Tributes to Bishop Tom Gumbleton RIP

Pax Christi USA has issued the following statement today:

"With heavy hearts and profound affection and appreciation, Pax Christi USA announces that Bishop Tom Gumbleton, our first bishop president, has died at the age of 94."

Ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1962, Bishop Gumbleton was named an auxiliary bishop and appointed vicar general of the archdiocese in 1968. He was invited to be the first bishop president of the newly-created Pax Christi USA in 1972 and served in that role until 1991.

"We entrust a real champion of peace to the Risen Lord during this Octave of Easter," said Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv., bishop of Lexington, KY and the current bishop president of Pax Christi USA. "Bishop Gumbleton took the gospel to heart and lived it day in and day out. He preferred to speak the truth and to be on the side of the marginalized than to tow any party line and climb the ecclesiastical ladder. When it came to speaking the prophetic word he was unafraid and lived with the consequences. I pray for more shepherds like Tom Gumbleton who lived the spirituality of nonviolence in all contexts. It is kind of fitting that he shares the anniversary of death of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr."

Inspired by the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s and the 1971 encyclical Justice in the World, Bishop Gumbleton spent his life promoting peace, nonviolence, human rights, and equity. He traveled around the world to engage with and learn from people in impoverished and war-torn regions, and he was devoted to his neighbours and parishioners in Detroit. He was beloved for his gentleness and humility, and respected for his deep integrity and commitment.

"In every aspect of his being, Tom lived out the 'peace of Christ,'" stated Johnny Zokovitch, Pax Christi USA Executive Director. "Tom was everything that our movement aspires to. All of Pax Christi USA grieves at this loss but we celebrate too the gift that his life and witness were for us and for the Church."

Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry's Executive Director said: "With great sadness and great gratitude, New Ways Ministry mourns the passing of our dear friend, Bishop Thomas J Gumbleton. We will miss both his courageous voice for justice, which rang through our church, our country, and our world, and his gentle personal presence which touched our hearts.

He spoke on many issues, but the one most important to us was his uncompromising pursuit of justice for LGBTQ people, particularly in the church. Bishop Gumbleton paved the way for Pope Francis. Decades before this pope's openness, when a Catholic leader's support for LGBTQ people could negatively affect one's stature in the church, Bishop Gumbleton spoke fearlessly with compassion and certainty that were rooted in a deep commitment to the Gospel of Jesus.

He was not concerned about his own reputation or person. He was concerned that justice be done, that people be accepted, and that the institutional Catholic Church have the courage to live up to its own best ideals.

In the 34 years that he had been public about his support for LGBTQ issues, Bishop Gumbleton did more than any other member of the hierarchy to move church members, theologians, and pastoral ministers to extend a friendly and welcoming hand to LGBTQ people. For him, LGBTQ issues were not a question of sex, but of justice.

His passion for LGBTQ issues sprang from his relationship with his brother, Dan, who was gay. Bishop Gumbleton confessed that, when he first learned that Dan was gay, he was concerned about how Dan's identity might reflect negatively upon him. But the bishop was moved by a question his mother asked him, "Is Dan going to hell?" He quickly disavowed her of that notion and began to realize the truth of faith: God loves everyone, so the church should welcome everyone, just as they are.

When asked once how Catholics could get more bishops to speak out positively on gay issues, Bishop Gumbleton answered, "Find the gay and lesbian members of your families. That experience will change you."

New Ways Ministry is grateful for our relationship with Bishop Gumbleton over many decades. At New Ways Ministry's 1992 national symposium, Bishop Gumbleton first spoke publicly about his gay brother and how the Catholic Church needed to do so much more for LGBTQ people and for people like his mother. After that event, he began criss-crossing the United States, speaking to Catholic groups to help them better understand and welcome LGBTQ people. On such occasions, he sometimes celebrated Mass wearing a bishop's miter adorned with a pink triangle and rainbow colours.

From 1997 to 2002, Bishop Gumbleton served on New Ways Ministry's Advisory Board, stopping only because of a direct order from Pope John Paul II's Vatican to separate from the organization. He did separate in a public sense, but continued to attend board meetings and offered his wisdom and counsel. In 1992, Bishop Gumbleton collaborated with New Ways Ministry in recruiting 20 bishops to ask the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to write a pastoral letter to Catholic parents of lesbian and gay children. The result, five years later, was the document, Always Our Children. To this day, Always Our Children remains the most positive statement the U.S. bishops conference has produced on LGBTQ issues.

In 1992, Bishop Gumbleton received New Ways Ministry's "Bridge Building Award" for his brave pastoral leadership. During the introduction to the event, the emcee thanked Daretta Williams, Bishop Gumbleton's secretary, for her help in planning. When Bishop Gumbleton was called to the stage to accept the award, amidst sustained, thunderous applause, and a standing ovation, he whispered to the emcee, "Thank you for mentioning Daretta."

In a moment when he could have basked in glory, his first thought was not for himself, but for his secretary. Such is the example of humility that is part of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton's legacy.

The road ahead for LGBTQ Catholics is still a perilous one within their own church. Last year's Synod General Assembly in Rome showed that achieving consensus on questions of sexuality and gender appear to be in the distant future. But perhaps the closing Synod assembly in October 2024 will produce a surprisingly more positive outcome for LGBTQ people because we now have a powerful saint in heaven whose calls for justice and equality, for compassion and welcome have not died, and they will continue to echo through eternity."

Watch a video made by the Pax Christi Meta Peace Team with a selection of quotes from Bishop Gumbleton:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckoPUSg5Wa8&t=117s

See Pax Christi USA staff member Michelle Sherman's 2022 interview with Bishop Gumbleton:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMlCW8uTj2A&t=9s