Michael Gallagher (bishop)

Michael James Gallagher (November 16, 1866 in Auburn, Michigan – January 20, 1937) was the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Detroit from 1918 to 1937.

Styles of Michael James Gallagher
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop
Posthumous style	not applicable

His Excellency, The Most Reverend Michael James Gallagher
Bishop of Detroit
See	Detroit
In office	November 18, 1918 – January 20, 1937
Predecessor	John Samuel Foley
Successor	Edward Aloysius Mooney
Orders
Ordination	March 19, 1893 by Henry Richter
Consecration	September 8, 1915 by Henry Richter
Personal details
Born	November 18, 1866 Auburn, Michigan
Died	January 20, 1937 (age 70) Detroit, Michigan
Nationality	American
Denomination	Catholic Church

Career

Gallagher was ordained a priest for the diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 19, 1893. On July 5, 1915, he was appointed titular bishop of Tipasa and coadjutor of Grand Rapids. On December 26, 1916, he was appointed bishop of Grand Rapids. On July 18, 1918, Gallagher was appointed bishop of Detroit, where he served until his death in 1937.[1]

In 1926, Gallagher appointed Charles Coughlin as parish priest in Royal Oak. Coughlin's popular radio broadcasts raised funds for the building of National Shrine of the Little Flower in the parish, but his increasingly political and antisemitic content grew controversial. Although the Vatican, the Nunico, and the Archbishop of Cincinnati all wanted Coughlin silenced, they recognized that only Gallagher, as Coughlin's ordinary, had the canonical authority to do so, which he declined to exercise.[2]

Residence

The Fisher Brothers of the firm Fisher Body in Detroit commissioned the Boston firm of McGinnis and Walsh, specialists in ecclesiastical architecture, to design a residence for Bishop Gallagher.[3][4] The 39,000-square-foot (3,600 m²) home, paid for by the Fishers, is the largest within the city of Detroit.[3]

Bishop Gallagher residence in Detroit's Palmer Woods Historic District.

The two-story brick residence, a large central structure flanked by diagonal wings.[3] Religious themes are included throughout the house, both on the exterior and the interior.[3] On the exterior, medallions, shields and crests are set into the brickwork, and a copper statue of the St. Michael the Archangel defeating Satan is prominent.[3] The interior is finished with oak, stone and masonry. The house had, at one time, the largest collection of Pewabic glazed pottery tile in Michigan.[3]

Gallagher lived in this home until his death in 1937; subsequent archbishops of Detroit Edward Mooney and John Francis Dearden also lived in the home.[3]

See also

• Archdiocese of Detroit

References

1. "Bishop Michael James Gallagher". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
2. Boyea, Earl (1995). "The Reverend Charles Coughlin and the Church: the Gallagher Years, 1930-1937". Catholic Historical Review. 81 (2): 211–225.
3. Bishop's Residence Archived 2018-10-06 at the Wayback Machine from Detroit1701.org
4. McDonald, Maureen (November 28, 2006).Visit with a Giant. Model D Media. Retrieved on December 23, 2008.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Henry Richter	Bishop of Grand Rapids 1916–1918	Succeeded by Edward D. Kelly
Preceded by John Samuel Foley	Bishop of Detroit 1918–1937	Succeeded by Edward Mooney