Thomas John Gumbleton (born January 26, 1930) is an American social activist and retired prelate of the Catholic Church. Gumbleton served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit from 1968 to 2006. According to Gumbleton, the Vatican forced him to resign as auxiliary bishop when he publicly supported passage of a state legislative bill in another diocese without the approval of that diocese's bishop. Biography Early life Born in Detroit, Michigan on January 26, 1930, Thomas Gumbleton attended Sacred Heart Seminary High School in that city. He then studied at St. John's Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Michigan, and also the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1952, a Master of Divinity in 1956, and a Doctor of Canon Law in 1964. On June 2, 1956, Gumbleton was ordained to the priesthood in Rome by Cardinal Edward Mooney for the Archdiocese of Detroit. In 1968, Gumbleton was appointed as vicar general for the Archdiocese. Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit On March 4, 1968, Pope Paul VI appointed Gumbleton as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit and titular bishop of Ululi. He was consecrated on May 1, 1968, by Archbishop John Dearden. Gumbleton served as the pastor to a number of parishes, including St. Aloysius, Holy Ghost and St. Leo's in Detroit, until 2007. During the 1972 Presidential election Gumbleton endorsed Senator George McGovern due to his opposition to the Vietnam War and economic policies. When asked about McGovern's stance on abortion rights for women, he responded that McGovern "would not aid or support the current efforts to liberalize the abortion laws." In December 1980, Gumbleton founded the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights with former Episcopal Bishop Harry McGehee, Jr. and Rabbi Richard Hertz. Gumbleton's Sunday homilies from St Leo's parish were documented by the National Catholic Reporter, where he also wrote a regular column. On May 6, 1987, Gumbleton was one of eight protestors arrested at the US Department of Energy Nevada Test Site in Mercury, Nevada. The arrestees were protesting the testing of nuclear weapons there. On June 4, 1999, Gumbleton was among 26 protestors arrested for blocking an entrance to the White House in Washington, D.C. They were protesting the NATO bombing campaign in Serbia during the Kosovo War. On March 27, 2003, Gumbleton was arrested along with other protestors for violating a ban on large demonstrations in Lafayette Square