Richard Cushing

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Richard James Cardinal Cushing
Church positions
See Archdiocese of Boston
Title Archbishop of Boston
Period in office September 25, 1944 — September 8, 1970
Successor Humberto Cardinal Medeiros
Previous post Auxiliary Bishop of Boston
Created cardinal December 15, 1958
Personal
Date of birth August 24, 1895
Place of birth South Boston, Massachusetts
Date of death November 2, 1970
Place of death Boston, Massachusetts

Richard Cardinal Cushing (August 24, 1895 — November 2, 1970) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1944 to 1970, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1958.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Richard James Cushing was born in South Boston to Patrick Cushing, a blacksmith, and Mary (née Dahill) Cushing, Irish emigrants. Graduating from Boston College in 1917, he attended St. John's Seminary in Brighton and was later ordained to the priesthood by William Cardinal O'Connell on May 26, 1921. Cushing then did pastoral work in Boston until 1939. During that time, he also served as assistant director (1922-1929) and then director (1929-1944) of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, and was raised to the rank of Monsignor on May 14, 1939.

On June 10, 1939, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Boston and Titular Bishop of Mela. Cushing received his episcopal consecration on the following June 29 from Cardinal O'Connell, with Bishops John Peterson and Thomas Emmet, SJ, serving as co-consecrators. He took as his episcopal motto: Ut Cognoscant Te ("That they may know thee").

Cushing was named the third Archbishop of Boston on September 25, 1944, following Cardinal O'Connell's death. Cushing was persistent in his efforts to persuade the U.S. government to engage in trade with the Fascist Spanish government of Francisco Franco. During his tenure, Boston would also see the excommunication of Fr. Leonard Feeney, SJ for his stringent interpretation of the Catholic doctrine that there is no salvation outside the Church. Feeney refused to back down from his position, although it has been reported that he was ultimately reconciled with the church before his death.[citation needed] After the death of Pius XII, Cushing published a moving tribute to him. [1] In 1959, Cushing published a biography of the late Pope Pius XII (1939-1958), depicting the late pope as "Pope of Peace".

He was essentially tasked with making the Roman Catholic Church acceptable to the general American population in preparation for then-Senator John F. Kennedy's run for the White House. Part of this would include reaching out to the non-Catholics of Boston battered and scarred by the long sectarian reign of Cardinal O'Connell, who had made Boston into his own Hibernian and Catholic fiefdom (as per Militant and Triumphant: William Henry O'Connell and the Catholic Church in Boston, 1895-1944[2]).

Cushing was created Cardinal Priest of S. Susanna by Pope John XXIII in the consistory of December 15, 1958. He was also one of the cardinal electors in the 1963 papal conclave, which selected Pope Paul VI.

The Cardinal was a close friend of the Kennedy family. He officiated at the marriage of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in 1953, at which he also read a special prayer from Pope Pius XII, and baptized many of the Kennedy children. Cushing gave the prayer invocation at Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. The Cardinal also celebrated President Kennedy's funeral Mass in 1963 at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

The day before the funeral, he gave a televised eulogy for the assassinated President. Cushing later publicly defended Jacqueline Kennedy after her marriage to Aristotle Onassis in 1968. He subsequently received a large amount of hate mail and was contradicted by the Vatican.[3]

At the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) Cushing played a vital role in drafting Nostra Aetate, the document that officially absolved the Jews of deicide charge. His emotional comments during debates over the drafts were echoed in the final version:

1. We must cast the Declaration on the Jews in a much more positive form, one not so timid, but much more loving ... For the sake of our common heritage we, the children of Abraham according to the spirit, must foster a special reverence and love for the children of Abraham according to the flesh. As children of Adam, they are our kin, as children of Abraham they are Christ's blood relatives. 2. So far as the guilt of Jews in the death of our Saviour is concerned, the rejection of the Messiah by His own, is according to Scripture, a mystery—a mystery given us for our instruction, not for our self-exhaltation ... We cannot sit in judgement on the onetime leaders of Israel—God alone is their judge. Much less can we burden later generations of Jews with any burden of guilt for the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, for the death of the Saviour of the world, except that universal guilt in which we all have a part ... In clear and unmistakable language, we must deny, therefore, that the Jews are guilty of our Saviour's death. We must condemn especially those who seek to justify, as Christian deeds, discriminaion, hated and even persecution of Jews ... 3. I ask myself, Venerable Brothers, whether we should not humbly acknowledge before the whole world that, toward their Jewish brethren, Christians have all too often not shown themselves as true Christians, as faithful followers of Christ. How many [Jews] have suffered in our own time? How many died because Christians were indifferent and kept silent? ... If in recent years, not many Christian voices were raised against those injustices, at least let ours now be heard in humility. [4]

He was deeply committed to implementing the Council's reforms and promoting renewal in the Church[5]. In an unprecedented gesture of ecumenism, he even encouraged Catholics to attend Billy Graham's crusades[6]. Cushing strongly condemned Communism, particularly the regime of Josip Broz Tito[7].

