Born in Boston, Massachusetts, James Gillis attended Boston Latin School and later studied philosophy at St. John's Seminary in Brighton. He decided to enter the Paulist community after hearing Walter Elliott, C.S.P., preach in 1898. He was professed on December 20, 1900, and ordained a priest on December 21, 1901.
His first years were spent as a teacher at St. Thomas College and as a missionary in Chicago. In 1907 he was named the novice master. After three years as a "strict but inspiring master" he returned to New York and gave 158 missions over the next 12 years.
In 1922 Gillis succeeded John J. Burke as editor of "The Catholic World," transforming it into a pulpit for social commentary. He critiqued the rise of both communism and fascism in Europe, the threat that the New Deal posed to personal liberty, and American participation in World War II. The literary duels between Gillis and John LaFarge, S.J., then editor of "America," precipitated as they were by distinct differences around social and governmental policy, were renowned.
Gillis was also a well-known radio commentator on WLWL and NBC, and authored a nationally syndicated newspaper column, "Sursum Corda."
Declining in health and stamina he retired as editor of "The Catholic World" in 1948. Gillis retired and was in residence at St. Paul the Apostle parish in New York. Although slowed by a series of strokes in his final years, he was able to return to Boston in the mid-1950's for the cornerstone-laying ceremony at the new Paulist Center on Park Street. Archbishop Richard Cushing declared the Center should celebrate Boston's most famous Paulist and be renamed "The Fr. James Gillis Catholic Center." Gillis died in New York on March 14, 1957, at the age of 80 and after 57 years as a Paulist priest.
For more information on the life of Fr Gillis, see "James Gillis, Paulist" by James F. Finley, CSP. New York: Doubleday, 1958. 270 pages.
His first years were spent as a teacher at St. Thomas College and as a missionary in Chicago. In 1907 he was named the novice master. After three years as a "strict but inspiring master" he returned to New York and gave 158 missions over the next 12 years.
In 1922 Gillis succeeded John J. Burke as editor of "The Catholic World," transforming it into a pulpit for social commentary. He critiqued the rise of both communism and fascism in Europe, the threat that the New Deal posed to personal liberty, and American participation in World War II. The literary duels between Gillis and John LaFarge, S.J., then editor of "America," precipitated as they were by distinct differences around social and governmental policy, were renowned.
Gillis was also a well-known radio commentator on WLWL and NBC, and authored a nationally syndicated newspaper column, "Sursum Corda."
Declining in health and stamina he retired as editor of "The Catholic World" in 1948. Gillis retired and was in residence at St. Paul the Apostle parish in New York. Although slowed by a series of strokes in his final years, he was able to return to Boston in the mid-1950's for the cornerstone-laying ceremony at the new Paulist Center on Park Street. Archbishop Richard Cushing declared the Center should celebrate Boston's most famous Paulist and be renamed "The Fr. James Gillis Catholic Center." Gillis died in New York on March 14, 1957, at the age of 80 and after 57 years as a Paulist priest.
For more information on the life of Fr Gillis, see "James Gillis, Paulist" by James F. Finley, CSP. New York: Doubleday, 1958. 270 pages.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, James Gillis attended Boston Latin School and later studied philosophy at St. John's Seminary in Brighton. He decided to enter the Paulist community after hearing Walter Elliott, C.S.P., preach in 1898. He was professed on December 20, 1900, and ordained a priest on December 21, 1901.
His first years were spent as a teacher at St. Thomas College and as a missionary in Chicago. In 1907 he was named the novice master. After three years as a "strict but inspiring master" he returned to New York and gave 158 missions over the next 12 years.
In 1922 Gillis succeeded John J. Burke as editor of "The Catholic World," transforming it into a pulpit for social commentary. He critiqued the rise of both communism and fascism in Europe, the threat that the New Deal posed to personal liberty, and American participation in World War II. The literary duels between Gillis and John LaFarge, S.J., then editor of "America," precipitated as they were by distinct differences around social and governmental policy, were renowned.
Gillis was also a well-known radio commentator on WLWL and NBC, and authored a nationally syndicated newspaper column, "Sursum Corda."
Declining in health and stamina he retired as editor of "The Catholic World" in 1948. Gillis retired and was in residence at St. Paul the Apostle parish in New York. Although slowed by a series of strokes in his final years, he was able to return to Boston in the mid-1950's for the cornerstone-laying ceremony at the new Paulist Center on Park Street. Archbishop Richard Cushing declared the Center should celebrate Boston's most famous Paulist and be renamed "The Fr. James Gillis Catholic Center." Gillis died in New York on March 14, 1957, at the age of 80 and after 57 years as a Paulist priest.
For more information on the life of Fr Gillis, see "James Gillis, Paulist" by James F. Finley, CSP. New York: Doubleday, 1958. 270 pages.
His first years were spent as a teacher at St. Thomas College and as a missionary in Chicago. In 1907 he was named the novice master. After three years as a "strict but inspiring master" he returned to New York and gave 158 missions over the next 12 years.
In 1922 Gillis succeeded John J. Burke as editor of "The Catholic World," transforming it into a pulpit for social commentary. He critiqued the rise of both communism and fascism in Europe, the threat that the New Deal posed to personal liberty, and American participation in World War II. The literary duels between Gillis and John LaFarge, S.J., then editor of "America," precipitated as they were by distinct differences around social and governmental policy, were renowned.
Gillis was also a well-known radio commentator on WLWL and NBC, and authored a nationally syndicated newspaper column, "Sursum Corda."
Declining in health and stamina he retired as editor of "The Catholic World" in 1948. Gillis retired and was in residence at St. Paul the Apostle parish in New York. Although slowed by a series of strokes in his final years, he was able to return to Boston in the mid-1950's for the cornerstone-laying ceremony at the new Paulist Center on Park Street. Archbishop Richard Cushing declared the Center should celebrate Boston's most famous Paulist and be renamed "The Fr. James Gillis Catholic Center." Gillis died in New York on March 14, 1957, at the age of 80 and after 57 years as a Paulist priest.
For more information on the life of Fr Gillis, see "James Gillis, Paulist" by James F. Finley, CSP. New York: Doubleday, 1958. 270 pages.
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