John McCloskey

John McCloskey ( born March 10, 1810 in Brooklyn, New York, † October 10, 1885 in New York City ) was Archbishop of New York. He was the first cardinal, who did not come from Europe.

Life

Early years

John McCloskey, from an Irish immigrant family, finished with eleven years the school after 1820 his father Patrick died. Since he could not at first decide what job he wants to exercise later, he worked on the farm on which his mother had moved with him. It was not until 1827, when he suffered a serious accident, he decided to become a priest. From September 1827 he studied at Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary in Maryland, then at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. After him, had consecrated on January 12, 1834 Priest John Dubois, the then Bishop of New York, McCloskey took a job as a philosophy professor at St. Joseph 's Seminary in Nyack, where he was also vice president. He then continued his studies in Rome. When he returned in 1837 to New York, he practiced until 1843 from pastoral activities.

Coadjutor Archbishop of New York

Appointed on 21 November 1843 Coadjutor Bishop of New York, McCloskey received on his 34th birthday by the New York Bishop John Joseph Hughes episcopal ordination. Co-consecrators were the bishop of Boston, Benedict Joseph Fenwick, SJ, and the Bishop of Richmond, Richard Vincent Whelan.

On 21 May 1847 he was appointed the first bishop of the newly established Diocese of Albany. As such, he also took part in the 7th Provincial Council of Baltimore ( 1849) and also appointed in 1852 the first Plenary Council of Baltimore one. Until 1861 he took part in the first three provincial councils in New York.

On May 6, 1864 McCloskey was then Archbishop of New York. Already in 1864 he wanted to promote the construction of St. Patrick's Cathedral, but the American Civil War ( to 1865 ) prevented him first of all. He also participated in the First Vatican Council from 1869 to 1870. At the Council he voted for the Papal infallibility.

When Cardinal

Since about 1850 there have been calls to appoint an American cardinal, particularly under President Abraham Lincoln ( 1861-1865). On March 15, 1875 John McCloskey of Pope Pius IX. raised the first American cardinal. The Pope showed him a cardinal priest of the titular church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Cardinal McCloskey wanted to participate in the conclave of 1878, but given the distance between New York and Rome and then travel opportunities, it was impossible for him to reach the conclave within eleven days. That's why he hit a first, as Leo XIII. had already been selected. He dedicated in 1879, finally, the St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. After his health had deteriorated dramatically in 1885 and he had to be hospitalized, he died at the age of 75 years. Since 1880 he had his eventual successor Michael Augustine Corrigan as coadjutor to his side. McCloskey was a popular and highly respected Archbishop James Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, and later also cardinal, described him as " fearless leader, watchful shepherd and friend." John McCloskey is located in the crypt of St. Patrick's Cathedral buried.

Importance for the Archdiocese of New York

John McCloskey is one of the most important archbishops in the nearly 200 -year history of the Archdiocese. As the number of Catholic immigrant families continues to rise and in 1865 there were over 1.2 million Catholics in New York, he had new seminars and churches built (including the first church for dark-skinned Catholics ). Also, education and help for children McCloskey was important. He established a number of children's charities in New York and the surrounding area.