Dissertation Information for James Michael O'Toole NAME: - James Michael O'Toole
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- History
SCHOOL:
- Boston College (USA) (1987)
ADVISORS: - None COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - None
MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected
Title: Militant and triumphant: William Henry O'Connell and Boston Catholicism, 1859-1944
Abstract: "William Henry Cardinal O'Connell served as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston. After his boyhood and early education, he embarked on a career in the church that was characterized by a rapid rise, fueled by equal parts of ability and ambition. He served as a parish priest and seminary rector, and in 1901 he was made bishop of Portland, Maine. In 1906, after an intense campaign of lobbying for the job, he secured the designation as archbishop of Boston.
Having achieved his goal, however, O'Connell failed to live up to the promise of his early career as a churchman. Both he himself and later historians claimed that he presided over an administrative revolution in managing church affairs in Boston, but no such significant change actually occurred. Though he sought to concentrate all ecclesiastical power in his own hands, he was unable to triumph over the localized forces that made up an organization as complex as the archdiocese. Despite his use of the rhetoric of centralized authority, he found his actual power circumscribed. He did assume the role of leader of the conservative, ultramontane faction in American Catholicism, but the fall from power of his allies in Rome effectively limited his influence. More important, he was embarrassed in the 1920s by a moral and financial scandal involving his nephew, a priest who served as the cardinal's administrative alter ego but who also led a double life as a married man. O'Connell survived his enemies' attempts to have him dismissed over this incident, but his national and international stature was further reduced. Still, he was able to emerge as a symbol for Boston Catholicism in the early part of the twentieth century, giving voice to hopes for Catholic self-assertion in political and social affairs and urging adherence to strict standards of moral behavior.
This dissertation, relying on collections of primary sources previously unavailable to scholars, describes these facets of O'Connell's life and career."
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MPACT Scores for James Michael O'Toole A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:29:03
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