Cushing resigned as Boston's archbishop on September 8, 1970, after twenty-five years of service. Less than two months later, he died from cancer in Boston at the age of 75, and was buried in Hanover, Massachusetts at the chapel of St. Colette's School for Exceptional Children. [8].

[edit] Biography of Pope Pius XII

In 1959, Richard Cardinal Cushing published his only book, a biography of the late Pope Pius XII (1939-1958). It is an almost hagiographic biography, written shortly after the death of the Pontiff. Cushing depicted him as the “Pope of Peace”, who, armed only with the spiritual weapons of his office triumphed over insidious attacks, that seemed about to destroy the center of Christendom. Nations, paid him respect and the faithful, throughout the world, were inspired to resist the disintegration forces, that were working for the collapse of wordly empires. As a person, Pius XII was a simple but true priest, a pastor, selflessly dedicated to the highest interests of the Church and the greater glory of God. [9]

    • Armed only with the spiritual weapons of his office and fortified by the promise of Christ that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church. he triumphed over insidious attacks of the secularists and coarser invectives of the atheists. His name became a rallying point for all men of good will who seek the blessings of peace with justice. [10]
    • During five years of bloody warfare, that international diplomacy was unable to avert, the Pope of Peace, skilfully, patiently and prayerfully warded off the attacks that seemed about to destroy the center of Christendom. With unshakable courage, he remained within the narrow limits in which he possessed diplomatic immunity. From the contending nations, he commanded respect for the cause of Christ. Within the souls of the faithful, throughout the world, he inspired determination to resist the disintegration forces, that were working for the collapse of worldly empires. [11]
    • What was uppermost in my mind is that he was to the very end a true priest, He edified those who knew him most intimately by the austerity and fervor of his personal life. He was truly universal in his outlook … More than anything he was a pastor, a Good Shepard of souls, selflessly dedicated to the highest interests of the Church and the greater glory of God. [12]

After this publication, Cushing abstained from publishing any further books. The book continues to have value, however, because it contains a large appendix with detailed explanations of all Vatican offices and Curia congregations, and legal entities of the Vatican, many of which do not exist anymore. Others have new names. Therefore the Cushing book provides an encyclopedic introduction into the Vatican, as it existed before Vatican II. This is relevant, because many papal documents before 1958 refer to these entities and congregations.

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] Legacy

[edit] References

  1. ^ Pope Pius XII by Richard Cushing, St.Paul Editions, Boston, 1959
  2. ^ Boston Globe'What Will Lake Street Think?' No Longer December 14, 2003
  3. ^ Time magazine "TheCardinal and Jackie", November 1, 1968
  4. ^ Oesterreicher, pp. 197-98
  5. ^ TIME Magazine. The Unlikely Cardinal August 21, 1964
  6. ^ Time magazine. Big Man in a Long Red Robe November 16, 1970
  7. ^ Time magazine How Are Things in Yugoslavia? September 1, 1947
  8. ^ Time magazine. Big Man in a Long Red Robe November 16, 1970
  9. ^ Cushing, p. 49
  10. ^ Cushing, p. 11
  11. ^ Cushing, pp. 44-45
  12. ^ Cushing, pp. 47, 49
  13. ^ The Missionary Society of St. James the Apostle. Homepage

[edit] Episcopal succession

Episcopal Lineage
Consecrated by: William Henry Cardinal O'Connell
Date of consecration: June 29, 1939
Consecrator of
Bishop Date of consecration
Edward Francis Ryan January 3, 1945
Louis Francis Kelleher June 8, 1945
John Joseph Wright June 30, 1947
Eric Francis MacKenzie September 14, 1950
Thomas Francis Markham September 14, 1950
Jeremiah Francis Minihan September 8, 1954
George Hamilton Pearce June 29, 1956
Jaime Antônio Schuck February 24, 1959
Thomas Joseph Riley December 21, 1959
William John McNaughton August 21, 1961
Samuel Emmanuel Carter April 25, 1966
James Edward Burke May 25, 1967
Daniel Anthony Cronin September 12, 1968
Preceded by
William Henry Cardinal O'Connell		 Archbishop of Boston
1944 – 1970		 Succeeded by
Humberto Sousa Cardinal Medeiros