| His Eminence Terence James Cooke |
|
|---|---|
| Cardinal Archbishop of New York | |
| See | New York |
| Enthroned | April 4, 1968 |
| Reign ended | October 6, 1983 (15 years, 185 days) |
| Predecessor | Francis Spellman |
| Successor | John Joseph O'Connor |
| Other posts | Auxiliary Bishop of New York (1965-68) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | December 1, 1945 |
| Consecration | December 13, 1965 |
| Created Cardinal | April 28, 1969 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 1, 1921 New York City United States |
| Died | October 6, 1983 (aged 62) New York City United States |
| Buried | St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York |
Terence James Cooke (March 1, 1921 – October 6, 1983) was an American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of New York from 1968 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1969.
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The youngest of three children, Terence Cooke was born in New York City to Michael and Margaret (née Gannon) Cooke.[1] His parents were both from County Galway, Ireland, and named their son after Terence MacSwiney, the Lord Mayor of Cork who died on a hunger strike during the Irish War of Independence.[2] His father also worked as a chauffeur and construction worker.[3] At age 5, he and his family moved from Morningside Heights, Manhattan, to the northeast Bronx. Following his mother's death in 1930, his aunt helped raise him and his siblings.[2]
Cooke, after expressing an early interest in the priesthood, entered the minor seminary of the Archdiocese of New York in 1934. In 1940, he entered St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers.[2]
Cooke was ordained a priest by Archbishop Francis Spellman on December 1, 1945.[1] He then did pastoral work in the Bronx, and served as a chaplain at St. Agatha’s Home for Children[4] until 1947. He then pursued his graduate studies in social work at the University of Chicago and at the Catholic University of America, from where he obtained a Master's degree in 1949.[2]
From 1949 to 1954, Cooke taught at Fordham University's School of Social Service.[2] He was appointed director of the Youth Division of Catholic Charities and procurator of St. Joseph's Seminary in 1954.[1] In 1957, he was chosen by Cardinal Spellman to be his secretary, a position in which he remained until 1965.[1] Cooke was named a Privy Chamberlain of His Holiness on August 13, 1957, and Vice-Chancellor for the Archdiocese in 1958, rising to full Chancellor in 1961.[1]
On September 15, 1965, Cooke was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of New York and Titular Bishop of Summa by Pope Paul VI.[5] He received his episcopal consecration on the following December 13 from Cardinal Spellman with Archbishops Joseph Thomas McGucken and John Joseph Maguire serving as co-consecrators, at St. Patrick's Cathedral.[5] He selected as his episcopal motto: Fiat Voluntas Tua, meaning, "Thy Will Be Done" (Luke 1:38).[4]
He played a prominent role in arranging Paul VI's visit to New York in October,[3] and became vicar general of the Archdiocese two days after his consecration, on December 15, 1965. He was diagnosed with acute myelomonocytic leukemia, a form of cancer, that year as well.[4][6]
| Styles of Terence Cooke |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | New York |
Following the death of Cardinal Spellman in December 1967, Cooke was named the seventh Archbishop of New York on March 2, 1968.[5]
His appointment came as a surprise; likely contenders for the post included Fulton J. Sheen, a television personality and Bishop of Rochester, and Archbishop Maguire, who had been Spellman's coadjutor but did not hold the right to succession.[3] In addition to his duties in New York, he was named Vicar Apostolic for the U.S. Military on April 4, and was installed in both positions at St. Patrick's Cathedral.[5]
That same day, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, leading to a nationwide wave of riots in more than 100 cities. In response, Cooke went to Harlem to plea for racial peace[2] and later attended King's funeral.[7] He baptized Rory Kennedy.[8]
Cooke helped implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the Archdiocese, and adopted a more conciliatory managerial style than his predecessor, Cardinal Spellman.[9] Pope Paul VI created him Cardinal Priest of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (the traditional titular church of the New York archbishops) in the consistory of April 28, 1969.[5] At the time of his elevation, he was the second youngest member of the College of Cardinals after Alfred Bengsch, who was six months younger than Cooke. Cooke was theologically conservative but progressive in secular matters.[3]
During his tenure as Archbishop, he founded nine nursing homes; Birthright, which offers women alternatives to abortion; the Inner-City Scholarship Fund, which provides financial aid for inner-city Catholic schools; an Archdiocesan Housing Development Program, providing housing to New York's disadvantaged; and the Catholic New York, the archdiocesan newspaper.[4] In 1974, he went to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he attended lectures on the Second Vatican Council given by his future successor, Edward Egan.[10] His leukemia was deemed terminal in 1975.[4]
Cooke was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the conclaves of August and October 1978, which selected Popes John Paul I and John Paul II, respectively. In 1979, he received the Dalai Lama [9] and Pope John Paul II at St. Patrick's Cathedral.
