John Michael McNamara

John McNamara was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Michael and Margaret (née McNeally) McNamara.[1] He studied at Loyola College and at St. Mary's Seminary, both in Baltimore.[1] He was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal James Gibbons on June 21, 1902.[2] He then did pastoral work in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and in the Diocese of Wilmington, and became the founding pastor of St. Gabriel Church in Washington, D.C. in 1919.[1]

On December 16, 1927, McNamara was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore and Titular Bishop of Eumenia by Pope Pius XI.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on March 29, 1928 from Archbishop Michael Joseph Curley, with Bishops William Joseph Hafey and Thomas Joseph Toolen serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of the Assumption.[2] He served as vicar general of the archdiocese, and was named an Assistant at the Pontifical Throne on March 30, 1947.[1] On November 15, 1947, McNamara was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the newly erected Archdiocese of Washington.[2] He assumed the role of vicar general in Washington as well.[1]

Throughout his ecclesiastical career, he actively supported the canonization of Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton, and ordained nearly 2,000 men to the priesthood.[1] McNamara continued to serve as an auxiliary bishop until his death at age 82.

Bishop McNamara High School bears the name of the bishop.