Father Coyle Memorial Mass - Tuesday, August 11, 12:10 p.m. - St. Paul's Cathedral

Celebration of Father Coyle's Life
August 11 at St. Paul's Cathedral
by John Wright, Jr.

The 12:10 Mass on Tuesday, August 11 at St. Paul's Cathedral and a reception will honor the life of Father James Edwin Coyle on the 88th anniversary of his assassination in Birmingham. The Irish-born priest served as Pastor of St. Paul's for almost seventeen years, from October of 1904 until his death at 48 years of age.

Father Coyle courageously defended the Catholic Church and what Catholics believe during a time of public anti-Catholic economic and psychological persecution, promoted by the Ku Klux Klan and the True Americans, a powerful anti-Catholic group in Birmingham.In the early evening of Thursday, August 11, 1921, Father Coyle was shot in cold blood as he sat in the swing on the porch of the former parish rectory.

He was killed by an emotionally unstable minister, who was a Klansman, because Father had presided at the marriage of the man's daughter, Ruth, to a dark-skinned Puerto Rican, Pedro Gussman, less than two hours before the murder. The shooter was found not guilty after a one-week trial held in the former Jefferson County Courthouse, then located in the same block as St. Paul's.

This year's celebration of Father Coyle's life is co-sponsored by The Cathedral of St. Paul, the Father James E. Coyle Knights of Columbus Council 9862 based at St. Paul's, the FatherJames E. Coyle Birmingham Divison of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Father James E. Coyle Memorial Project.

The reception will be held immediately after Mass in the Cathedral Life Center. "We invite everyone to join us as we give thanks for Father Coyle's heroic, faithful priesthood during what was a tense and fearful time for Catholics in Birmingham," said Jim Pinto, Jr., Director of the Father Coyle Memorial Project.

More information about Father Coyle can be found at thewebsite, www.FatherCoyle.org.

Meeting on Tuesday, July 21, 6.30 p.m. at St. Paul's Cathedral

A Chairde,

For a change of pace, we will be holding our meeting this month downtown at the Cathedral of St. Paul on Tuesday, July 21 at 6.30p.m. Details will follow on the meeting room at the Cathedral.

After the meeting, we will head to Matthew's Bar & Grill for fellowship, craic, and delicious draft pints of Guinness, on special for $3.50 for the Hibernians thanks to Nathan Tucker.

Beanacht de Agat,
Dan