Roads to Rome: Bishop Levi Silliman Ives (1797-1867)

Last updated on: January 4, 2011 at 6:05 am by Pat McNamara

Roads to Rome: Bishop Levi Silliman Ives (1797-1867) 2011-01-04T06:05:00-07:00 Pat McNamara

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In 1852, Dr. Levi Silliman Ives, the Episcopal Bishop of North Carolina, traveled to Rome, where he renounced his office and formally submitted to Pope Pius IX. In a dramatic gesture, he removed his episcopal ring and laid it at the pontiff’s feet. This was the first time since the Reformation of the sixteenth century that a Protestant bishop had embraced the Roman Catholic Church. In doing so, Ives abandoned a position, he wrote,

in which he had acted as a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church for more than thirty years, a bishop of the same for more than twenty, and sought late in life admission as a layman into the Holy Catholic Church, with no prospect before him, but simply peace of conscience and the salvation of his soul.

His conversion was international news. The New York Times wrote: “A change of faith, on the part of a person occupying a place so prominent in the religious world, is a serious matter, independently of the merits of creed or conviction.” A Dublin newspaper commented: “As Dr. Ives is married, unfortunately there is no prospect of his devoting his energies as a priest to the service of the church of his adoption.”

“The Ives family,” writes one historian, “is one of the oldest in America.” Arriving in America in 1635, they settled in Connecticut. In the 1790’s, Levi’s parents moved to New York. During the War of 1812, he interrupted his schooling to serve as a teenage soldier. Afterward he studied for the Presbyterian ministry. But he soon decided to join the Episcopal Church, for which he was ordained in 1823. Over the next few years he served in New York and Pennsylvania.

In 1822 Ives had married Rebecca Hobart, whose father was the Episcopal Bishop of New York and founder of Hobart College. John Henry Hobart has been described as “the very embodiment of American Epsicopalianism.” Rebecca’s godmother was future saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, “whom Dr. Hobart had so strenuously tried some years before to prevent from entering the Catholic Church.”

In May 1831, a Diocesan Convention held at Raleigh elected Ives Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina. He proved an active leader who promoted education as well as an outreach to African-Americans (while supporting slavery). In 1834, he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of North Carolina.

At this time in England, the Oxford Movement was attempting to revitalize the Anglican Church by reaffirming its prophetic role. It raised eyebrows, however, when several of its adherents converted to Roman Catholicism. John Henry Newman’s decision to leave the Church of England was a shocker on both sides of the Atlantic. In America, many Episcopal clergy began to question the validity of Roman claims; one of them was the Bishop of North Carolina.

A historian of North Carolina Episcopalianism writes: “It was in 1848-’49 that the religious practices of Bishop Ives began to be at variance with the Church in which he held office.” A major concern was a religious community he founded, the “Brotherhood of the Holy Cross,” which many considered too Roman with its habit and “prayers to the Virgin Mary and the Saints.” Ives was arraigned before a church convention, but was cleared after he dissolved the brotherhood.

Nonetheless, the bishop was moving Romeward. As he read more about Catholicism, he became increasingly uneasy about his own position. Finally, in late 1852, he took the leap, traveling to Rome. In October 1853, a General Convention of the Episcopal Church formally deposed him (even though he had already resigned) for

abandoning that portion of the flock of Christ committed to his oversight, and binding himself under anathema to the anti-Christian doctrines and practices imposed by the Council of Trent upon all the Churches of the Roman Obedience.

One Episcopal historian suggests that Ives’ “mind had been affected by the long attack of fever from which he had suffered.”

For an Episcopal bishop to become a Catholic layman was no small step. There was the question of how he would support himself and his wife (who also converted). The American Catholic bishops felt a sense of responsibility for Ives, and they gathered a collection for him. One historian notes that they even discussed ordaining him a deacon and sending him to North Carolina as a sort of vicar to oversee Catholic life, but nothing came of this.

