George F. Dillon

George Francis Dillon
Born 1836
Dublin, Ireland
Died 29 January 1893
Rome, Italy
Occupation missionary, writer, theologian
Nationality Irish, Australian
Alma mater All Hallows College, Dublin
Subject Anti-Masonry, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Irish history
Notable works War of Anti-Christ with the Church and Christian Civilization

Monsignor George Francis Dillon DD (1836 – 29 January 1893)[1][2] was a 19th-century Catholic missionary and writer from Ireland. He became well known in 1884 for having given conferences in Edinburgh about what he claimed to be a Masonic war against Christian civilisation. His speeches were later compiled with his best-known book—War of Anti-Christ with the Church and Christian Civilization. After being read a summary of this work, Pope Leo XIII approved it and funded the publication of the Italian version.

Biography

Dillon was educated at All Hallows College in Dublin, Ireland.

In 1861 he left Ireland to serve as a Catholic missionary in the Australian bush country near Sydney, where he founded a mission for the aboriginals at Burragorang – a place about 65 miles from Sydney.[3]

Throughout his years in Australia, Dillon worked under the supervision of the Archbishop of Sydney. John Bede Polding was Archbishop of Sydney from 1842–1877, and Roger Vaughan (brother of Cardinal Herbert Vaughan) was Archbishop of Sydney from 1877–1883.

In his career as a Roman Catholic priest and missionary, Dillon served in several parishes in NSW (New South Wales), Australia. He served as a curate[4] at St. Mary and Joseph's Cathedral, in St. Mary and St. Joseph's parish (Armidale, NSW), from November 1861 to August 1864. Next he was transferred to the Sydney parish of Balmain, where it is known that he served from at least March 1868 to at least 1876. While a priest in Balmain, Pope Pius IX commissioned him to undertake a special investigation,[5] due to which he became authorised to use the title "Missionary Apostolic."[6] After serving in Balmain, Dillon moved on to St. Paul's Catholic Church in the parish of Camden.[7]

Dillon had a Doctor of Divinity degree, giving him license to teach Christian theology in Roman Catholic seminaries and universities.

In 1877, journalist and politician Joseph Graham O'Connor (1839–1913) had launched The Catholic Times, an Australian Catholic newspaper, in opposition to The Freeman's Journal. In 1880 Roger Vaughan, Archbishop of Sydney, bought The Catholic Times and changed its title to The Express. Vaughan and Dillon were co-editors of The Express, but this arrangement lasted for only a short time as Dillon moved to Rome, Italy in 1882 because of ill-health. Journalist John Cyril Marie des Anges Weale (1857–1942)[8] became a co-editor of The Express in 1883, but the newspaper soon failed, and O'Connor took it back in 1884,[9] retaining only Weale as the editor.

In 1884 Pope Leo XIII, in recognition of Dillon's services to the church, made him a "Monsignor" and gave him the title "Cameriere Segreto" (Secret Waiter). The title "Cameriere Segreto" made Dillon an official member of the "Famiglia Pontificia" (Pontifical Family).[10] In his final years in Italy Dillon was assisted by the Passionist Fathers, with whom he had cultivated a great friendship.

According to his obituary in The Tablet (issue of 4 Feb 1893, p. 24) Dillon died on 29 Jan 1893 in the "Palazzo di Rossi" located in the Piazza d'Aracoeli in Rome, where he had lived for several years after moving to Italy. However, this information may not be altogether correct, as research has not been able to locate a palazzo named "Palazzo di Rossi" located in the Piazza d'Aracoeli.[11]

Dillon openly denounced the collaboration between the Bavarian Illuminati and the Freemasons, as well as the alleged collaboration between Lord Palmerston and the Carbonari. He was also critical of the Alta Vendita document, Napoleon Bonaparte's supposed ties with the Masons, and the secretive character of the Fenian organisation.

Generally most of Dillon's other book releases dealt with religious topics, he wrote a book about the Virgin Mother of Good Counsel, the Sacred Heart of Jesus as well as a short piece on Irish history, specifically centred on Irish monasticism.

