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Chicago Tribune
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Ellen Skerrett: The pope's mother came of age during a complex Catholic-centered Chicago
The thousands who will gather on Saturday for a Mass and celebration in honor of Pope Leo XIV at Rate Field, home of the White Sox, may regard baseball parks as sacred spaces. For good reason — they join churches and schools as places that have shaped the lives of ordinary Chicagoans, including the pope's mother. Charles Comiskey, founder and owner of the Chicago White Sox, understood all about the power of sacred space to inspire. As a child growing up in the Jesuit parish established by the Rev. Arnold Damen, S.J., he sat with his family in pew No. 18 of Church of the Holy Family. Its ornate Gothic interior, completed according to the plans of architect John Mills Van Osdel, was built with the nickels and dimes of Irish families who were creating a place for themselves in Chicago. At 11 years of age, Comiskey was one of the first students to enroll in St. Ignatius College, now known as St. Ignatius College Prep, in September 1870. His classical education began in the Preparatory Department, and, according to the school ledger, he stayed 'about two years off & on.' Comiskey had 'baseball fever' and was a familiar figure on the 'prairies' around Maxwell Street. But his father regarded the American game as 'a sport for town boys and loafers' and sent him to school in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and then St. Mary's in Kansas. His passion for baseball only intensified. Pope Leo XIV's mother, Mildred Agnes Martinez, was born a year after Comiskey's 'baseball cathedral' was dedicated on July 1, 1910, at 35th Street and Shields Avenue. For her, education — not baseball — was the game, and the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or BVM, were her team. Their Chicago roots, like Comiskey's, go back all the way to Damen and Church of the Holy Family. In 1867, Agatha Hurley, BVM, answered Damen's invitation to establish St. Aloysius Academy on Maxwell Street, a decision that had far-reaching consequences for the city of Chicago. The need was great. According to Damen, 'we have now 1,000 boys in our (elementary) school and we should have as many girls.' One of Comiskey's contemporaries, Mary Kane, played a crucial role in the education of Pope Leo XIV's mother. Born in Carrigaholt, Ireland, just after the famine, she came to the Jesuit parish as a 10-year-old with her illiterate immigrant mother and four brothers. Kane was among the crowd who welcomed the BVMs to Chicago in August 1867, and she had the honor of carrying the sisters' altar stone to their new chapel. In 1870, Kane joined the Sisters of Charity, and as Sister Mary Isabella, she quickly rose through the ranks. Elected mother general of her order in 1919, she directed the expansion of the BVM network of grammar and high schools in Chicago and the Midwest. Irish immigrant 'sister-builder' Kane gave Frank Lloyd Wright's draftsman, Barry Byrne, his first important commission: The Immaculata High School. Martinez's alma mater at 640 W. Irving Park Road, was a Prairie School structure of great beauty. In 1923, the Chicago Tribune described it as the 'last word in high schools.' These Catholic sisters challenged conventions. Whereas bishops ordinarily name parishes, 361 BVMs from 20 schools voted to call their new institution 'The Immaculata' after the mother of Jesus. In the 1920s, the BVM sisters were putting their imprint on the urban landscape with a building that matched their progressive ideas of education. At a time when social reformers were advocating domestic training for women, The Immaculata offered a four-year classical curriculum that prepared young women for college and careers as teachers in Chicago's public schools. And their commercial department ensured skills that translated into jobs in the 'front offices' of Chicago businesses and utilities. The sisters, themselves the daughters and granddaughters of immigrants, were investing in the future of their students from working-class and middle-class families. Every day from 1924 until her graduation in 1929, the pope's mother walked through The Immaculata's entrance dominated by Alfonso Iannelli's carved Madonna. The BVMs' commitment to art, music and drama was reflected in the curriculum, and as an Immaculata student, Martinez had many opportunities to find her voice. She was likely among the 60,000 students who participated in the Mass of the Angels at Soldier Field during the Eucharistic Congress of 1926. According to one account, Immaculata students drew attention for 'the cardinal red hats' that they wore as part of their uniform. The quintessential query 'Where did I come from?' takes on new meaning the more we understand the complex Catholic world in which the pope's mother came of age. This 'housewife' from Dolton was baptized at Holy Name Cathedral in 1912 and married there in 1949 to Louis Prevost. Growing up in that parish, Martinez experienced devotions and ritual on a grand scale, with elaborate ceremonies conducted by bishops, archbishops and cardinals. All true, but what about the influence of the 'good sisters'? After all, her aunt, Louise Martinez, was a Sister of Mercy and her aunt, Hilda Martinez, joined the BVM community. Perhaps the question we need to be asking is: What lessons did Mildred Prevost carry from her Immaculata education that shaped her life as a librarian, as well as a wife and mother of three boys? Like so many of us, her son Robert, now Pope Leo XIV, is the beneficiary of this rich legacy of women's work. Ellen Skerrett, a Chicago historian, is writing the history of St. Ignatius College Prep.
Sunday World
18-05-2025
- Sunday World
Hopes are high that remains of ‘Disappeared' IRA man Joe Lynskey have finally been found
A republican source in rural Monaghan told us: 'I know we've been down this road before, but I honestly believe this time we have Joe Lynskey' Joe Lynskey with the Price sisters in Say Nothing This is the spot at Annyall Cemetery where Fragments of human remains were discovered by Independent Commission for the Location of Victims this week as the search continues for Joe Lynskey. This is the spot at Annyall Cemetery where fragments of human remains were discovered by Independent Commission for the Location of Victims this week as the search continues for Joe Lynskey Hopes were high last night that the remains of 'Disappeared' IRA man Joe Lynskey have finally been found, the Sunday World has learned. On Tuesday, we were made aware that a convoy of Garda vehicles and a number of black Mercedes cars had assembled near the grave of the Comiskey family in a small Catholic cemetery at Annyalla, Co Monaghan. It came five months after six bodies were exhumed from the family grave of Bishop Brendan Comiskey. However, in March the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) revealed that DNA tests confirmed that Lynskey was not one of them. The 40-year-old former Cistersian monk from Belfast was killed and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972. The Sunday World can reveal that human remains which were removed from the cemetery this week were 30 yards from the Comiskey plot, where Bishop Comiskey was buried earlier this month. This is the spot at Annyall Cemetery where fragments of human remains were discovered by Independent Commission for the Location of Victims this week as the search continues for Joe Lynskey It's a remote and silent spot, shaded yesterday by a lone hawthorn in full bloom of mayflower. Just a short distance away, boys and girls were inside the adjoining St Michael's church making their First Communion. And last night, a republican source in rural Monaghan told us: 'I know we've been down this road before, but I honestly believe this time we have Joe Lynskey.' He added: 'It's in all our interests that we do all we can to facilitate the finding of the bodies of the Disappeared.' Late on Friday afternoon And following an inquiry from the Sunday World, the ICLVR issued a statement to the press that partial human remains had been discovered. Eamon Henry, lead investigator of the ICLVR, said: 'Following the recent exhumation at Annyalla Cemetery in relation to the search for Joe Lynskey, information came to the ICLVR indicating another small area of interest within the confines of the cemetery. 'This was not another family grave site. The search continues for Joe Lynskey 'I want to emphasise that this information did not relate directly to the disappearance of Joe Lynskey and until we have positive identification or the elimination of the remains of Joe Lynskey, or any of the other Disappeared, we have to keep an open mind.' Joe Lynskey News in 90 Seconds - May 18th Mr Henry also said he was aware the hopes of the Lynskey family had been raised once before, only to be disappointed. And he cautiously added: 'The process of identification could take some time and we will continue to offer the family what support we can.' Garda officers remained at the graveyard on Tuesday and Wednesday, while specially trained experts brought in a small digger machine to begin a new search operation. Last December, Bishop Comiskey had personally given the go-ahead for the search to take place at his family's grave, bearing the bodies of his mother and father and other members of his family. And when Bishop Comiskey was buried there, the family plot was closed for good. It had previously been wrongly believed that the IRA had taken advantage of a tragedy at the Comiskey family farm to cover up the fate of Joe Lynskey. Lynskey had gone missing from his west Belfast home around the same time that Bishop Brendan Comiskey's mother Clare died in fire at the family farm at Tasson, near Annyalla. Former bishop of Ferns Brendan Comiskey pictured during a confirmation cermony in 1997 . Photo When her elderly husband Patrick went off to summons help, Mrs Comiskey re-entered the blazing farmhouse in an effort to retrieve valuables. Lynskey went missing from his home in the Beechmount area of west Belfast in 1972. He was driven to Monaghan town by IRA volunteer Dolours Price. And on the journey, he shared with her the trail of debris he had left in his wake, which almost sparked a full-scale feud within rival factions of the republican movement. Lynskey had previously been in the IRA during the failed 'Border Campaign'. And when violence erupted on the streets of Belfast in the early 1970s, he joined the Provisional IRA. As he was older and had some weapons experience, he was appointed to senior post with a number of younger men under his command. Soon afterwards, he became infatuated with the wife of a young IRA member. And in an effort to get rid of his love rival, he ordered another IRA volunteer to shoot the woman's husband dead. The order was carried out, but it was botched and the targeted man survived. He approached a number of leading Provos and he told them Lynskey had ordered him to be shot because he was having and affair with his wife. But Lynskey had already told his IRA bosses that the shooting was the work of the Official IRA, which at the time was as powerful as the Provos. The Provo leadership had already ordered a number of retaliatory attacks on the Officials. Joe Lynskey with the Price sisters in Say Nothing But when the full truth emerged, Lynskey was court marshalled and ordered to travel to Monaghan until the IRA decided his fate. On the journey across the border, Dolours Price later revealed how she felt sorry for her passenger, even offering to leave him off at a cross-channel ferry terminal, but Lynskey insisted he had to take his medicine. The journey scene was re-enacted in the recent Disney+ series Say Nothing. In Monaghan, Lynskey was dropped off at the Park Street home of a well-known republican family related to legendary IRA figure Fergal O'Hanlon, who was shot dead in 1957 attacking Brookeborough RUC barracks in Co Fermanagh. We recently learned that although Lynskey was under IRA orders, he wasn't a prisoner and he was free to come and go as he pleased. In the evenings, Lynskey prayed a lot and he enjoyed discussions about Irish history with Einaghan O'Hanlon – Fergal's brother – as they ate home-made bread and drank tea. We learned from republican members who knew Lynskey that he was resigned to his fate and he was fully aware that one day he would pay the ultimate price for trying to deceive the IRA leadership. Eventually, an order came from Belfast saying he was to be shot dead. But local volunteers who had come to know him and liked him refused to carry it out. In the end a number of IRA gunmen from Belfast were despatched to Monaghan to carry out dirty deed. According to our sources, Lynskey asked to be buried in consecrated ground. And his killers took him to the cemetery at Annyalla where they shot him dead. As DNA testing on the remains found there this week begin, many of Lynskey's old republican friends are praying and hoping the tests prove positive. As well as Lynskey, the commission is also tasked with finding three other victims – County Tyrone teenager Columba McVeigh, British army Captain Robert Nairac and Seamus Maguire, who was in his mid-20s and last seen in a bar in Aghagallan, Co Antrim. Anyone with information on the four outstanding Disappeared cases, can contact the Commission on 00 353 1 602 8655 or by email to secretary@ or by post to ICLVR, PO box 10827, Dublin, Ireland.
Chicago Tribune
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
1919 Black Sox: What to know about the World Series scandal, ‘Shoeless' Joe Jackson and more
The 1919 Chicago White Sox — considered by some baseball historians as one of the greatest teams ever to take the field — were heavy favorites to beat the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. But in the best-of-nine series (Major League Baseball decided to expand from the best-of-seven format because of postwar demand), the Reds dominated. There had been rumors and reports that the fix was in, and indeed the Sox's performance was suspect. A year later, eight Sox players were charged with conspiring with gamblers to throw the World Series. In 1921, all were acquitted by a jury that deliberated for just 2 hours, 47 minutes. A day after their acquittal, however, MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis ruled the players allegedly involved — Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, Happy Felsch, Chick Gandil, Fred McMullin, Swede Risberg, Buck Weaver and Lefty Williams — would be banned for life from organized baseball. A century later, the team is still tagged the Black Sox. Here's what to know about the scandal. During the regular season, Sox pitching ace Cicotte won 29 games and slugging outfielder Jackson batted .351. So going into World Series, the Sox were heavily favored by the bookies. They were offering 13-20 odds on the Sox, which meant a bettor had to put up $20 for a chance to win $13. Conversely, a $7 wager on the Reds would yield $10, which attracted the professional gamblers who don't like leaving money matters to chance. Game 1 demonstrated they were getting value for their alleged bribe money. It was played in Cincinnati, and the Sox lost 9-1. As the Tribune reported: 'They missed hit-and-run plays twice in the first two innings, the very kind that they have been turning against the other American League clubs all summer, and the very kind of plays that have made the Sox such a strong offensive team.' 'I don't know what's the matter, but I do know that something is wrong with my gang,' Sox manager Kid Gleason said after Game 1. 'The bunch I had fighting in August for the pennant would have trimmed this Cincinnati bunch without a struggle. The bunch I have now couldn't beat a high school team.' Here's how the Tribune covered the whole series. The Black Sox Scandal remains a popular topic for historians and entertainers, spawning books and movies such as 'Eight Men Out' and 'Field of Dreams.' But as the legend grew, so did the myths — such as that of owner Charles Comiskey being a miser, forcing his players to seek compensation through gamblers. When the Sox lost the series, Comiskey acknowledged rumors that some of his players hadn't been trying and offered $10,000 to anyone who could prove the accusation. He revealed he had hired detectives to investigate the alleged scandal. 'I am now very happy to state that we have discovered nothing to indicate any member of my team double crossed me or the public last fall,' Comiskey told the Tribune on Dec. 14, 1919. Two weeks later, Comiskey walked back his assertion that there hadn't been any monkey business. Then guilt pangs brought Cicotte to Comiskey's office. 'Yeah, we were crooked,' the pitcher sobbed. 'Don't tell me,' Comiskey said. 'Tell it to the grand jury.' According to Cicotte, the scheme wasn't hatched by gamblers who seduced naive players, as it's often said. His teammate Gandil was the architect. He recruited the other players and marketed the scheme to the underworld. When the players were tried in 1921, Jackson repudiated his confession, and he and Weaver noted they had batted .375 and .324 in the Series, respectively. So the charge of throwing the series made no sense. The jury acquitted them and the other defendants. But all eight players were banned from professional baseball by Landis, a Chicago federal judge who was newly installed as baseball's first commissioner with a mandate to clean house. Commissioner Rob Manfred reinstated Jackson and the other seven banned Sox players — as well as MLB career hits leader Pete Rose — on May 13, making both Jackson and Rose eligible for the Hall of Fame. Rose's permanent ban, also related to a gambling scandal, was lifted eight months after his death and came a day before the Reds were to honor him on Pete Rose Night. Manfred announced he was changing baseball's policy on permanent ineligibility, saying bans would expire after death. Several others also had their status changed by the ruling, including former Philadelphia Phillies President William D. Cox and former New York Giants outfielder Benny Kauff. Under the Hall of Fame's current rules, the earliest Rose or Jackson could be inducted would be 2028. The Sox issued a statement that with the reinstated players' ability to be considered for the Hall of Fame, the team 'trust(s) that the process currently in place will thoughtfully evaluate each player's contributions to the game.' To Jackson's family, the punishment never fit the crime. 'The things that people get away with now, this is like nothing,' Debra Ebert, Jackson's great-niece, said in 2019. 'If someone would just listen to us …' Mike Nola, a historian and board member at the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum in the ballplayer's hometown of Greenville, S.C., said in 2019 there were no immediate plans for a new advocacy campaign. But Nola said at the time that the board had recently heard that MLB or the commissioner's office might not be the best direction for the long-shot remedy. He said that because all of the Black Sox players are dead, MLB might believe it doesn't have jurisdiction over 'lifetime bans' and that petitions or advocacy might be better directed toward the Hall of Fame. 