Ives moved to New York, where Archbishop John Hughes appointed him to the faculty of St. Joseph’s Seminary in the Bronx (on the present-day Fordham University campus). His home on 138th Street in Harlem became a meeting place for converts. Ives also taught at Manhattan College and the College of Mount St. Vincent.

It was in charity work, however, that he found his real niche as a Catholic. He headed the local chapter of the St. Vincent De Paul Society, a lay organization created to help the poor. In 1863, he founded the Society for the Protection of Destitute Catholic Children, which opened the New York Catholic Protectory to care for homeless orphans. Its object was

To extend to these little sufferers a helping hand, to raise them from their state of degradation and misery and to place them in a condition where they may have a fair chance to work out for themselves a better destiny.

Soon the Manhattan facilities were overcrowded, and in 1865 a 114-acre farm was purchased in Westchester.

Ives died at his home on October 13, 1867. His last words were “Oh, how good God has been to me!” Bishops nationwide attended his funeral Mass. One Catholic paper declared: “His name should ever be held in benediction as the true friend of the poor and the suffering.” He was buried on the grounds of the Westchester protectory. An Episcopal historian commented: “His was a strange and eventful life, devoted throughout to the service of God and humanity.”

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 3, 2011

“This Faithful and Devout Catholic Soldier”: Lieutenant Colonel Julius P. Garesché (1821-1862)

Next Post

January 5, 2011 Quote of the Day

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category African-American Catholics Alabama Catholics American Catholic History American Catholic women American History Anniversaries Anti-Catholicism Arkansas Catholics Benedictines Bishops Blessed John Henry Newman Book Reviews Books Boston College Brooklyn churches Brothers California Catholics Capuchins Cardinals Carlo Carretto Carmelites Catholic authors Catholic Cemeteries Catholic Historians Catholic History in Less Than 5 Minutes Catholic musicians Catholic Poetry Catholic Press Catholic School Textbook Catholic University of America Catholic Worker Catholics and Music Catholics and Race Catholics in Politics Catholics in the American Revolution Catholics in the Military Catholics in the Movies Catholics in the South Catholics in the West Catholics on Stage Catjolic Women Catolic Poetry Charles de Foucauld Children's Masses Christian Brothers Christmas Church Reform Civil Rights Movement Civil War Colleges and universities Converts D.C. Catholics Deaf Catholics Dominicans. Dorothy Day English Catholics Florida Catholics Fordham University Franciscans French Catholics Georgetown University German Americans Good Shepherd Sisters Hispanic Catholics Historians and Archivists Holy Cross Fathers Holy Name Society Idaho Catholics Illinois Catholics Indian Wars Indiana Catholics Irish Americans Irish Catholicism Italian Americans Italian Catholics Jesuits Josephite Sisters Kentucky Catholics Know-Nothings Laetare Medal Recipients laity Liturgical Movement Maine Catholics Manhattan College Maryland Catholicism Michigan Catholics Middle Ages Minnesota Catholics Missionaries Mississippi Catholics Missouri Catholics Monasteries Montana Catholics Native Americans New England Catholicism New Jersey Catholics New York Catholics North American College Ohio Catholics Oratorians Oregon Catholics Parish Mission Parishes Passionists Pat McNamara's Books Paulists Pennsylvania Catholics Popes Presidents Priests Quotations Religious Orders Rhode Island Catholics Saints Salesians Seminarians Seminaries Sermons Servants of God Siisters of Charity Sisters of Mercy South Carolina Catholics Spanish-American War Sports St. Francis of Assiai St. John Henry Newman Suplicians Tennessee Catholics Texas Catholics The year in review Thomas Merton Throwback Thursday Photograph Trappists Uncategorized University of Notre Dame Video Presentations Vincentians Virginia Catholics Visitation Nuns Washington West Point West Virginia Catholics West Viriginia Catholics Wisconsin Catholicism Women Religious World War II

Select a Month December 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 March 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: 2 Peter warns that false teachers will secretly introduce destructive heresies.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE