Mark Joseph Hurley

The Most Reverend

Mark Joseph Hurley
Bishop of Santa Rosa in California
See Santa Rosa
Installed November 19, 1969
Term ended April 15, 1986
Predecessor Leo Thomas Maher
Successor John Thomas Steinbock
Other posts Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco (1968-69)
Orders
Ordination September 23, 1944
Consecration January 4, 1968
Personal details
Born December 13, 1919
San Francisco, California
Died February 5, 2001 (aged 81)
San Francisco, California
Denomination Roman Catholic Church

Mark Joseph Hurley (December 13, 1919 – February 5, 2001) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Santa Rosa in California from 1969 to 1986.

Early life and education

Mark Hurley was born in San Francisco, California, one of five children of Mark Joseph and Josephine (née Keohane) Hurley.[1] One of his brothers, Francis Thomas Hurley, served as Bishop of Juneau (1971–76) and Archbishop of Anchorage (1976-2001).[2] He received his early education at the parochial school of St. Agnes Church in his native city.[1] He began his studies for the priesthood at St. Joseph's College in Mountain View, graduating in 1939.[3] He then completed his theological studies at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park.[3]

Priesthood

Hurley was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of San Francisco on September 23, 1944.[4] He served as assistant superintendent of archdiocesan schools from 1944 to 1951.[3] In addition to his duties, he studied at the University of California for one year, and earned a doctorate in philosophy from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 1947.[1] He served as the founding principal of Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland from 1951 to 1958, afterwards holding the same position at Marin Catholic High School in Kentfield (1959–61).[1] He was also assistant coordinator of the Archdiocesan Campaign of Taxation of Schools in California.[3]

In 1962, Hurley was named a domestic prelate by Pope John XXIII and superintendent of schools in the Diocese of Stockton.[3] He earned a Bachelor's degree in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome in 1963.[1] From 1962 to 1965, he was a peritus, or theological expert, at the Second Vatican Council in Rome, where he served as an advisor to the commission on seminaries, universities, and schools.[1] He also served as chancellor of the Diocese of Stockton during the same period.[3] Following his return to the Archdiocese of San Francisco, he served as assistant chancellor from 1965 to 1969.[3] For several years, he was on a San Francisco television program, "Problems Please."[1]

Episcopacy

San Francisco

On November 21, 1967, Hurley was appointed auxiliary bishop of San Francisco and titular bishop of Thunusuda by Pope Paul VI.[4] He received his episcopal consecration on January 4, 1968 from Archbishop Joseph Thomas McGucken, with Bishops Hugh Aloysius Donohoe and Ernest John Primeau serving as co-consecrators.[4] His consecration was one of the first such liturgies to be celebrated in the vernacular.[5] As an auxiliary bishop, he continued to serve as assistance chancellor of the archdiocese.[3]

Santa Rosa

Following the transfer of Bishop Leo Thomas Maher to the Diocese of San Diego, Hurley was named the second Bishop of Santa Rosa on November 19, 1969.[4] His installation took place at St. Eugene's Cathedral on January 14, 1970.[5] During his tenure, he implemented the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and worked to ensure the financial stability of the diocese.[5]

He established terms of office for pastors and associate pastors, opened a low-income senior residence, and created the Priests' Retirement Fund, Project Hope, and the Apostolic Endowment Fund.[5] He founded the Centro Pastoral Hispano and re-dedicated Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Mission.[5] He established two new parishes in his last five years as bishop, and ordained over a dozen priests and deacons in his last three years.[5]

Later life and death

After governing the diocese for sixteen years, Hurley resigned as Bishop of Santa Rosa on April 15, 1986.[4] He later died after an operation for an aneurysm in San Francisco, at age 81.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "HURLEY, Most Reverend Mark J.". San Francisco Chronicle. 2001-02-08.
  2. ↑ "Archbishop Francis Thomas Hurley". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Bishop Mark Joseph Hurley". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 "Past Bishops of Santa Rosa". Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa in California.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Leo Thomas Maher		 Bishop of Santa Rosa in California
1969–1986 		Succeeded by
John Thomas Steinbock