'It's not like if they reinstate Joe he'll come out of a cornfield and play ball,' Nola said. 'It just doesn't work that way.' For almost 30 years in 2015, Patricia Anderson had lived in a scenic, rural Missouri town about 100 miles southwest of St. Louis. But in her living room, she was surrounded by images of her youth on the South Side of Chicago, where she was raised by her uncle — former White Sox third baseman Buck Weaver. 'Living with Buck, it was a wonderful way to grow up,' Anderson said. 'He was my idol.' In 2015, Anderson and her family launched their latest attempt to clear the name of Weaver. 'Pete Rose was a great player and we understand why baseball is considering his reinstatement,' said Sharon Anderson, Patricia's daughter. 'But our family can't give up on Buck.' Chicago is home to many places associated with the Black Sox scandal to check out:
Belfast Telegraph
02-05-2025
- Belfast Telegraph
‘We'll be forever grateful for their compassion': Lynskeys pay tribute to Comiskey family following death of controversial bishop
Maria Lynskey was speaking following the funeral of Bishop Comiskey, who died on April 28, aged 89. Ms Lynskey, the niece of Joe Lynskey, who was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972, said she and the wider Lynskey family will be 'forever grateful for the compassion shown by Bishop Dr Brendan Comiskey and his family' for all their assistance in the search for her uncle's remains in Annyalla Cemetery, Co Monaghan, in November last year. Remains from the Comiskey family grave were exhumed by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR), the body set up to locate and recover the remains of the Disappeared, when it was believed that Mr Lynskey's body may have been buried in the grave following his murder. DNA testing revealed that although there were remains in the grave that did not belong to the Comiskey family, they were not those of Joe Lynskey or any other Disappeared. Maria Lynskey said: 'Previous searches for Joe's remains were in a field and on a bog. 'Going into a family grave was very different and it must have come as a shock to the family to think that one of the Disappeared might be there. I can only imagine how distressing it must have been for them. 'Bishop Comiskey, who was very ill at the time, and his family supported the ICLVR's efforts to find Joe despite the very difficult personal circumstances, and that showed great compassion,' she added. 'I will never forget it and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.' A former Cistercian monk from the Beechmount area of west Belfast, Mr Lynskey later joined the IRA and went missing in 1972. Republicans have claimed he was 'executed and buried' by the IRA. The latest search in November last year was the first since 2018. Before that, a search for the remains of Mr Lynskey recovered the remains of Seamus Wright and Kevin McKee. The remains of four of the original 19 Disappeared — Captain Robert Nairac, Seamus Maguire, Columba McVeigh and Joe Lynskey — have yet to be recovered. Maria Lynskey interview As last November's search got underway, Ms Lynskey said her father, who had been dead for 30 years, would have loved to have known where his brother was. 'When people give information, they don't realise how humble and how grateful we are that they have given information,' she said, speaking of her hopes that the details provided would finally lead to her uncle's remains being discovered. 'Whoever owns this grave, I thank them from the bottom of my heart… Hopefully it's Joe. I hope to God it's Joe and that we can bring him home. 'But we still have four more bodies — three men and one young woman — that we need to bring home, too.' Describing her uncle, Ms Lynskey said: 'He was quiet. He was quite gentle and shy in a way. He was the only uncle we had.' Bishop Brendan Comiskey had resigned from Ferns diocese in the south-east of Ireland in 2002 after acknowledging failings in his handling of complaints against notorious priest Fr Sean Fortune. Requiem Mass for Bishop Comiskey was held in the Church of the Sacred Heart in Clondalkin in west Dublin on Thursday.
RTÉ News
01-05-2025
- RTÉ News
Funeral takes place of former Bishop of Ferns Brendan Comiskey
The funeral has taken place of the former Bishop of Ferns, Dr Brendan Comiskey. His funeral mass at Sruleen Parish Church in Clondalkin in Dublin heard of a life lived through faith, hope and love. Dr Comiskey, was remembered as a man who cherished his time with his family and that there was a profound sense of gratitude among his family, friends and colleagues for the love his gave them and the wisdom he shared. He was ordained a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1961 and became Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Dublin in 1979. In 1984 he was appointed the Bishop of Ferns. He resigned in 2002 amid claims that he failed to report allegations that Fr Sean Fortune had abused a number of children while Dr Comiskey was in control of the Ferns diocese. Those allegations resulted in an inquiry known as the Ferns Report. It found that the former bishop had failed to establish sound child protection measures in the diocese. Fr James Fegan, a former colleague of Dr Comiskey in Ferns, told those gathered for the funeral mass that Dr Comiskey was "a product of the church culture of his time" where the focus was on the organisation rather than on people.
