In April 10, 1921, Ruth Stephenson, only child of Edwin, became Catholic after turning 18. Her parents discovered the conversion and beat her. They even had papers drawn to put her in an insane asylum. Edwin had read much anti-Catholic literature of the day believing, among other things, that the Knights of Columbus were stockpiling weapons for the day when the Pope would command a Catholic takeover of the United States.
Father Coyle was born in Ireland in 1873, studied at the Pontifical North American College and was ordained in 1896 in Rome. He requested and received permission to serve in the American mission. His first assignment in the Mobile, Alabama diocese was to conduct parish missions. He was also assigned to the McGill Instiute for boys as an instructor and later rector. In 1904 he was appointed Pastor of St. Paul's Catholic Church in Birmingham.
Although a young city, it was Alabama's largest and a major steel-making center of the United States. The need for workers brought thousands of men to Birmingham from Europe and a large percentage of them were Catholic. This concerned the majority protestant population. In 1916 anti-Catholic riots broke out in Georgia, Kentucky and other southern locales. A new anti-Catholic party, the True Americans, was formed allied with the Klan. A Catholic church and school were burned in nearby Pratt City. Father Coyle started getting death threats and, after receiving information from Federal authorities, hired armed guards to protect the church and rectory.
After the anti-Catholic parties swept the 1916 municipal elections, all Catholic government workers were fired and employers were threatened with boycott if they hired Catholics. Those who didn't comply were “visited” by a member of the vigilance committee. The boycott forced many Catholics to leave town.
Fr. Coyle had been raised amidst Protestant injustice in Ireland so he encouraged his parishioners to stand up for justice and wrote many letters to the editor protesting the misrepresentations of Catholicism. His bishop suggested to Fr. Coyle that he tone things down a bit and he complied, admitting himself that his spirited defense sometimes made things worse. At the same time his Bishop had confidence in Fr. Coyle as he continued to find ways to better explain what the Church really believes.
In July 1921, Ruth accepted a marriage proposal from Pedro Gussman who was Catholic and Puerto Rican. Eloping, on August 11th, Pedro and Ruth received their marriage license in Bessemer. Unable to find a priest there, they returned to Birmingham to see if Fr. Coyle would marry them, which he did. Father Coyle then told Ruth, "The right thing for you to do is to notify your parents that you are married at once."
It turned out Stephenson was already looking for his daughter having learned that she hadn't returned to work after lunch. After reporting his daughter missing to the police and sheriff's department he received Ruth's message: "I am married to a Catholic boy."
Fr. Coyle was on his porch swing praying the Divine Office when Edwin Edwin Stephenson, dressed in ministerial black, walked up the porch steps, pulled out a gun and fired three shots. Fr. Coyle was rushed to St. Vincent Hospital but died 40 minutes later without regaining consciousness. Meanwhile Stephenson casually walked to police at the courthouse surrendering as he said, "It's all right gentlemen, I know what I'm doing" and asked to be locked up.
The Klan raised money for the defense team which included four Klan members. One of these was lead attorney Hugo Black who would later be a supreme court justice. Klansman Judge William Fort was designated the trial judge. The prosecution brought forth just five witnesses. Three were considered unreliable by the defense because they were Catholic.
The defense argued both that it was self defense and that the priest had attacked him, while also arguing that he was not guilty by reason of insanity. The latter allowed the defense to offer testimony on the horrors Stephenson and his poor wife had endured in raising their daughter amidst the efforts of Catholics to invade their sacred home and destroy their only child’s life. Black also dimmed the lights in the courtroom before ordering Pedro , of Spanish heritage, to the stand so his skin would appear darker. Black said, “A child of a Methodist does not suddenly depart from her religion unless someone has planted in her mind the seeds of influence.” Ruth never testified.
The official Klu Klux Klan prayer was allegedly read by Stephenson’s defense team as part of the closing arguments. We don't knwo for sure because all official transcripts of the trial vanished from the courthouse after its conclusion. After four hours of deliberation on October 21st, Edwin Stephenson was acquitted.
Father Coyle is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham, a ten-foot high Celtic cross marking his resting place. Plans are underway to re-inter his body near the Cathedral of St. Paul in downtown Birmingham.
Former Alabama Attorney General Judge William Pryor has written extensively of Father Coyle saying, “I think he was a scholarly guy. He was a prolific writer, especially of poetry. This was a sophisticated man.”
Of the murder and trial Judge Pryonr said, “Father Coyle was not just a priest who happened to perform a wedding and was murdered. He was a fearless truth-teller. He was standing up for people who looked different and people who worshiped differently. He stood up for a beleaguered minority in this rough town.”
Birmingham writer John Wright, Jr said, “I believe his life and assassination and the not-guilty verdict for the person who killed him have relevance for Birmingham today because of our embarrassing history of unenlightenment and prejudice toward people who are ‘different,’ I believe Father Coyle’s story…presents a conscience-searing question to all of us. That question is, ‘What are you doing to discourage and curb prejudice wherever you work or worship or live or socialize?’”
Rising Road, is Sharon Davies' book on the incident.
Shortly after Sacred Heart Academy, the forerunner of St. Columbkille Catholic School, was built in 1916, the Klu Klux Klan burned a cross at the new building.
Fr. Coyle, pray for us.
