Louis J. Gallagher, SJ (July 22, 1885 – August 14, 1972) was an American

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, known for his educational and literary work.

Biography

Born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

on July 22, 1885, Louis J. Gallagher entered the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

on August 15, 1905, was ordained as a priest in 1920, and worked as the headmaster of Xavier High School in New York City (1921–22).The biographical note at the last page of "China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matteo Ricci", Random House, New York, 1953. In the aftermath of the

Russian famine of 1921 Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, Gallagher went to Russia as the Assistant Director of Papal Relief Mission, which was headed by Edmund A. Walsh (1922–23), also an American Jesuit and Gallagher's close friend. Besides providing help to the starving of the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

, the two Jesuits had a special task, given to them by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

as one of the first things he did as the Pope: to "seek and find" the Holy

Relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

of their 17th-century colleague, Blessed

Andrew Bobola Andrew Bobola, Society of Jesus, SJ (; 1591 – 16 May 1657) was a Polish missionary and martyr of the Society of Jesus, known as the Apostle of Lithuania and the "hunter of souls". He was beaten and tortured to death during the Khmelnytsky Upri ...

, which had apparently disappeared from

Polotsk Polotsk () or Polatsk () is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the Dvina River and serves as the administrative center of Polotsk District. Polotsk is served by Polotsk Airport and Borovitsy air base. As of 2025, it has a pop ...

during or soon after the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

or the Soviet-Polish War. In September 1923 the Bolsheviks told the American Jesuits that Bobola's relics had been taken to a medical museum ("Hygiene Exhibition" of the People's Commissariat for Health in Moscow) and allowed them to be taken to the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

.Religion: Saints
''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine, Monday, Apr. 25, 1938. (The ''Time'' article says that Walsh personally transported the Holy Relics from Moscow to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

; but this is apparently a mistake, since both Gallagher (1953) describes Gallagher's role as a diplomatic courier with the relics, and McNamara (2005), p. 45, mentions that Walsh stayed behind in Moscow after Gallagher's departure, and only left Moscow on November 16, 1923, and arrived in Rome on December 3. The author of the book explicitly say
in his blog
say that Gallagher was entrusted with that task.) Accordingly, on October 3 Walsh and Gallagher securely packed the body (later described by an American journalist as a "remarkably well-preserved mummy") at the museum, and took it to one of Moscow's train stations. Traveling as a

diplomatic courier A diplomatic courier is an official who secures and transports diplomatic bags. Countries have utilized diplomatic couriers to handle important documents, artifacts and supplies between different countries since the 12th century. Following the ...

, Gallagher delivered the Holy Relics to the Vatican right in time for

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the Church, whether they are know ...

(November 1) of 1923, by the way of

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and

Brindisi Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position ...

. This book uses as one of its sources L.J. Gallagher's article, "How we rescued the Relics of Blessed Andrew Bobola" (1924), which unfortunately was not available to this contributor. Back in the US, Gallagher served as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

(1924–26), Assistant to Provincial of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus (1926–32), and President of

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

(1932–37). In April 1938, the same Pius XI who had started his pontificate charging the two Jesuits in Moscow with the task of searching for Bobola's relics, had Bobola canonized, less than a year before his own death. The following year Gallagher published an English translation of the new Saint's biography. Gallagher also was one of the founders of the

Institute of Social Order An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

(1941–43), and served as the archivist of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, and later (1954–1970) as the historian for the Jesuits of Georgetown University. When Edmund A. Walsh died in October 1956, Gallagher, described by a modern historian as Walsh's closest friend, wrote an obituary for him, which was published in the Jesuit journal '' Woodstock Letters'' in 1957. In 1962, Gallagher published his friend's biography, which remained the only book-length biography of Walsh until 2005. Gallagher died in a Massachusetts hospital on August 14, 1972

Literary work

Louis J. Gallagher wrote, or translated into English from Latin and Italian, a number of books, usually connected with the history of the Jesuit Order. * ''The Test Heritage'' (1938) * ''The life of Saint Andrew Bobola of the Society of Jesus, martyr'', by Cesare Moreschini; translated by Louis J. Gallagher and Paul Vincent Donovan. B. Humphries, inc. (Boston), 1939. * ''The China That Was'' (1942) * ''China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matteo Ricci'' (1942; reprint 1953) - an English translation of

Matteo Ricci Matteo Ricci (; ; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610) was an Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He created the , a 1602 map of the world written in Chinese characters. In 2022, the Apostolic See decl ...

and

Nicolas Trigault Nicolas Trigault (1577–1628) was a Jesuit, and a missionary in China. He was also known by his latinised name Nicolaus Trigautius or Trigaultius, and his Chinese name Jin Nige (). Life and work Born in Douai (then part of the County of Flanders ...

's '' De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas suscepta ab Societate Jesu'' * ''Episode on Beacon Hill'' (1950) * ''Edmund A. Walsh, S.J., a Biography'' (1962)

On the screen

It was reported in 2009 that the Polish director Robert Gliński was planning to shoot a movie about Walsh's and Gallagher's adventures in Russia, under the title ("Soul Hunter").Polish film grants announced
, 11 March 2009, By Katarzyna Grynienko

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Louis J. 1885 births 1972 deaths 19th-century American Jesuits 20th-century American Jesuits Presidents of Boston College Boston College faculty Georgetown University faculty Latin–English translators Italian–English translators 20th-century American translators Deans of the Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences 20th-century American academics Deans and Prefects of Studies of the Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences Pastors of the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts)