Cahal Daly

infobox cardinalbiog
name = His Eminence
Cahal Brendan Daly


See = Armagh (Emeritus)
Title = Cardinal Archbishop of Armagh
Period = 6 November 1990 – 1 October 1996
cardinal = 28 June 1991
Predecessor = Tomás Ó Fiaich
Successor = Seán Brady
post = Bishop of Down and Connor
date of birth = birth date and age|df=yes|1917|10|1
place of birth = Loughguile, Ireland

Cahal Brendan Daly (born 1 October 1917) is an Irish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Armagh and thus Primate of All Ireland from 1990 to 1996, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1991.

Biography

Cahal Brendan Daly was born in Loughguile, County Antrim, Ireland. He was educated at St. Patrick's National School in Loughguile, and then as a boarder in St. Malachy's College, Belfast in 1930. He then studied Classics at Queen's University in Belfast. He earned his B.A. with Honours and also the "Henry Metal in Latin Studies" in 1937 and completed his M.A. the following year. He entered St. Patrick's College in Maynooth and was ordained to the priesthood on 22 June 1941. He continued studies in theology in Maynooth, from where he obtained a doctorate in divinity (DD) in 1944.

His first appointment was as Classics Master in St. Malachy's College (1944-1945). In 1945 he was appointed Lecturer in Scholastic Philosophy at Queen's University, Belfast.

From 1952–1953 Queens granted him sabbatical leave which he spent studying in France. He studied at the Catholic Institute of Paris where he received a licentiate in philosophy.

He was a "peritus", or theological expert, at the Second Vatican Council (1963–1965) to Bishop William Philbin (during the First Session of The Council) and to then Cardinal William Conway (for the rest of Council Sessions).

He dedicated himself to scholarship for 30 years. Dr Daly published several books seeking to bring about understanding between the warring factions in Northern Ireland.

He became a Reader in Scholastic Philosophy at Queen's University in 1963, a post he held until 1967, when he was appointed Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise on 26 May. Daly received his episcopal consecration on the following 16 July from William Conway, with Archbishop Giuseppe Sensi and Bishop Neil Farren serving as co-consecrators.

From 1974 on, he devoted himself to ecumenical activities for the Vatican's Secretariat for Christian Unity. His famous pastoral letter to Protestants, written in 1979, pleaded for Christian unity.

On 17 October 1982, he succeeded William Philbin as the 30th Bishop of Down and Connor when he was installed as bishop of his native diocese at a ceremony in St. Peter's Cathedral Belfast. He had been expected to end his career in this larger diocese before being the surprise choice, at the age of 73, when the Archdiocese of Armagh fell vacant on the death of a younger man.

Archbishop of Armagh

On 6 November 1990, he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh and, as such, Primate of All Ireland. He took a notably harder line against the Irish Republican Army than his predecessor, Tomás Ó Fiaich. He was later created a Cardinal Priest of "S. Patrizio" by Pope John Paul II in the consistory of 28 June 1991. Cardinal Daly retired as Archbishop of Armagh on his 79th birthday, 1 October 1996.

Though the ordinary retirement age for Catholic bishops is 75, Cardinal Daly remained in office until his 79th birthday. He has since suffered considerable ill health. Although it was announced that he would attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II, he stayed home on the advice of his doctors. As he had turned 80 in 1997, he was ineligible to participate in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Daly has the motto, "Jesus Christ, yesterday and today" taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews (13.8). The Cardinal's armorial bearings show the arms of the Archdiocese of Armagh on the left side of the shield, and his personal arms on the right side. The right side of the shield shows a personalised variation of the arms of the Ó Dálaigh family.

Daly opposed formal integrated education of Roman Catholics and Protestants. This policy was criticized by many (especially ecumenists) who believe segregated education to be one of the causes of sectarianism in Northern Ireland, but was seen by the elements of the Roman Catholic clergy in Northern Ireland as important to passing on of the faith to future generations.

In 2001, Dr Daly donated his entire set of writings to the Political Collection of the Linen Hall Library. His donation to the Library, which is bound in handsome volumes, includes 500 sermons, essays, addresses and press statements.

Church sex abuse scandal

During his period as archbishop, Daly sustained considerable criticism within and without the Church for his handling of the sexual scandals, most notably the case of paedophile priest Brendan Smyth. Daly justified his failure to report Smyth's sexual behaviour by arguing that each bishop only has authority over the secular priests (diocesan priests) in his own diocese and has no authority over religious priests (priests in religious orders). Smyth was a member of the Norbertine order religious order.

Daly was also criticised by Catholic priests live on the "Late Late Show" for what some of them suggested was his failure to provide leadership to the Church in the aftermath of the Smyth affair, the convictions of priests for child sexual abuse, and the resignation of former County Kerry Bishop Eamon Casey amid the revelation that he had fathered a son by an American divorceé.

Cardinal Daly's primacy also coincided with the tenure of Miceál Ledwith as President of the national seminary, St Patrick's College Maynooth. Ledwith resigned abruptly in 1994 following allegations of an inappropriate sexual relationship with a minor. The Ferns Inquiry, established by the Irish Government in 2003 dealt with over 100 allegations of clerical sexual abuse in the Diocese of Ferns involving 21 priests over a forty year period that included the era that Daly was Primate.

ee also

* Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal

External links

* [http://www.armagharchdiocese.org/html/arch/cahal.html Archdiocese of Armagh]
* [http://www.bishop-accountability.org/ferns/ The Ferns Report]
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bdalyc.html Catholic Hierarchy]

Persondata
NAME=Daly, Cahal
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Brendan Daly, Cahal; Daly, Cahal Brandan; Daly, Cahal
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Cardinal
DATE OF BIRTH=1 October 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH=Loughguile, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=