Dennis Joseph Dougherty

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Styles of Dennis Cardinal Dougherty


Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Philadelphia

Dennis Joseph Cardinal Dougherty (August 16, 1865—May 31, 1951) was an Irish-American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1918 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1921.

[edit] Biography

Dennis Dougherty was born in Ashland, Pennsylvania, as the fourth of the ten children of Patrick (a coal miner^[1]) and Bridget (née Henry) Dougherty. His parents, both of whom hailed from County Mayo, Ireland, referred to Dennis as "Dinny"^[2]. He was baptized by Fr. Michael Sheridan at St. Joseph Church in Ashland, and received the Sacrament of Confirmation from Archbishop James Wood. Dougherty spent his summer vacations joining his father in the coal mines, as a breaker boy. In 1879, he passed the entrance examinations for St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood but was refused enrollment due to his young age. He then studied at the Sainte-Marie College, run by the Jesuits, in Montreal, Canada, for two years before returning to Pennsylvania and finally entering St. Charles Borromeo. He then traveled to Rome in 1885 to study at the Pontifical Urbanian Athenaeum De Propaganda Fide, from where he obtained his doctorate in theology.

Dougherty was ordained to the priesthood by Lucido Cardinal Parocchi on May 31, 1890, in the Lateran Basilica. Upon his return to the United States, he taught Latin, English, history, and theology at his alma mater of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary until 1903. He was an archdiocesan official of Philadelphia during this time as well, serving as fiscal promoter, prosynodal examiner, and procurator.

On June 12, 1903, Dougherty was appointed the thirtieth Bishop of Nueva Segovia, in the Philippines, by Pope Leo XIII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following June 14 from Francesco Cardinal Satolli, with Pietro Cardinal Gasparri and Archbishop Enrico Grazioli serving as co-consecrators, in Rome. Dougherty faced heavy opposition from Gregorio Aglipay and his followers, known as the Philippine Independent Church, upon arriving in the Philippines^[3]. He returned the cathedral in Vigan City, which had hitherto been occupied by the Aglipayans, to the Diocese of Nueva Segovia, and reopened and reconsecrated many churches that had been taken by the Aglipayans as well. Dougherty would also ride on horseback and in canoe to carry out his ministry, which including Confirming children, visiting a leper colony, and opening schools and missions. He was named the fifth Bishop of Jaro on April 19, 1908. After twelve years in the Philippines, he returned his native country upon being made the fifth Bishop of Buffalo, New York, on December 6, 1915. In Buffalo, the Bishop liquidated its $1,100,000 debt on a new cathedral.

Dougherty was promoted to Archbishop of Philadelphia on May 1, 1918, whilst continuing to govern the Diocese of Buffalo until his installation as Archbishop on July 10 of that same year. Pope Benedict XV created him Cardinal Priest of Ss. Nereo ed Achilleo in the consistory of March 7, 1921, thus making him Philadelphia's first cardinal. For the papal conclave of 1922, Dougherty arrived in Rome late and therefore was unable to participate in the conclave. The Cardinal convinced President Manuel Quezon to renounce Freemasonry for Catholicism in 1934^[4], served as papal legate to the thirty-third International Eucharistic Congress in Manila on January 1, 1937, and partcipated in the conclave of 1939, which selected Pope Pius XII. On behalf of American Catholics during World War II, he once stated, "Like our fellow American citizens we will do our utmost to protect our country by winning the war, and...to that end we place at the disposal of our government everything in our possession"^[5]. Dougherty later served as papal legate again to the National Eucharistic Congress in St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 8, 1941. He also held membership in the Congregations for the Sacraments, for Sacred Rites, for the Oriental Church, and for the Propagation of Faith in the Roman Curia, and was once director of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America^[6].

Dougherty died from a stroke^[7] in Philadelphia, at age 85, shortly after celebrating a Mass marking the sixty-first anniversary of his priestly ordination. He is buried in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul.

During his thirty-three year-long tenure, the Archdiocese experienced the greatest increase in parochial schools in its history; Dougherty became known as "The Great Builder" for these efforts. Following his death, the largest Catholic high school in the world was built and named in Cardinal Dougherty's honor. Finished in 1956, Cardinal Dougherty High School was the first school of its kind. It had classrooms for both boys and girls from the start.

Preceded by Charles H. Colton	Bishop of Buffalo 1916–1918	Succeeded by William Turner
Preceded by Edmond Francis Prendergast	Archbishop of Philadelphia May 1, 1918 - May 31, 1951	Succeeded by John Francis O'Hara