Joseph MacRory

infobox cardinalbiog
name = Joseph Cardinal MacRory †


See = Armagh
Title = Cardinal Archbishop of Armagh
Period = June 22, 1928—October 13, 1945
cardinal = December 16, 1929
Predecessor = Michael Cardinal Logue †
Successor = John Cardinal D'Alton †
post = Bishop of Down and Connor | date of birth = March 19, 1861
place of birth = Ballygawley, Ireland
date of death = October 13, 1945
place of death = Armagh, Northern Ireland |infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=Joseph Cardinal MacRory
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
See=Armagh |

Joseph Cardinal MacRory (March 19, 1861—October 13, 1945) was an Irish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Armagh from 1928 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1929.

Biography

Joseph MacRory was born in Ballygawley as one of the ten children of Francis MacRory, a farmer, and his wife Rose Montague. He studied at St. Patrick's College in Armagh and St. Patrick's College in Maynooth. Ordained to the priesthood on September 13, 1885, he served as the first president of Dungannon Academy from 1886 to 1887. MacRory then taught Scripture and Modern Theology at Oscott College in England until 1889, when he was appointed Professor of Scripture and Oriental Languages at his "alma mater" of Maynooth College, of which he was made Vice President in 1912.

MacRory was appointed 27th Lord Bishop of Down and Connor by Pope Benedict XV on August 9, 1915, and received his episcopal consecration on the following November 14 from Michael Cardinal Logue. During his tenure, his life was threatened repeatedly due to the turbulent atmosphere in Belfast [Cork Multitext Project. [http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/Joseph_MacRory Joseph MacRory] ] . Replacing the late Patrick Cardinal O'Donnell, MacRory was advanced to Archbishop of Armagh and thus Primate of All Ireland on June 22, 1928.

Pope Pius XI created him Cardinal Priest of "S. Giovanni a Porta Latina" in the consistory of December 16, 1929. He was the papal legate at the 1933 laying of the foundation stone of Liverpool's cathedral, and one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1939 papal conclave, which selected Pope Pius XII. MacRory was a strenuous opponent of social injustice, national socialism [Ibid.] , Protestantism [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,851516,00.html St. Patrick's Successor] October 12, 1942] , and the Partition of Ireland [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778478,00.html Milestones] October 22, 1945] .

After a brief illness [Ibid.] , the Cardinal died from a heart attack in "Ara Coeli" [Cork Multitext Project. [http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/Joseph_MacRory Joseph MacRory] ] , the archiepiscopal residence in Armagh, at age 84. He is buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery in that same city.

Trivia

*In 1906, MacRory co-founded the Irish Theological Quarterly.
*His episcopal motto was: "Fortis in Fide" ("Strong in Faith").
*MacRory, then Bishop of Down and Connor, was a member of the Irish Convention from 1917 to 1918.
*He supported the Gaelic League.
*It was MacRory who suggested to Eoin O'Duffy that he raise an Irish force to aid the nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. [ [http://www.geocities.com/irelandscw/band-IPonOD.htm] Cunningham, Niall. Ireland's Answer to Mussolini. The Irish Post, 2nd March 2001. Retrieved Oct. 16, 2007.]

References

External links

* [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-m.htm#McRory Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church]
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmacrory.html Catholic-Hierarchy]