Gerald Shaughnessy

Gerald Shaughnessy was born in Everett, Massachusetts, to Joseph and Margarett (née Colwell) Shaughnessy.[1] In 1909 he graduated from Boston College, where he had won the Cronin scholarship.[1] He then taught at private and public schools in Maryland, Montana and Utah until 1916, when he entered the Society of Mary (more commonly known as the Marists).[1] He studied theology at the Marist College and the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., earning a Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 1920.[1] He was ordained to the priesthood on June 20, 1920.[2] He became an official of the Apostolic Delegation in 1919.[3] Returning to the Marist College, he there served as professor of moral theology from 1920 to 1933.[1] During this period, he was also a professor at Notre Dame Seminary (1923–1924) and at Rome and Lyons (1930–1931).[1] He became novice master at the Marist College in 1932.[3]

On July 1, 1933, Shaughnessy was appointed the fourth Bishop of Seattle, Washington, by Pope Pius XI.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on the following September 19 from Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, with Bishops Michael Joseph Keyes, S.M., and Charles Daniel White serving as co-consecrators.[2] His talent for administration and attention for detail kept the diocese financially stable during the Great Depression.[4] He encouraged the formation of Serra International, and served as its first chaplain.[5] He also supported the St. Vincent de Paul Society and Catholic Charities.[4] During World War II, he condemned discrimination against Japanese Americans and opposed American participation in warfare abroad.[4][6] In a 1941 Easter sermon, Shaughnessy criticized Republican presidential candidate Wendell Willkie for making promises he later dismissed as "campaign oratory."[7] After Willkie demanded an apology, he declared that Willkie was not "the man he used to be, and in fact he never was...And speaking of 'apology,' Mr. Willkie, I believe that you owe one to your party, to those who voted for you and to the whole nation."[7]

In November 1945, Shaughnessy suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while returning from the annual meeting of the American bishops in Washington, D.C.[4] He never fully recovered from this incident, and in 1948 the Vatican appointed Thomas Arthur Connolly as coadjutor bishop with immediate right of succession. After several years of forced inactivity, Shaughnessy died in his home on First Hill in Seattle in 1950, a day short of his sixty-third birthday. Due to construction at St. James Cathedral, the funeral was held at nearby Immaculate Conception Church and was celebrated by Archbishop Edward Howard of Portland.[4][8]