| Styles of Bonaventure Broderick |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Monsignor |
| Posthumous style | not applicable |
Bonaventure Finnbarr Francis Broderick (December 25, 1868–November 18, 1943) was the Coadjutor Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Cristóbal de la Habana[1] and ran a gas station for 40 years until Cardinal Francis Spellman restored him as an Auxiliary Bishop to the Archdiocese of New York.[2][3] While restored to the Curia, Broderick died before he became a diocesan ordinary.
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Bonaventure Broderick was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was the son of John Harris Broderick and Margaret Healy. Broderick accomplished his undergraduate seminary studies at St. Charles College in Ellicott City, Maryland. The archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford sent him to the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum S. Apollinare of Propaganda Fide at the North American College as a resident student. In 1897, Broderick earned his Phd. He also earned a Doctor of Theology at the same college.
On July 25, 1896, Broderick was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Hartford by then Bishop Francesco di Paola Cassetta, who was the Patriarch of Jerusalem and Vicegerent of Rome, while in the Eternal City. Broderick returned to the diocese and was assigned as a pastor in West Hartford and Ford, Connecticut. From 1898 to 1900, he was a faculty member at St. Thomas Seminary at Hartford, Connecticut.
When his former Italian instructor, then Bishop Donato Sbarretti was appointed as the ordinary of the Archdiocese of San Cristóbal de la Habana, he appointed Broderick as his secretary. On June 25, 1900, Broderick became the administrator for St. Francis de Sales Church in Cuba. He would later become the administrator of San Carlos and San Ambrosio Seminary. On May 20, 1902, Broderick represented the Catholic Church recognizing the establishment of the Republic of Cuba.[4]
While in Cuba, Broderick had to settle claims against the United States government because of damage done to church property during the Spanish-American War. There were rumors his brother was involved with a government contract to install a sewer system in Havana.[5] Bonaventure Broderick sued his brother, David A. Broderick, in a Hartford, Connecticut superior court over some Cuba contracts and won a judgment.[5] It was unclear why his superiors were angry with Broderick.
On September 7, 1903, Broderick was appointed as the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Cristóbal de la Habana and Titular Bishop of Iuliopolis.[6] On October 28, 1903 he was consecrated as the Coadjutor Bishop of San Cristóbal de la Habana. His Principal Consecrator was Archbishop Placide Louis Chapelle with Archbishop Francisco de Paula Barnada y Aguilar as the Principal Co-Consecrator.
On March 1, 1905, Broderick resigned as the Coadjutor Bishop due to a misunderstanding with Pope Pius X and the Vatican over the collection of some funds.[7]
While doing some archdiocesan business in Millbrook, New York, the then Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, Francis Spellman, found Broderick running a gas station in Millbrook where he wrote a weekly column for a local newspaper.[2] In November 1939, the Vatican asked Spellman to rehabilate Broderick and Spellman complied. Broderick resumed his public vows as a bishop and was made a chaplain of a hospital in Riverdale, New York.[8]
On November 18, 1943, Broderick died with the title of Coadjutor Bishop Emeritus of the San Cristóbal de la Habana Archdiocese.[6]