Arthur Hinsley

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Styles of
Arthur Cardinal Hinsley
Reference style His Eminence
Spoken style Your Eminence
Informal style Cardinal
See Westminster


Arthur Cardinal Hinsley (August 25, 1865—March 17, 1943) was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1935 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1937.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Arthur Hinsley was born in Carlton, Selby, to Thomas and Bridget (née Ryan) Hinsley. His father a carpenter and his mother was Irish. He studied at Ushaw College in Durham and the Venerable English College in Rome.

Ordained to the priesthood on December 23, 1893, Hinsley then taught at Ushaw College until 1897. He took up pastoral work in Westminster in 1898, and served as headmaster of St. Bede's Grammar School (which he founded in 1900) from 1899 to 1904. In 1917, after another period of pastoral work, Hinsley became a Domestic Prelate of His Holiness (November 14) and the rector of the English College in Rome, a post in which he remained until 1928.

On August 10, 1926, he was appointed Titular Bishop of Sebastopolis in Armenia by Pope Pius XI. Hinsley received his episcopal consecration on the following November 30 from Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val, with Archbishop Giuseppe Palica and Bishop Peter Amigo serving as co-consecrators, in the chapel of the English College. He was later named Apostolic Visitor to British Africa on December 10, 1927.

Pius XI, on January 9, 1930, made Hinsely Titular Archbishop of Sardis and Apostolic Delegate to the British missions in Africa that were not under the jurisdiction of the apostolic delegations of Egypt, Belgian Congo, and South Africa. He retired as Apostolic Delegate due to ill health on March 25, 1934, he was appointed a canon of St. Peter's Basilica four days later, on March 29. Surprisingly named the fifth Archbishop of Westminster on April 1, 1935, Hinsely thus became the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

He was created as the Cardinal Priest of S. Susanna by Pius XI in the consistory of December 13, 1937. The delay in elevation, as Westminster's archbishop is traditionally a cardinal, was most likely the result of his comments during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, describing Pius as a "helpless old man"[1]. In his capacity of cardinal, Hinsely served as one of the electors in the 1939 papal conclave, which selected Pope Pius XII. The English prelate also condemned Hitler and other Fascist leaders during World War II[2].

Hinsley, nearly blind and deaf, died from a heart attack[3] in Buntingford, at age 77. He was buried at Westminster Cathedral, and Archbishop William Temple of Canterbury described him as "a most devoted citizen of his country...[and] a most kindly and warmhearted friend"[4].

[edit] Trivia

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  • Hinsley's education was sponsored by his pastor, who was also one of the Duke of Norfolk's chaplains at Carlton Towers[5].
  • While in Africa, he suffered a bout of paratyphoid fever[6].
  • A supporter of ecumenism[7], Hinsley founded the multi-denominational 'Sword of the Spirit' in October 1940 to rally his fellow English clergymen (including non-Catholics) against totalitarianism[8] [9].
  • He defended Alfred Noyes in his argument with the Vatican[10].
  • Cardinal Hinsley Grammar School in Bradford, West Yorkshire was named after him when it opened in 1963. This school merged with the Margaret Clitheroe Grammar School next door in 1981 and the new school was then re-named Yorkshire Martyrs Collegiate School, now known as Yorkshire Martyrs Catholic College since 2001.
  • Hinsley, his second name, originates in Germany and means 'Deer Hunter'.
  • Cardinal Hinsley mathmatic and computing college, a secondary school in London is named after him.

[edit] References

  1. ^ TIME Magazine. Five Red Hats November 29, 1937
  2. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Arthur Hinsley
  3. ^ TIME Magazine. Death of a Voice March 29, 1943
  4. ^ Ibid.
  5. ^ Diocese of Westminster. Cardinal Arthur Hinsley January 11, 2005
  6. ^ TIME Magazine. Death of a Voice March 29, 1943
  7. ^ Ibid.
  8. ^ Ibid.
  9. ^ TIME Magazine. Unity in Britain May 19, 1941
  10. ^ TIME Magazine. Noyes Annoyed September 5, 1938

[edit] External links

Religious titles
Preceded by
Francis Bourne		 Archbishop of Westminster
1935–1943		 Succeeded by
Bernard Griffin