the law. Curley vigorously attacked their arrests as part of a campaign against Catholic schools, gaining strong support from other Catholic prelates in the United States. Curley attracted national attention in 1917 by successfully battling a bill in the Florida Legislature that would have mandated inspections of convents. Curley refused to comply with it. He led a successful legal campaign to have the law declared unconstitutional. He also sought to educate Floridians about Catholicism and demonstrate the bigotry of the Ku Klux Klan. During World War I, Curley was a strong supporter of the war effort. In 1917, he established the Diocesan Catholic War Council, a group that gave spiritual guidance to Florida's Catholic soldiers heading off to war. He spoke at Liberty Bond rallies. At the end of the war, Curley celebrated a large memorial mass for soldiers who died in the war at Battery Park in New York City. by the By the end of his tenure in the Diocese of St. Augustine., the Catholic population had grown from 39,000 to 41,000, with 40 new churches built. Archbishop of Baltimore On August 10, 1921, Curley was appointed the tenth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Pope Benedict XV. His installation took place on November 30, 1921. His arrival in his new city was described as "one of the greatest welcomes ever tendered a new citizen of Baltimore." During his tenure in Baltimore, Curley established 66 schools in 18 years, placing the importance of constructing schools over churches. In 1926, he declared, "I defy any system of grammar school education in the United States to prove itself superior to the system that is being maintained in the Archdiocese of Baltimore." He also established diocesan offices for Catholic Charities (1923) and for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith (1925). During the 1920s, Curley was a frequent critic of Irish President Eamon De Valera, comparing him to the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. In March 1926, Curley criticized the expropriation of Catholic Church property by the Mexican Government and the expulsion of foreign priests and nuns:In order to preach the doctrine of Jesus Christ in Mexico, one must be a Mexican by birth. If the Savior of the world came back to Mexico, he would be exiled forthwith...because he is not a born Mexican.In 1931, Pope Pius XI appointed Curley as an assistant to the papal throne, becoming later