Born into a family of Irish immigrants, James Gibbons became a priest in Baltimore, a bishop, and then an archbishop. He exercised leadership in three areas vital to the future of Roman Catholicism in America. 1) nineteenth century immigration not only made Catholics the majority of Christians in America; it also brought ethnic tensions into the church, over authority and leadership, language and identity, and popular piety. Gibbons worked to keep the American Catholic church together. 2) The Catholic labor movement sought better wages and working conditions without embracing socialism, which Rome condemned. Gibbons' advocacy played an important role in gaining papal permission for Catholics to join labor unions. 3) Anti-Catholicism persisted in the U.S., in part because Protestants assumed that loyalty to Rome undermined democracy. Serving as advisor to several Presidents on Catholic affairs, Gibbons showed Roman Catholicism to be compatible with American life. He helped bring American Catholicism toward greater acceptance in a society increasingly marked by pluralism.