Archbishop John Hughes

It was heartening this morning to hear Cardinal Edward Egan of New York pay tribute to Archbishop John Hughes at the beginning of the televised papal mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Cardinal Egan noted that the cornerstone of New York's great cathedral had been laid by Archbishop Hughes in 1858.

John Hughes had arrived in America as a poor immigrant from Ireland, worked as a gardener to study for the priesthood, and eventually became a formidable political power broker in New York City. He defended New York's Catholic churches from nativist mobs intending to torch them, and President Lincoln dispatched him as an envoy to Europe during the Civil War.

St. Patrick's Cathedral was envisioned by Archbishop Hughes as a mighty symbol to the Irish who flooded into New York following the Great Famine. And it was fitting to hear a mention of the archbishop on television this morning, as the great cathedral also stands as a symbol of his steadfast leadership during some very turbulent times in the mid-1800s.