In late August 1983, Cooke revealed his illness to the public; he announced that he was expected to live for a few more months, but would not resign his post.[6] He was on almost constant chemotherapy for the last five years of his life.[11] In an open letter completed only days before his death, he wrote, "The gift of life, God's special gift, is no less beautiful when it is accompanied by illness or weakness, hunger or poverty, mental or physical handicaps, loneliness or old age."[9]
Cooke died from his battle with leukemia in his episcopal residence,[1] at age 62. He is interred in the crypt under the altar of St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Cardinal Cooke was widely regarded as a holy person by many New Yorkers during his episcopal ministry as Archbishop of New York, and soon after his death in 1983, a movement to canonize him as a saint began. In 1984, with the support of Cooke's successor, Archbishop (and future Cardinal) John Joseph O'Connor, the Cardinal Cooke Guild was established. In 1992, the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints officially designated Cardinal Cooke as a Servant of God, a first step in the canonization process that leads to beatification and then canonization as a saint. Rev. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, is the postulator for the cause.
An anti-Communist, he opposed the majority of his fellow bishops when he spoke out against nuclear disarmament in 1982.[9] He once stated that deterrence was not satisfactory or safe, but could be considered morally "tolerable".[12]
He was an outspoken opponent of abortion, which he called the "slaughter of the innocent unborn,"[13] and once served as chairman of the Bishops' Pro-life Committee.
He was the founder of Courage International, a ministry that promotes chastity and support for gay and lesbian Catholics
Cooke supported the Cursillo Movement, Christian Family Movement, and Charismatic Renewal, and was instrumental in bringing the Missionaries of Charity to New York.[4]
Cooke, opposed to the militant policies of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, remained inside St. Patrick's Cathedral during the 1983 St. Patrick's Day Parade, until the grand marshal, Michael Flannery, had passed by. Flannery was an outspoken supporter of the IRA. [14]
He once described Grace Kelly as "a lesson in Catholic motherhood."[15]
| Episcopal lineage | |
| Consecrated by: | Francis Spellman |
| Consecrator of | |
|---|---|
| Bishop | Date of consecration |
| Martin Joseph Neylon | February 2, 1970 |
| Patrick Vincent Ahern | March 19, 1970 |
| Edward Dennis Head | March 19, 1970 |
| James Patrick Mahoney | September 15, 1972 |
| Anthony Francis Mestice | March 5, 1973 |
| James Jerome Killeen | December 13, 1975 |
| Howard James Hubbard | March 27, 1977 |
| Theodore Edgar McCarrick | June 29, 1977 |
| Austin Bernard Vaughan | June 29, 1977 |
| Francisco Garmendia Ayestarán | June 29, 1977 |
| Joseph Thomas O'Keefe | September 8, 1982 |
| Emerson John Moore | September 8, 1982 |
| Joseph Thomas Dimino | May 10, 1983 |
| Francis Xavier Roque | May 10, 1983 |
| Lawrence Joyce Kenney | May 10, 1983 |
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Francis Spellman |
Archbishop of New York 1968 – 1983 |
Succeeded by John Joseph O'Connor |
| Archbishop for the Military Services 1968 – 1983 |
Succeeded by John Joseph Thomas Ryan |
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