Peter FEUERHERD. The Radical Gospel of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton. Maryknoll: Orbis, 2019. pp. 120. $18.00 pb. ISBN 978-1-62698-340-3. Reviewed by Moni MCINTYRE, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

Many people get baptized; few people live as if they were.  In this slim volume, Peter Feuerherd captures the life of a man who has taken seriously his baptismal vows and the dictates of Jesus the Christ.  Bishop Thomas Gumbleton (“Tom” to those of us who have known him all our lives) exemplifies the life of a prelate who lives beyond the vesture and privilege of his ecclesiastical orders.

Assigned to write the obituary of the then active octogenarian (Gumbleton turned 90 on January 26, 2020), News Editor Feuerherd searched the archives of the National Catholic Reporter (NCR), his long-time employer.  The book demonstrates why Feuerherd has won numerous Catholic Press Association awards during his long and distinguished career.  The author uncovered decades of peace activism in the life of this auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Less a biography and more an impressionistic blend of Gumbleton’s life, times, and causes, this book nevertheless reveals enough of his early years to reveal him as a person striving to be a faithful Catholic Christian. Feuerherd describes Gumbleton’s stereotypical Irish Catholic background and his life as a young priest who grew up before the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).  Assigned to a Dearborn, Michigan parish following ordination in 1956, Gumbleton was oblivious of the racism all around him.  Similarly, he was unaware of global issues of war and peace, especially and including Vietnam.

Sent to Rome to study canon law early in his ministry, Gumbleton was on the ecclesiastical fast track.  While in Rome he met such theological giants as Hans Kung and John Courtney Murray, who deeply affected Gumbleton’s understanding of church.  Upon his return from Rome, he worked in the chancery alongside the progressive Cardinal John Dearden.

The urban revolution (riots) of 1967 in Detroit profoundly affected the young priest.  Suddenly, he became intellectually and viscerally aware of the segregation and attendant racism all around him as well as the Catholic Church’s need for a thoughtful and comprehensive response.  Not surprisingly, “Gumbleton embraced the cause of civil rights activism” (41).
Ordained a bishop in 1968, Gumbleton was sent by his superiors to quell the increasing level of protests by those unwilling to give uncritical support to American policies, both foreign and domestic.  Gumbleton emerged from the first such meeting a changed man.  As a result of conversations, prayer, and reflection, he found himself moving toward and eventually embracing pacifism.  This gentle bishop, who would not be silenced, was on the cusp of every movement for justice.  He struggled to remain faithful to the Catholic Church and the gospel imperative to love everyone, including one’s enemies.  While many believers were questioning the wisdom of lifting of the requirement for meatless Fridays and changes in Sunday Mass, Gumbleton and his ilk were investigating the impact of the Council documents that urged involvement in actions of social justice and what that might mean for participation in the Vietnam war.

Gumbleton faced sanctions by both civil and ecclesiastical authorities.  He was arrested time and again at various protest gatherings and never promoted by his superiors.  Whereas most auxiliary bishops eventually lead their own dioceses, Gumbleton was never selected to do so.  He was viewed as an embarrassment and worse by those empowered to hurt and help him in the church.  In fact, he was recently removed from his small accommodations in a poor Detroit parish.

Generations of activist Catholics grew up knowing and admiring Gumbleton.  As the NCR knows too well, we will not have him in our midst for too many more years.  The “obituary” written by Peter Feurerherd is an introduction to the American Catholic Church as well as a glimpse of a gentle giant within it.  I heartily endorse this attempt to capture the contours of this great man.