The Life of Cardinal Humberto Medeiros of Boston: Whatever God Wants by Richard Gribble, CSC

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Life of Cardinal Humberto Medeiros of Boston: Whatever God Wants by Richard Gribble, CSC Joseph White The Life of Cardinal Humberto Medeiros of Boston: Whatever God Wants. By Richard Gribble, CSC. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2021. 364pp. $120.00. The honorable tradition of episcopal and clerical biography continues. Having produced biographies of San Francisco Archbishop Edward Hanna, Bishop Vincent McCauley, CSC of East Africa, and significant priests: James Martin Gillis, CSP; Patrick Peyton, CSC; Jake Laboon, SJ; and Nelson Baker, the author examines the life of Cardinal-Archbishop Humberto Medeiros of Boston (1915–1983). Gribble introduces him as “a tragic figure who, due in large measure to his absolute fidelity to God and the magisterium of the Church, experienced much opposition,” especially in Boston. Characteristically “unwavering” in his positions, Medeiros is portrayed as “a significant figure in a difficult time of transition in the Church . . . in the wake of Vatican II and American society.” Making exhaustive use Medeiros’s papers in the relevant archives and an impressive range of published sources for context, Gribble aims to fill “lacunae” in the historical record of the Catholic Church in Boston and the United States. A Portuguese national born in 1915 on Sao Miguel Island in the Azores, Medeiros grew up in a poor and intensely pious Catholic family there. The post-World War I depression prompted his father to find work in the Portuguese community of Fall River, Massachusetts in 1923—the first of three stays. His family joined him there in 1931. Humberto then began public high school. His background as a poor immigrant formed in him the “need to reach out to the poor” that guided him throughout life. In response to his call to diocesan priesthood, the [End Page 91] Fall River diocese assigned him to studies at the Theological College of the Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, DC. Ordained a priest in 1946, Medeiros balanced ministry in the Fall River diocese’s parishes, while also pursuing graduate studies in CUA’s very conservative theology graduate program, obtaining the doctorate in 1951. Throughout the volume Medeiros’s understanding of priesthood builds on what he learned in seminary formation by Priests of the Society of St. Sulpice (Sulpicians), who staffed the Theological College. Reflecting their heritage in the French School of Spirituality, a priest’s supernatural identity with Christ clearly separated him from the laity. From this basic view of priesthood, Medeiros later added views of ministry especially those informed by Vatican II. From 1951 Medeiros served Fall River’s Bishop James Connolly, first as secretary then as diocesan chancellor and later also serving as a pastor. When Vatican II opened in 1962, Connolly chose him as his peritus. Attending council sessions expanded Medeiros’s understanding of the Catholic tradition without departing from a basically conservative outlook that rejected dissent. Faithful adherence to the Vatican Council’s pronouncements guided his leadership in church renewal. In 1966, Medeiros was appointed bishop of the new Diocese of Brownsville on Texas’s border with Mexico—an area partitioned from the Corpus Christi diocese. He was thereby tasked to organize a new diocese’s administrative and pastoral services. From his own experience of immigrant life, he served this largely Latino diocese as a compassionate advocate for the poor. Upon arrival there, he had to deal with migrant workers’ strike against local farmers over just compensation and worked to find a mutually satisfactory resolution for both groups. This role led to his appointment to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ ad hoc Committee on Farm Labor that in 1970 lent support to the California grape strike. Committee service meant regular travel to visit migrant workers’ camps around the nation and addressing social justice issues. In 1970, to widespread surprise, Pope Paul VI appointed Medeiros archbishop of Boston in succession to the retiring Cardinal Richard Cushing. Though raised in nearby Fall River, Medeiros, lacking an Irish background, received a tepid reception among Boston’s largely Irish ethnic clergy and flock accustomed to the princely style and perks of his predecessors. Raised to the rank of cardinal in 1973, Medeiros held on to his self-effacing and unpretentious ways reflecting his humble...