Edward Mooney

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Edward Mooney bigraphy, stories - Catholic cardinal

Edward Mooney : biography

May 9, 1882 – October 25, 1958

Edward Aloysius Mooney (May 9, 1882 – October 25, 1958) was an American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Detroit from 1937 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1946.

Early life and ministry

Edward Mooney was born in Mount Savage, Maryland as the seventh child of Thomas and Sarah (née Heneghan) Mooney. At age 5, he moved with his family to Youngstown, Ohio, where his father worked at a tube mill. Following his father’s death in the 1890s, his mother opened a small bakery to support the family, with Edward and his siblings delivering the baked goods to her customers. He attended St. Charles College in Ellicott City and St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore before being sent to Rome in 1905 to study at the Pontifical North American College. He was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Pietro Respighi on April 10, 1909.

Upon his return to the United States, Mooney taught dogmatic theology at St. Mary’s Seminary in Cleveland until 1916. He was the founding principal of the Cathedral Latin School in Cleveland from 1916 to 1922, and pastor of in Youngstown from 1922 to 1923. Returning to Rome, he then became spiritual director of the North American College in 1923. Albert Meyer, a student at the North American College and future cardinal, once said, "[Mooney] was revered and greatly beloved…he left an indelible mark on all the students, inspiring them with his great learning and his solid spiritual guidance." He was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on June 3, 1925.

Episcopal career

Apostolic Delegate

On January 21, 1926, after having made a favorable impression on Cardinal Pietro Gasparri,TIME Magazine. 1937-06-14. Mooney was appointed Apostolic Delegate to India and Titular Archbishop of Irenopolis in Isauria by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following January 31 from Cardinal Willem van Rossum, CSSR, with Archbishop Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani and Bishop Giulio Serafini serving as co-consecrators. During his tenure in Bangalore, fifteen missions and three dioceses were created and the Syro-Malankara Church was reconciled with the Holy See.

Mooney was later named Apostolic Delegate to Japan on March 30, 1931. At the time of his arrival, all Japanese were required to visit and pay homage at Shinto shrines, with Catholics objecting to participation in Shinto worship. Mooney led a successful effort for the Japanese government to declare that visits to the shrines were only of a patriotic nature and not a religious one. He later presided over a plenary council of the Korean bishops.

Bishop of Rochester

Being recalled from Tokyo to the United States, he was appointed the fourth Bishop of Rochester, with the personal title of "Archbishop", on August 28, 1933. Mooney was elected chairman of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, the predecessor of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, shortly afterwards in 1935; he maintained that post until 1945. During his tenure in Rochester, he promoted Catholic Action and the Knights of Peter Claver as a means of outreach to the African American community, and took deep interest in Catholic social teaching and labor relations.Diocese of Rochester. He would also play golf in high temperatures (once saying, "If your score is over 100, you are neglecting your golf—if it falls below 90, you’re neglecting your parish")TIME Magazine. November 3, 1958 and take a group of altar boys every year to the opening game of the baseball season.TIME Magazine. June 14, 1937

Archbishop of Detroit

Mooney was named the first Archbishop of Detroit, Michigan, on May 31, 1937. Upon arriving in Detroit, he was greeted by Governor Frank Murphy and a representative of Mayor Frank Couzens.TIME Magazine. August 16, 1937 An advocate for labor unions, he once proposed establishing parish labor schools in order to help "Christian workers to train themselves in principle and technique to assume the leadership in the unions which their numbers justify".TIME Magazine. January 30, 1939