 The ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis was John Ireland, who had been attempting to "Americanize" German and other Catholic immigrants, and was hostile to ethnic parishes such as the one in which Toth served.When speaking of their meeting, Toth later claimed that Bishop Ireland became angry and threw Toth's priestly credentials onto his table while ardently protesting his presence in the city.Toth reported that Ireland said he did not consider Toth or his bishop to be truly Catholic, in clear contradiction of the Union of Brest and papal decrees to the contrary.