Fr. Edmund Aloysius Walsh, S.J. (October 10, 1885 – October 31, 1956) was an American
JesuitThe Society of Jesus is a Catholic religious order of clerks regular whose members are called Jesuits.Jesuits are the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church, with 18,815 members—13,305 priests, 2,295 scholastic students, 1,758 brothers and 827 novices—as of January 2008, although the...
CatholicThe word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
priestA priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which may also apply to such persons collectively.Priests and priestesses...
, professor of
geopoliticsGeopolitics is the art and practice of using political power over a given territory. Traditionally, the term has applied primarily to the impact of geography on politics, but its usage has evolved over the past century to encompass a wider connotation....
and founder of the
Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown University is a Jesuit private university located in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Father John Carroll founded the school in 1789, though its roots extend back to 1634. While the school struggled financially in its early years, Georgetown expanded into a branched university after the...
School of Foreign ServiceThe Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service is a school within Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., United States. Jesuit priest Edmund A...
, which he founded in 1919–six years before the U.S. Foreign Service itself existed–and served as its first
deanIn academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
.
He directed the Papal Famine Relief Mission to Russia in 1922, which also succeeded in securing for the Vatican the Holy Relics of St.
Fr. Edmund Aloysius Walsh, S.J. (October 10, 1885 – October 31, 1956) was an American
JesuitThe Society of Jesus is a Catholic religious order of clerks regular whose members are called Jesuits.Jesuits are the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church, with 18,815 members—13,305 priests, 2,295 scholastic students, 1,758 brothers and 827 novices—as of January 2008, although the...
CatholicThe word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
priestA priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which may also apply to such persons collectively.Priests and priestesses...
, professor of
geopoliticsGeopolitics is the art and practice of using political power over a given territory. Traditionally, the term has applied primarily to the impact of geography on politics, but its usage has evolved over the past century to encompass a wider connotation....
and founder of the
Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown University is a Jesuit private university located in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Father John Carroll founded the school in 1789, though its roots extend back to 1634. While the school struggled financially in its early years, Georgetown expanded into a branched university after the...
School of Foreign ServiceThe Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service is a school within Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., United States. Jesuit priest Edmund A...
, which he founded in 1919–six years before the U.S. Foreign Service itself existed–and served as its first
deanIn academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
.
He directed the Papal Famine Relief Mission to Russia in 1922, which also succeeded in securing for the Vatican the Holy Relics of St.
Andrew BobolaSaint Andrew Bobola was a Jesuit missionary and martyr, known as "an Apostle of Pinszczyzna" and "a hunter of souls".-Biography:...
(they were actually transported to Rome by the Walsh's Assistant Director,
Louis J. GallagherLouis J. Gallagher, SJ was an American Jesuit, known for his educational and literary work.-Biography:Born in Boston, Louis J...
, who later wrote books both about Walsh and about Bobola).
Later, Walsh worked on behalf of the Vatican to resolve long-standing issues between Church and State in
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in 1929, and negotiated with the Iraqi government to establish an American College in
BaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab World....
in 1931.
After the Allies' victory in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Walsh served as Consultant to the U.S. Chief of Counsel at the
Nuremberg TrialsThe Nuremberg trials were a series of trials, or tribunals, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after its defeat in World War II....
.
During that task, he interrogated the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
geopolitician General
Karl HaushoferKarl Ernst Haushofer was a German General, geographer and geopolitician. Through his student Rudolf Hess, Haushofer's ideas may have influenced the development of Adolf Hitler's expansionist strategies, although Haushofer denied direct influence on the Nazi regime.- Biography :Haushofer belonged...
to determine whether or not he should stand trial for war crimes, eventually finding that Gen. Haushofer ought not stand trial.
Strongly
anti-CommunistAnti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism, especially Marxism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the growing popularity of the communist movement, and took on many forms during the 20th century....
, it is alleged that Walsh was the man who first suggested to
Senator McCarthyJoseph Raymond McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
that he use this issue in order to gain political prominence. Walsh vigorously promoted anti-Communism thought throughout his career.
Legacy
President
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
sent a letter to Georgetown University when Father Walsh died in 1956, which read in part:
- The death of Father Walsh is a grievous loss to the Society in which he served so many years, to the educational and religious life of the United States and to the free people of the Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
. For four decades, he was a vigorous and inspiring champion of freedom for mankind and independence for nations... at every call to duty, all his energy of leadership and wisdom of counsel were devoted to the service of the United States.
Walsh's most obvious legacy is the School he founded, which has become an incubator of leadership in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and internationally. Graduates of the School have included U.S. President
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
and the leaders of the U.S. intelligence community (
George TenetGeorge John Tenet was the Director of Central Intelligence for the United States Central Intelligence Agency and is Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University...
), the American labor movement (
AFL-CIOThe American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL-CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States and Canada, made up of 65 national and international unions, together representing more than 10 million workers. It...
President
Lane KirklandJoseph Lane Kirkland was a US labor union leader who served as President of the AFL-CIO for over sixteen years.-Biography:...
), and the American Catholic Church (
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Archbishop
John Cardinal O'ConnorJohn Joseph O'Connor, was the eleventh bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, serving from 1984 until his death in 2000. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1985....
). Heads of state educated at the School have included
King Abdullah-Current monarchs:*Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, regent of Saudi Arabia since 1995 and king since 2005*Abdullah II of Jordan, king of Jordan since 1999-Previous monarchs:*Abdullah I of Jordan , king of Transjordan...
of
JordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in Western Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, the Gulf of Aqaba to the southwest,...
and
Gloria Macapagal-ArroyoMaria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is the fourteenth and current president of the Philippines. Arroyo is the country's second female president, and the daughter of late former Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal....
of the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
.
The School has also been home to legendary faculty members including the historians
Carroll QuigleyCarroll Quigley was a noted historian, polymath, and theorist of the evolution of civilizations.- Biography :...
, and
Jules DavidsJules Davids was a Professor of Diplomatic History at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University until his retirement in 1986...
, the political scientist and World War II hero
Jan KarskiJan Karski , was a Polish World War II resistance fighter and scholar at Georgetown University. In 1942 and 1943 Karski reported to the Polish government in exile and the Western Allies on the situation in German-occupied Poland, especially the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto and the extermination...
, and the first woman Secretary of State
Madeleine AlbrightMadeleine Korbel Albright is the first woman to become a United States Secretary of State. She was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 99-0...
.