Works

Sources

Footnotes

  1. ↑ http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/4th-february-1893/24/obituary (Obituary of Monsignor George Dillon in The Tablet, an international Catholic news weekly, issue of 4 Feb 1893, p. 24)
  2. ↑ http://www.catholicdirectory.com.au/deceasedclergy/list (Deceased Clergy in Australia, 1788–2013) (29 January 1893 – Rev Mgr George Francis Dillon – Armidale, Balmain, Camden, etc., NSW)
  3. ↑ Kenny, John – A History of the Commencement and Progress of Catholicity in Australia, Up to the Year 1840 (Sydney: F. Cunninghame & Co., Steam Machine Printers, 1886), p. 238. The author of this work was John Kenny (1816 – 16 September 1886), who in many places on the internet is erroneously referred to as R. C. Kenny ( = R.[oman] C.[atholic] Kenny ). In bibliographies his name is cited, variously, as follows: (1) J. Kenny – see: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33816823 (2) Very Revd. Dean Kenny – see: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/225238096 (3) John Kenny, Roman Catholic Dean of Sydney – see: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/662526311
  4. ↑ In Roman Catholic practice, a "curate" is a priest assigned to a parish in a position subordinate to that of the "parish priest."
  5. ↑ Dowd, Christopher – Rome in Australia: The Papacy and Conflict in the Australian Catholic Missions, 1834–1884 (2 vols.) (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2008), p. 449
  6. ↑ "Missionary Apostolic" is an honorary title conferred on a missionary who has received a special commission from the pope.
  7. ↑ The parish of Camden is in the diocese of Wollongong, adjoining the archdiocese of Sydney. Geographically speaking, the parish of Camden lies in the Macarthur Region (or southwestern part) of the Sydney metropolitan area.
  8. ↑ For information on John Cyril Marie des Anges Weale (22 December 1857 – 1942) see: The Catholic Encyclopedia and its Makers (New York: The Encyclopedia Press, 1917), p. 184 (article on "Weale, John Cyril Marie des Anges")
  9. ↑ http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/03/sep/14/14.html ("Sydney's Catholic Press 1839–2003 – A Voice for Catholics," by Dr. J. A. Morley)
  10. ↑ See http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameriere_pontificio
  11. ↑ [ To view websites which give a comprehensive overview of the palaces and villas of Rome, please click on the following: (1) http://www.romeartlover.it/Palaces.html#Alfa (2) (Nolli Map Index, consisting of 2 parts): (A) http://nolli.uoregon.edu/gazetteerKey.htm (B) http://nolli.uoregon.edu/gazetteer.asp ] – Research on this matter of where Dillon lived in Rome has been unable to establish that there was ever a palazzo specifically named "Palazzo di Rossi" located in the Piazza d'Aracoeli. This being the case, there are 3 possibilities which present themselves, based on our current research findings: (1) It is well known that the Italian architect Giovanni Antonio De Rossi (1616–1695) was involved in the construction and/or renovation of 2 palaces which are located in the Piazza d'Aracoeli: the Palazzo Astalli and the Palazzo Muti-Bussi. Due to De Rossi's involvement with building and/or renovating these palaces, it is possible that either one or both of these palaces were sometimes referred to as the "Palazzo di Rossi." If that is the case, then it's possible that Dillon was residing in either the Palazzo Astalli or the Palazzo Muti-Bussi. For more detailed information on buildings located in the Piazza d'Aracoeli, see: http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi116.html (2) There is a palazzo usually referred to as the Palazzo Cavalletti (address given as: Piazza di Campitelli 1), but known variously also as the "Palazzo de Rossi-Cavalletti" or the "Palazzo Cavalletti-de Rossi," which is located in the Piazza di Campitelli. This palazzo came into the hands of Jacopo de Rossi through marriage. In the 17th-century this branch of the De Rossi family died out, but they had intermarried with the Cavalletti family, and the family surname continued in the form "Cavalletti-de Rossi." It is possible that in reality Dillon was residing in this palazzo (located in the Piazza di Campitelli), rather than in a palazzo located in the Piazza d'Aracoeli. Evidence that this might have been the case is found in The Tablet, issue of 7 June 1879, p. 17, where it is mentioned that Monsignor de Monte (actually: Johannes Montel, Edler von Treuenfels – 1831–1910 – also known as Giovanni Battista de Montel), the Austrian Auditor of the Rota, was residing in an apartment in the Palazzo Cavalletti at the time. This reference implies that the Palazzo Cavalletti had been converted into an apartment complex, or at least a boarding house of some sort. If Monsignor Johannes von Montel was residing in an apartment there in 1879, then it seems possible that Dillon may have taken up residence there also when he moved to Rome in 1882. (3) There is also a palazzo in Rome referred to, variously, as "Palazzo De Rossi," "Palazzo De Rossi Malvezzi," or "Palazzo De Rossi Malvezzi-Campeggi" (address given as: Via del Consolato 6) – located on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, between Via del Consolato and Via del Cimatori, and facing Largo Tassoni – but this palazzo is not located anywhere near the Piazza d'Aracoeli. For more information on the Palazzo De Rossi see: http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi87.htm

Bibliography

  • Kenny, John (1886). A History of the Commencement and Progress of Catholicity in Australia, Up to the Year 1840. F. Cunninghame & Co.

External links