Andrew Joseph McDonald

infobox bishopstyles
name=Andrew McDonald
dipstyle=The Most Reverend
offstyle=Your Excellency
relstyle=Monsignor
deathstyle=not applicable |

Andrew Joseph McDonald (born October 24, 1923) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Little Rock from 1972 to 2000.

Biography

Andrew McDonald was born in Savannah, Georgia, as the eleventh of twelve children of a devout Irish Catholic family. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 8, 1948, and then served as chancellor and vicar general of the Diocese of Savannah. He obtained a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome as well.

On July 4, 1972, McDonald was appointed the fifth Bishop of Little Rock, Arkansas, by Pope Paul VI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following September 5 from Archbishop Thomas McDonough, with Archbishop Philip Hannan and Bishop Gerard Frey serving as co-consecrators. He was formally installed as Bishop two days later, on September 7.

Unlike his predecessor, Albert Fletcher, McDonald followed the suggestion of the Second Vatican Council in instituting permanent deacons in Little Rock, largely because of the diocese's shortage of priests. Bishop McDonald was opposed to the Supreme Court's 1973 legalization of abortion in "Roe v. Wade"; he later established a pro-life office in the diocesan curia and led the annual March for Life each January in Little Rock. In 1982, he invited Mother Teresa to open a home for single mothers in Little Rock.

A dedicated ecumenist, McDonald reached out to other denominations in Arkansas throughout his tenure, and once assisted in promoting a Billy Graham crusade at War Memorial Stadium in 1989. A year later, in 1990, he condemned the legal execution of John Edward Swindler, Arkansas's first execution in more than twenty-five years.

He also became known for his affable personality, his involvement with the laity, and his personal interest in those Catholics under his jurisdiction. After twenty-seven years of service, he retired as Little Rock’s ordinary on January 4, 2000. Bishop McDonald currently lives outside of Chicago, Illinois, where he serves as chaplain for the Little Sisters of the Poor.

External links

* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmcdonald.html Catholic-Hierarchy]
* [http://www.dolr.org/bishop/mcdonald.php Diocese of Little Rock]