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Robert J. Johnson (priest)

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Robert J. Johnson (died January 1, 1916) was an Irish-born priest who ministered in the Archdiocese of Boston.

Personal life

Johnson was born in Ireland and fluent in Irish.[1] He was friends with Henry Cabot Lodge.[2] Following the Spanish-American War, Johnson spoke out against the atrocities the United States government was committing against the Filipinos.[3]

He died on January 1, 1916, and was buried on January 4 in Lowell, Massachusetts, after a funeral at Gate of Heaven Church in South Boston. There was a large crowd of priests in attendance and the church was not big enough to hold all of the people who wished to attend.[4]

Ministry

Johnson built St. Mary's Church in Dedham, St. Eulalia's at City Point, and Gate of Heaven Church in South Boston.[4] He also served as a curate at S.S. Peter and Paul in South Boston.[5] On July 1, 1898, he was appointed chaplain of the Suffolk County House of Correction.[6] It was said that he "was a perfect treasure-house of theological lore."[4]

St. Mary's Church

Johnson served as past of St. Mary's Church in Dedham, Massachusetts from August 1878 to 1890.[1][7]

During this decade, Johnson was publicly raising the issue of discrimination against Catholics in the public schools. He served two terms on the Dedham School Committee, from 1884 to 1890.[8] As a member of the School Committee in 1885, he claimed the principal of the Avery School ridiculed Catholic students,[9] and several years later had a lengthy debate with a Protestant minister via letters in the Dedham Standard about the "rank misrepresentation of the Catholic Church" in a history book adopted by the School Committee.[10]

During Johnson's pastorate, the cornerstone of the present St. Mary's Church church was dedicated on October 17, 1880 by Archbishop John Williams.[11] A crowd of between 4,000 and 5,000 people attended,[11] and special trains were run from Boston and Norwood to accommodate all those who wished to attend.[12][13] It was one of the largest gatherings in Dedham's history.[14]

The crowd included many of the leading citizens of Dedham[12] as well as 30 priests.[11][14] The clergy included Father Theodore Metcalf[a] of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross who served as Master of Ceremonies.[11][b] The footprint of the Gothic church,[16] which Father Johnson said was to be a "cathedral in the wilderness,"[17][18] measures 150' long by 65' wide, and the bell tower is 164' tall.[11][19]

To serve the Catholics of East Dedham, he built St. Raphael's Church, but it was destroyed by fire a few years later.[1] When he left St. Mary's, the Catholics and Protestants of the town were both sorry to see him go.[1] He had become friends with all, including many of the leading men in town.[20]

Gate of Heaven Church

After leaving St. Mary's, Johnson was pastor of Gate of Heaven Church from 1890 to his death in 1916.[15][21]

Johnson became pastor on June 1, 1890.[5] He was known as the "second founder" of Gate of Heaven.[5] During his first years at Gate of Heaven, the parish had 10,000 parishioners and 600 girls enrolled in the school.[22][1] With many societies and programs running, the church was too small to accommodate them.[22] On March 4, 1895, the church caught on fire and the interior was destroyed.[22][1] On April 10, 1895, services began inside the old church again, but it continued to be too small.[22][1] Johnson began raising funds for a new church, partly though his personal magnetism.[22][1] In 1896, the cornerstone was laid for a new church by Archbishop Williams.[22] While construction was ongoing, he opened St. Eulalia's Chapel in City Point on May 6, 1900.[22]

During construction, the stained glass windows were originally to be shipped from London duty-free.[23] After two had been installed, however, the Treasury Department overruled the decision of the local collector and demanded a duty payment for the windows already installed and those yet to be delivered.[23] Eventually Congress passed special legislation exempting the windows from the duty and, as a result of this precedent, all stained glass windows for houses of worship were exempt from duty in the Tariff Act of 1913.[23]

Notes

  1. ^ Theodore Metcalf was a descendant of Michael Metcalf, a signer of the Dedham Covenant. Michael was also a teacher in Dedham, at the first public school in America.[12]
  2. ^ Metcalf would go on to Gate of Heaven Church, where Johnson would succeed him.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Sullivan 1895, p. 80.
  2. ^ United States Congress. Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. A2259. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  3. ^ Michael Fellman (2010). In the Name of God and Country: Reconsidering Terrorism in American History. Yale University Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-300-15501-3. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "Funeral of the Rev. Robert J. Johnson". The Sacred Heart Review. Vol. 55, no. 4. January 8, 1916.
  5. ^ a b c Gate of Heaven 2013, p. 4.
  6. ^ Boston (Mass.). City Council (1899). Documents of the City of Boston. p. 532. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  7. ^ Byrne, Leahy, Dowling, Young, and Finen 1899, p. 323.
  8. ^ Election records. Town Clerk's office. Town of Dedham.
  9. ^ "Charges Against Mr. Howard: Does the Principal of the Avery School, Dedham, Discriminate Against Cath- olics". Boston Daily Globe. June 14, 1885. p. 16. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  10. ^ Johnson 1889, p. 18.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Suburban Matters". Boston Post. October 19, 1880. p. 4. Retrieved March 9, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  12. ^ a b c "History: St. Mary's Church". St. Mary's Church, Dedham, MA. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  13. ^ "Dedham". Boston Daily Globe. October 10, 1880. p. 2.
  14. ^ a b "An Interesting Ceremony: Performed by Archbishop Williams at Dedham. Laying the Corner-stone for a New Catholic Church. Sermon by Rev. Joseph Henning of Boston–A Large Gathering". Boston Daily Globe. October 18, 1880. p. 4. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Gate of Heaven Parish History". Gate of Heaven and St. Brigid's Parishes. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  16. ^ Leahy, William Augustine (1892). The Catholic churches of Boston and its vicinity and St. John's Seminary, Brighton, Mass.: a folio of photo-gravures with notes and historical information. Boston: McClellan, Hearn and Co.
  17. ^ Berry, Jason (2012). Render Unto Rome. Crown Publishers. p. 109.
  18. ^ "2009 Catholic Appeal To Launch" (PDF) (Press release). Braintree, MA: Archdiocese of Boston. March 6, 2009. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  19. ^ Hurd 1884, p. 79.
  20. ^ Sullivan 1895, p. 670.
  21. ^ "WIDESPREAD MOURNING FOR MONSIGNOR O'CALLAGHAN". The Sacred Heart Review. Vol. 49, no. 15. March 29, 1913. p. 232. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g Gate of Heaven 2013, p. 5.
  23. ^ a b c Gate of Heaven 2013, p. 6.
Works cited
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