John McCloskey

On November 21, 1843, McCloskey was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of New York and Titular Bishop of Axieri by Pope Gregory XVI. He received his episcopal consecration on March 10, 1844—his 34th birthday—from Bishop John Hughes, with Bishops Benedict Fenwick (who had baptized him as a child) and Richard Vincent Whelan serving as co-consecrators, at St. Patrick's Cathedral.[6] Whereas Bishop Hughes was active and aggressive, his coadjutor was more meek and gentle.[7] McCloskey busied himself primarily with a visitation of the entire diocese, and was also instrumental in the conversion of Isaac Hecker, founder of the Paulist Fathers, and of James Roosevelt Bayley, later Archbishop of Baltimore.[1]

St. Mary's Church, Albany

McCloskey was named the first Bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Albany by Pope Pius IX on May 21, 1847.[6] He was formally installed by Bishop Hughes on the following September 19.[5] At the time of his arrival, the Upstate New York diocese covered 30,000 square miles (78,000 km²), containing 60,000 Catholics, 25 churches, 34 priests, 2 orphanages, and 2 free schools.[3] McCloskey first selected St. Mary's Church as his episcopal see but it soon proved unsuitable, leading him to construct the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, whose cornerstone was laid in July 1848 and dedication took place in November 1852.[8]

He attended the First Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1852, convened the first diocesan synod in October 1855, and was named an Assistant at the Pontifical Throne in 1862.[1] During his tenure, he increased the number of parishes to 113 and the number of priests to 84, and established three academies for boys and one for girls, four orphanages, fifteen parochial schools, and St. Joseph's Provincial Seminary in Troy.[3] He also introduced the Augustinians, Jesuits, Franciscans, Capuchins, Religious of the Sacred Heart, Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of St. Joseph, and Christian Brothers into the diocese.[9]

Styles of John McCloskey
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	New York

Lithograph of McCloskey, 1878

Following the death of Archbishop Hughes in January 1864, McCloskey was widely expected to be named his successor.[3] Distressed by the rumors, he wrote to Cardinal Karl von Reisach of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, objecting, "I possess neither the learning, nor prudence, nor energy, nor firmness, nor bodily health or strength."[10] Nevertheless, he was appointed the second Archbishop of New York on May 6, 1864.[6] McCloskey, following the end of the Civil War in 1865, resumed the construction of the new cathedral begun under his predecessor; he later dedicated it in May 1879. In 1866 he attended the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, where he preached the opening sermon with remarkable self-control and composure given the fact he had learned only moments before that St. Patrick's Old Cathedral had been gutted by a fire.[4] However, the Trustees of the Cathedral immediately affirmed their intention to rebuild the Cathedral, and under the supervision of the Archbishop, the Cathedral was rebuilt sufficiently enough to celebrate Mass by Easter Sunday, April 21, 1867, just six months after the conflagration. The Cathedral rebuilding project was completed in full by March 13, 1868, and rededicated four days later on St. Patrick's Day by Archbishop McCloskey, and assisted by the pastor of the Cathedral, Father William Starrs. McCloskey participated in the First Vatican Council from 1869 to 1870, and voted in favor of papal infallibility despite his feelings that such a declaration was "untimely."[10] In 1873, he solemnly dedicated the Archdiocese of New York to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.[5]

Imposing the Cardinal's Berretta, lithograph depicting McCloskey receiving the Cardinal's biretta from Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley.

McCloskey was created Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria sopra Minerva by Pius IX in the consistory of March 15, 1875, thus becoming the first American cardinal. The news of his elevation was well received by Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and was viewed as a sign of the growing prestige of the United States.[4] He received the red biretta from Archbishop Bayley in a ceremony at the rebuilt St. Patrick's Cathedral on Mott Street on the following April 27. The Cardinal declared, "Not to my poor merits but to those of the young and already vigorous and most flourishing Catholic Church of America has this honor been given by the Supreme Pontiff. Nor am I unaware that, when the Holy Father determined to confer me this honor he had regard to the dignity of the See of New York, to the merits and devotion of the venerable clergy and numerous laity, and that he had in mind even the eminent rank of this great city and the glorious American nation."[5] Following the death of Pius IX in February 1878, McCloskey left for Rome but arrived too late to participate in the papal conclave, which elected Pope Leo XIII. The new Pope bestowed the red hat upon him on March 28, 1878.[1]

When Thomas Ewing Sherman, son of the famed Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman, expressed his desire to become a Jesuit to his father, the elder Sherman wrote a letter to McCloskey in 1879 telling him to dissuade his son from such a course of action. However, the Cardinal encouraged the boy in his vocation after visiting with him. In response, the General condemned McCloskey in a St. Louis, Missouri newspaper in offensive terms and accused him of robbing him of a son. When pressed for comment by the newspaper's editor, McCloskey simply replied: "General Sherman's letter was marked 'personal and confidential.'"[7] In 1880, he received Michael Corrigan, Bishop of Newark, as his coadjutor. His last major public appearance was in January 1884 for the Golden Jubilee celebration of his priestly ordination, for which Leo XIII sent him a jeweled chalice.[4] In March 1884, with the help of President Chester A. Arthur and Secretary of State Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, the Cardinal helped save the Pontifical North American College from spoliation by the Italian government.[3]

McCloskey's 21-year-long tenure as Archbishop of New York was a productive one. In response to the growing Catholic population in New York, he established 88 additional parishes (for a total of 229) in the Archdiocese, 25 of them in Manhattan, four in the Bronx, and one in Staten Island; the remaining were established outside the city.[11] Among these was the first parish for African American Catholics. The number of priests also rose from 150 to 400 during his tenure.[10] An advocate of Catholic education, at the time of his death there were 37,000 children enrolled at archdiocesan schools. He established several charitable societies for children and a hospital for the mentally ill.[2]