Raymond Augustine Kearney (September 25, 1902 – October 1, 1956) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn from 1935 until his death in 1956.
| Styles of Raymond Augustine Kearney | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Monsignor |
Biography
editRaymond Kearney was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, one of seven children of Joseph Peter and Nora Isabelle (née Burke) Kearney.[1] He and his family moved to Brooklyn, New York, while he was still an infant.[2] He received his early education at the parochial school of the Church of the Nativity, where he served as an altar boy.[3]
Kearney attended Brooklyn Preparatory School before studying at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1923.[4] He studied for the priesthood in Rome at the Pontifical North American College and the Propaganda University, receiving a doctorate in theology in 1927.[3]
Kearney was ordained a priest at the Basilica of St. John Lateran on March 12, 1927.[5] Following his return to Brooklyn, he was assigned as a curate at Queen of All Saints Church, where he remained for two months.[2] He then served at Holy Innocents Church for two years before engaging in diocesan work.[2] In 1929, he earned a doctorate in canon law from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.[3] He served as chancellor of the Diocese of Brooklyn from 1930 to 1934.[3] He was named a papal chamberlain in August 1933.[2]
On December 22, 1934, Kearney was appointed auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn and titular bishop of Lysinia by Pope Pius XI.[5] He received his episcopal consecration on February 25, 1935 from Archbishop Thomas Edmund Molloy, with Bishops Moses E. Kiley and Stephen Joseph Donahue serving as co-consecrators, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.[5] At age 32, he was the youngest Catholic bishop in the world and the first born in the twentieth century.[6][7] In 1950, he was elected chairman of the Bishops' Committee on Motion Pictures, which supervised the work of the Legion of Decency.[4] He was also recognized as an authority on canon law.[4]
Kearney died from a heart attack at age 54.[4]
References
edit- ^ "JOSEPH P. KEARNEY; Father of Bishop Kearney Dies at Neponsit, L.I., at 75". The New York Times. 1936-07-04.
- ^ a b c d "MGR. KEARNEY, 32, IS MADE A BISHOP". The New York Times. 1934-12-30.
- ^ a b c d Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
- ^ a b c d "BISHOP KEARNEY OF BROOKLYN DIES; Chancellor of Diocese Was 54—Administrator and an Authority on Canon Law". The New York Times. 1956-10-02.
- ^ a b c "Bishop Raymond Augustine Kearney". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
- ^ "KEARNEY ELEVATED TO THE BISHOPRIC". The New York Times. 1935-02-26.
- ^ "Religion: Youngest Bishop". TIME Magazine. 1935-01-07. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010.