Career
Following graduation, James wished to enter the priesthood. He could not study at the Jesuit novitiate in Maryland, as it was a slave state. With the help of John Bernard Fitzpatrick, the founder of the College of the Holy Cross, James entered a Sulpician seminary in Montreal. In 1852, he transferred to study at Saint Sulpice Seminary in Paris, working toward a doctorate and a career as a seminary professor. After a change of heart, he decided to become a pastor. On June 10, 1854, he was ordained at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris as a priest to serve in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the first African American to be ordained a Roman Catholic priest; at the time he identified as and was accepted as white Irish Catholic. During the 19th century, numerous Americans studied for the priesthood in Paris.
When Healy returned to the United States, he became an assistant pastor in Boston and served the Archbishop, who helped establish his standing. In 1866 Healy became the pastor of St. James Church, the largest Catholic congregation in Boston. In 1874 when the Boston legislature was considering taxation of churches, Healy defended Catholic institutions as vital organizations that helped the state both socially and financially. He also condemned existing laws, which were generally enforced only on Catholic institutions. He founded several Catholic charitable institutions to care for the many poor immigrants who had arrived during the Great Famine years.
His success in the public sphere led to his appointment by Pope Pius IX to the position of second bishop of Portland, Maine. Healy was officially ordained as Bishop of Portland on June 2, 1875, becoming the first African American ordained as a Catholic bishop. For 25 years, he governed his large diocese, supervising also the founding of the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, when it was split from Portland in 1885. During his time in Maine, which was a period of extensive immigration from Catholic countries, Healy oversaw the establishment of 60 new churches, 68 missions, 18 convents and 18 schools.
Healy was the only member of the American hierarchy to excommunicate men who joined the Knights of Labor, a national union, which reached its peak of power in 1886.
Read more about this topic: James Augustine Healy
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