Francis Moran (cardinal)

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Patrick Francis Moran
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Archbishop of Sydney
Portrait of Cardinal Moran taken in Brisbane, Queensland, c. 1900
ArchdioceseSydney
Installed1884
Term ended1911
PredecessorRoger Vaughan
SuccessorMichael Kelly
Other post(s)Bishop of Ossory
(1872–1884)
ParentsPatrick Moran
Alicia Mary Cullen
Alma materIrish College, Rome
Coat of armsPatrick Francis Moran's coat of arms

Patrick Francis Moran (16 September 1830 – 16 August 1911) was a prelate of the

cardinal appointed from Australia.[2]

Early life

Moran was born at

Paul Cullen, rector of the Irish College in Rome. There Moran studied for the priesthood, first at the minor seminary and then at the major seminary.[4]

Moran was considered so intellectually bright that he gained his doctorate by acclamation. By twenty-five he spoke ten languages, ancient and modern.[5] He focused on finding and editing important documents and manuscripts related to Irish ecclesiastical history.[6] Some editions of his works remain important source materials to this day.[7]

He was appointed vice-rector at the Irish College and also took the chair of Hebrew at

Clonliffe College, Dublin. He founded the "Irish Ecclesiastical Record" (on which he later modelled the "Australasian Catholic Record
").

In 1869 he accompanied Cardinal Cullen to the First Vatican Council,[3] a council also attended by Melbourne's then first archbishop, James Alipius Goold. According to Michael Daniel, it is generally agreed that the definition of the Catholic doctrine of papal infallibility was based on Cullen's proposal, and Ayres suggests that there is strong evidence that Cullen's proposal was largely drafted by Moran.[7] While in Rome and Ireland he was very active politically in opposing English Benedictine plans for monastic foundations undergirding the Catholic Church in Australia.[clarification needed]

Bishop of Ossory

Moran was appointed

Paul Cardinal Cullen. On the death of Bishop Edward Walsh, he succeeded as Bishop of Ossory on 11 August 1872.[1] He championed Home Rule and was consulted by W. E. Gladstone prior to the introduction of his Home Rule Bills.[3]

Cardinal

Statue of Moran at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney

Moran was personally chosen and promoted by Pope Leo XIII to head the Archdiocese of Sydney – a clear policy departure from the previous English

cardinal
made it his business to make his presence and leadership felt.

Moran began transforming the Sydney St Patrick's Day festivities by inaugurating the celebration of a solemn High Mass at St Mary's Cathedral on St Patrick's Day 1885. Over time the day's events changed from an Irish nationalist and political day into an occasion "for the demonstration of Irish Catholic power and respectable assimilation" as well as "for the affirmation of Irish Catholic solidarity".[8]

In the year 1886 it is estimated that Moran travelled 2,500 miles over land and sea, visiting all the dioceses of

Goulburn, Lismore, Melbourne and Rockhampton for the consecration of their cathedrals. Following the 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, he supported the right of labourers to better their conditions.[7]

During his episcopate, Moran consecrated 14 bishops (he was the principal consecrator of

papal conclave of 1903
because of the relatively short notice and the distance, making it impossible for him to reach Rome within 10 days of the death of Pope Leo.

Moran was a strong supporter of Federation, and in November 1896 attended the People's Federal Convention in Bathurst. In March 1897 Moran stood as a candidate election of ten delegates from New South Wales to the Australasian Federal Convention. Although he stated he would not attend the Convention in any official capacity, but in a solely individual one, his candidacy sparked a sectarian reaction. 29 percent of voters gave one of their ten votes to Moran, but he came only thirteenth in number of total votes,and was not elected.[10]

From 1900 to 1901, Moran's leadership survived a crisis when his personal secretary, Denis O'Haran, was named as co-respondent in the divorce case of the cricketer Arthur Coningham. Moran vigorously defended O'Haran and a jury found in his favour.

Moran died in Manly, Sydney, in August 1911, aged 80. A quarter of a million people (the largest crowd ever to gather in Australia until that date) witnessed his funeral procession through the centre of Sydney. He is buried in St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney.

Publications

  • "Memoir of the Most Rev. Oliver Plunkett" (1861)
  • "Essays on the Origin, etc., of the Early Irish Church"
  • "History of the Catholic Archbishops of Dublin" (1864)
  • "Historical Sketch of the Persecutions, etc., under Cromwell and the Puritans" (1866)
  • "Acta S. Brendani" (1872)
  • "Monasticon Hibernicum" 2 vols. by Mervyn Archdall, as editor (1873)
  • "Spicilegium Ossoriense, being a Collection of Documents to illustrate the History of the Irish Church from the Reformation to the Year 1800" (3 vols., 4to, 1879)
  • "Irish Saints in Great Britain" (1879)
  • "a volume of poems entitled "Fragmentary Thoughts"
  • "The Federal Government of Australasia,"
  • "Letters on the Anglican Reformation" (1890).[2]
  • History of the Catholic Church in Australasia (1895), 2 volumes
  • "St. Patrick", Catholic Encyclopedia (1911)[11]

References

  1. ^ a b Miranda, Salvador. "Francis Patrick Moran". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  2. ^ a b Mennell, Philip (1892). "Moran, His Eminence Patrick Francis, Cardinal" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
  3. ^ a b c d  O'Haran, Denis (1913). "Francis Patrick Cardinal Moran". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Accessed 6 November 2014
  4. ^ a b c "Patrick Francis Cardinal Moran", Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
  5. ^ "Patrick F. Moran", National Portrait Gallery
  6. ^ P. Ayres, Patrick Francis Moran: The making of a scholar, Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 28 (2007), 19-31.
  7. ^ a b c Daniel, Michael. Review of Ayres, Prince of the Church, in News Weekly, 8 December 2007
  8. ^ O'Farrell, Patrick. "St Patrick's Day in Australia", Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, vol 81, 1994, p. 11.
  9. ^ Gibney, Matthew (1835–1925) Biographical Entry – Australian Dictionary of Biography Online at www.adb.online.anu.edu.au
  10. ^ William Coleman,Their Fiery Cross of Union. A Retelling of the Creation of the Australian Federation, 1889-1914, Connor Court, Queensland, 2021, pp 142-144.
  11. ^  Moran, Patrick Francis (1913). "St. Patrick". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Accessed 6 November 2014

Further reading

  • Philip Ayres, Prince of the Church: Patrick Francis Moran, 1830–1911, Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2007.

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Ossory
1872–1884
Succeeded by
Preceded by
O.S.B.
Archbishop of Sydney

1884–1911
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Cardinal-Priest of Santa Susanna

1885–1911
Succeeded by