Our Hundred and Twenty-Fifth

Details: 14 September 2012

Bonacum

Bishop Thomas Bonacum, the first Bishop of the Diocese of Lincoln, was the most decisive figure in the establishment of the Diocese one hundred and twenty-five years ago. From December of 1887 until the beginning of February 1911, he poured his energy, zeal, and talent into bringing the new Diocese from infancy to adolescence, and this was done not only by courageously confronting countless difficulties and problems, but also by bravely facing severe hardships. He has always been described in these matters as an exceptional man of "indefatigable energy, broad vision, and strong will." His constant travels over the more than 22,000 square miles of the diocesan territory, occasionally by railroad, but most often by horse and buggy, never daunted him. The country roads and even some state highways in those days were usually just paths of mud or dust. He tirelessly and joyfully carried an enormous pastoral work-load of travel and labor almost up to the very end of his life.

The growing population in Southern Nebraska in those 23 years of his episcopate brought along the necessity of finding adequate numbers of priests and religious to shepherd the increased number of Catholics in that population growth. It also brought, however, some of the national post-Civil War social problems, among which were noisy and sometimes dangerous anti-Catholic movements and groupings. Among these were the remnants of the "Know-Nothing" national bigotry along with its so-called "respectable political arm", the "American Protective Association" (the "APA"). Both overt and covert prejudice against immigrant-settlers, especially Catholics, became widespread. Although the Territory of Nebraska was on the side of the Union in the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan also began to penetrate into the State at the end of the 19th century, particularly south of the Platte River, and it quickly added Jews and Catholics, along with Negroes, to its list of people to be hated. Since there were almost no Jews in Nebraska in those times, and very few African-Americans, the Klan began to concentrate its initial hatreds in Nebraska mostly against Catholics.

Methodist circuit riders, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Episcopalian ministers, promoters of various Baptist-type sects, and non-Catholic neighbors often strove to lure Catholics away from the truths of their faith. Their labors sometimes met with success because of the isolation of Catholics in the vast landscape of the Great Plains, and because many of the newly-arrived Catholics were poorly catechized and thus easily susceptible to Protestant blandishments.

Internal Problems

Probably the heaviest cross Bishop Bonacum had to carry and the cause of much heartbreak for him had to do with troublesome priests and usually with their disobedience in regard to their assignments. Encouraged by the congregational polity of many Protestants, a small number of priests encouraged their parishioners to insist that the parish members themselves were to hire and fire their priests as Protestants generally do with their ministers. This led to many conflicts with the Bishop and indeed many court cases. The lower courts in Nebraska were mostly in the hands of anti-Catholic judges who sided with the rebellious priests and parishioners. Bishop Bonacum was always vindicated in the State and the U.S. Supreme Courts, but those issues often took years to come to a conclusion. The newspapers in Lincoln, then, as even now sometimes, for the most part, were hostile to the Bishop, with an almost visceral hatred. Although some of the disputes between the Bishop and the small group of priests were sometimes petty and minor, a few were not. Once a priest even had the Bishop arrested for "criminal libel", when Bishop Bonacum told the people of his parish that he had removed that priest as the pastor. There frequently were threats against the person of the Bishop and even occasional violence.

Bishop Bonacum for his part was a man of strong character and conviction and always stood his ground when he knew he was in the right. The priests who opposed him were some who had been sent out years before as troublemakers and alcoholics from various East Coast Dioceses to the Indian Territory (where Bishops probably thought they could cause less trouble and were "out of sight and out of mind"). They were among those that Bishop O’Connor had placed south of the Platte River when he arranged for a Diocese there. It seems that it was not only his problems with crossing the river that caused Bishop O’Connor to push for another Diocese in Nebraska in 1887. The personality of Bishop Bonacum was such that he did not suffer fools or rebels easily and had no patience with disobedience from priests. Most of his priests loved him dearly and supported him in his difficulties.

Denouement

As Bishop Bonacum’s life and work entered its autumn phase respect for him began to increase, even among non-Catholics. His sterling integrity and obvious virtues, along with his clear accomplishments, caused many people who had considered themselves his enemies to reconsider their positions and views. Some of his priest-opponents even apologized openly and publicly to him for causing so much hurt and sorrow. Some other people, who remained hostile, nevertheless began to moderate and mitigate their expressions in his regard.

What he did with very limited resources, amid crop failures, grasshopper invasions, weather extremes, market, economic, and population fluctuations, and general Catholic poverty, was truly remarkable. When he arrived in Lincoln to become its first Bishop, the only Catholic school in the diocesan territory was the Academy of the Holy Child. When he died, there were 26 Catholic schools in the Diocese. Also there were 37,000 Catholics, 98 priests, 160 consecrated religious women, and 130 Catholic churches.

When he died on February 4, 1911, he was so well esteemed that the Mayor of Lincoln, Don Love, issued a proclamation: "By this sad event we have lost not only a great prelate but a distinguished and public-spirited citizen as well... It would be a fitting tribute to display emblems of mourning along our public streets and to close our offices and places of business during the hour of his funeral". The newspaper reported that the Mayor’s proclamation was heeded. Almost all businesses and offices closed, the courthouse and the judges stopped their work that day, and all the flags in Lincoln were flown at half mast at the Mayor’s suggestion. Some years later, at a celebration for the 25th anniversary of Bishop Louis Kucera, Father John Carey said this: "The more the passing of years takes us older priests away from the time of Bishop Bonacum, the greater he looms up before us. Bishop Bonacum was a true pioneer Bishop. He was a builder. He knew his duty and loved it. He thought not of himself, but only of the work to be done."

After Bishop Bonacum’s funeral, the diocesan consultors chose Father (later Monsignor) Alois J. Klein to be the Administrator of the Diocese until the Pope would name the next Bishop. This second Bishop of Lincoln was Monsignor J. Henry Tihen, a priest of the Diocese of Wichita, who was appointed by Pope Saint Pius X on May 12, 1911.