Arthur Hinsley

Arthur Hinsley (1865–1943) 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.^[2]

Biography

Hinsley was born in Carlton near Selby, to Thomas and Bridget (née Ryan) Hinsley. His father was a carpenter and his mother Irish. He studied at Ushaw College in Durham and thence the English College in Rome. Hinsley's education was sponsored by his pastor, who was also one of the Duke of Norfolk's chaplains at Carlton Towers^[3]

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

On 10 August 1926, he was appointed Titular Bishop of Sebastopolis in Armenia by Pope Pius XI. Hinsley received his episcopal consecration on the following 30 November 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 10 December 1927. While in Africa, he suffered a bout of paratyphoid fever.^[4]

Pius XI, on 9 January 1930, made Hinsley 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. After retiring as Apostolic Delegate due to ill health on 25 March 1934, he was appointed a canon of St. Peter's Basilica four days later, on 29 March. Surprisingly named the fifth Archbishop of Westminster on 1 April 1935, Hinsley thus became the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

He was created Cardinal-Priest of S. Susanna by Pope Pius XI in the consistory of 13 December 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 the Pope as a "helpless old man".^[5] In his capacity of cardinal, Hinsley served as one of the electors in the 1939 papal conclave, which selected Pope Pius XII. A supporter of ecumenism,^[4] Hinsley founded the multi-denominational 'Sword of the Spirit' in October 1940 to rally his fellow English clergymen (including non-Catholics) against totalitarianism.^[4][6] He defended Alfred Noyes in his argument with the Vatican.^[7] The English prelate also condemned Hitler and other Fascist leaders during World War II.^[8]

Hinsley, nearly blind and deaf, died from a heart attack^[4] 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]

References

External links

• Diocese of Westminster
• The Church of Santa Susanna
• Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
• Catholic-Hierarchy