost and St. Leo's in Detroit, until 2007. During the 1972 Presidential election Gumbleton endorsed Senator George McGovern due to his opposition to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and economic policies. When asked about McGovern's stance on abortion he responded that McGovern "would not aid or support the current efforts to liberalize the abortion laws." In December 1980, Gumbleton founded the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights with former Episcopal Bishop Harry McGehee, Jr. and Rabbi Richard Hertz. Gumbleton's Sunday homilies from St Leo's parish are documented by the

National Catholic Reporter The ''National Catholic Reporter'' (''NCR'') is a progressive national newspaper in the United States that reports on issues related to the Catholic Church. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, ''NCR'' was founded by Robert Hoyt in 1964. Hoyt want ...

, where he also wrote a regular column. On May 6, 1987, Gumbleton was one of eight protestors arrested at the US Department of Energy

Nevada Test Site The Nevada National Security Site (N2S2 or NNSS), known as the Nevada Test Site (NTS) until 2010, is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of th ...

Mercury, Nevada Mercury is a closed village in Nye County, Nevada, United States, north of U.S. Route 95 at a point northwest of Las Vegas. It is situated within the Nevada National Security Site and was constructed by the Atomic Energy Commission to hou ...

. The arrestees were protesting the testing of

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s there. On June 4, 1999, Gumbleton was among 26 protestors arrested for blocking an entrance to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

in Washington, D.C. They were protesting the NATO bombing campaign in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

. On March 27, 2003, Gumbleton was arrested along with other protestors for violating a ban on large demonstrations in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. The protest was about the

US invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

on March 19.

Resignation controversy

On January 11, 2006, Gumbleton testified at a hearing at the Ohio General Assembly in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, about sexual abuse in the Catholic church. The Assembly was considering a bill to create a legal window for victims of sexual abuse to sue the perpetrators. In his statement, Gumbleton endorsed the bill and called for all states to enact bills like this one. He also revealed that he was

sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...

by a priest as an adolescent while in the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

. He stated;

"I don't want to exaggerate that I was terribly damaged. It was not the kind of sexual abuse that many of the victims experience. They are intimidated, embarrassed, and they just bury it. I understand that ... never told my parents.... I never told anybody.

According to an account given by Gumbleton in 2011, the bishops of Ohio opposed the proposed sexual abuse bill and were incensed by his testimony. They immediately complained to the Vatican about him. A few days later, Gumbleton received a letter from Cardinal Giovanni Re in Rome, saying that Gumbleton had violated the solidarity of ''communio episcoporum'' (communion of bishops) by testifying for the bill in Ohio without the permission of the local bishop. Re ordered Gumbleton to resign immediately as auxiliary bishop and as pastor of St. Leo's Parish. On February 6, 2006, Gumbleton submitted his letter of resignation as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit to

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

. Gumbleton had been required under church law to submit his resignation when he turned 75 in 2005. At that time, he had petitioned to remain in office.

After resignation

In 2009, the Marquette Citizens for Peace and Justice invited Gumbleton to speak about peace at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Marquette, Michigan. However, when Bishop

Alexander Sample Alexander King Sample (born November 7, 1960) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon since 2013. Sample previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Marque ...

of the Diocese of Marquette heard about the invitation, he asked Gumbleton not to come. Sample said that Gumbleton had not done the courtesy of asking permission from Sample, and Sample did not agree with Gumbleton's views on the

ordination of women The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordina ...

and LBGT rights.

Views

Catholic teaching regarding gay rights

Gumbleton has written extensively on Catholic teaching regarding

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

. Gumbleton often draws from his personal experience of having a gay brother. During his time as auxiliary bishop of Detroit, Gumbleton wore a

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...

at a church service that displayed symbols of the cross, a rainbow and a pink triangle. The

pink triangle A pink triangle has been a symbol for the LGBTQ+ community, initially intended as a badge of shame, but later reclaimed as a positive symbol of self-identity and love for queerness. In Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, it began as one of the ...

caused particular complaints by some due to its use to identify gay men in

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

. Gumbleton also came into the public eye before the Vatican's Instruction with regard to the ordination of gay men was released, arguing against a ban in a 2007 issue of ''

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

''.

Church structure and pacifism

In 2012, Gumbleton signed the Catholic Scholars' Jubilee Declaration on reform of authority in the Catholic Church. On January 14, 2020, he declared that Catholics should not participate in US wars.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Official Site

Bishop Gumbleton's Biography from the Archdiocese of Detroit

Bishop Gumbleton's article on the ordination of homosexuals

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gumbleton, Thomas 1930 births Living people 20th-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops American Christian pacifists American human rights activists 21st-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops American tax resisters Clergy from Detroit Pontifical Lateran University alumni Roman Catholic activists Sacred Heart Major Seminary alumni Christian radicals Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Religious leaders from Michigan