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Revision as of 00:05, 5 September 2023 by 2601:401:501:1660:f408:f738:7a86:5580 (talk) (→Early life and ordination)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church For the 19th-century boxer, see John Camel Heenan. "Cardinal Heenan" redirects here. For other uses, see Cardinal Heenan (disambiguation).
| His Eminence John Carmel Heenan | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Westminster Primate of England and Wales | |
 John Cardinal Heenan | |
| Province | Westminster |
| Diocese | Westminster |
| Appointed | 2 September 1963 |
| Term ended | 7 November 1975 |
| Predecessor | William Godfrey |
| Successor | Basil Hume |
| Other post(s) | Cardinal-Priest of San Silvestro in Capite |
| Previous post(s) |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 6 July 1930 by Arthur Henry Doubleday |
| Consecration | 27 January 1951 by William Godfrey, Joseph McCormack and John Edward Petit |
| Created cardinal | 22 February 1965 by Paul VI |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1905-01-26)26 January 1905 Ilford, Essex |
| Died | 7 November 1975(1975-11-07) (aged 70) London, England |
| Buried | Westminster Cathedral |
| Nationality | British |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
John Carmel Heenan (26 January 1905 – 7 November 1975) was a senior-ranking English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1963 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965.
Biography
Early life and ordination
John Heenan was born in Ilford, Essex, the youngest of four children of Irish parents John and Anne Heenan (née Pilkington). He auditioned for Westminster Cathedral Choir School at age 9, but Sir Richard Terry rejected him for his "metallic voice". Heenan studied at St. Ignatius College in Stamford Hill, Ushaw College in Durham, and the Venerable English College in Rome before being ordained to the priesthood on 6 July 1930. He then did pastoral work in Brentwood until 1947, at which time he became Superior of the Catholic Missionary Society of England and Wales. In this position, Heenan criticized the United States for being too concerned about communism, and not enough about spiritual matters. By this time he had published a biography (1943) of Cardinal Hinsley, Archbishop of Westminster, who had recently died. By 1951, he repeatedly groped a female 14-year-old student, Catharine Bridget Egan, at Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College by placing his hands on her breasts and bottom. He did not apologise or make amends for these assaults at any time and it is highly likely she was not the only victim of his molestations.
Bishop
On 27 January 1951, Heenan was appointed the fifth Bishop of Leeds by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 12 March from Archbishop William Godfrey, Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain, with Joseph McCormack, Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, and John Petit, Bishop of Menevia, serving as co-consecrators. Named the sixth Archbishop of Liverpool on 2 May 1957, Heenan was later appointed the eighth Archbishop of Westminster on 2 September 1963. As Archbishop of Westminster, he served as the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. In 1968, Heenan was elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.
According to Clare Devlin, daughter of Lord Devlin, upon revealing to Heenan her father's sexual abuse towards her Heenan stated ‘It could be much worse’ and ‘better you than a mistress’.
Positions during the Second Vatican Council
A participant of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), Heenan showed himself to be of a conservative mind. He opposed Gaudium et spes, the council's constitution on the church in the modern world, saying that it had been "written by clerics with no knowledge of the world". He also condemned the periti, or theological experts, who sought to change the church's doctrine on birth control. Moreover, despite the risks to ecumenism, Heenan later supported the canonization of the forty martyrs.
Cardinal
He was created Cardinal-Priest of S. Silvestro in Capite by Pope Paul VI in the consistory of 22 February 1965.
He died from a heart attack in London at age 70, and is buried in Westminster Cathedral, under the twelfth Station of the Cross ("Jesus dies on the Cross").
Heenan shared a lengthy correspondence with author Evelyn Waugh regarding the Second Vatican Council. A compilation of their letters, A Bitter Trial: Evelyn Waugh and John Carmel Cardinal Heenan on the Liturgical Changes, was first published in 1996 and reprinted in an expanded edition in 2011.
Quotes
- "A church that is half empty is half full."
- "At home it is not only women and children but also fathers of families and young men who come regularly to mass. If we were to offer them the kind of ceremony we saw yesterday in the Sistine Chapel we would soon be left with a congregation mostly of women and children."
See also
Portals:
References
- Miranda, Salvador. "John Carmel Heenan". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
- Diocese of Westminster. Cardinal John Carmel Heenan Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine 11 January 2005
- Time Magazine. Dominant Theme 12 June 1950
- "'Our silence permits perpetrators to continue': one woman's fight to expose a father's abuse". the Guardian. 25 July 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ Time Magazine. The Bravest Schema 30 October 1964
- Time Magazine. Furor over Forty 19 January 1970
- Time Magazine. 17 November 1975
- Blosser, Philip (June 2012). "Undone by the "Permanent Workshop"". New Oxford Review. 79 (5). Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- Time Magazine. Revival in England 9 May 1949
- Liturgical Shipwreck TAN Books and Pub. March 1997
External links
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byHenry Poskitt | Bishop of Leeds 1951–1957 |
Succeeded byGeorge Patrick Dwyer |
| Preceded byWilliam Godfrey | Archbishop of Liverpool 1957–1963 |
Succeeded byGeorge Andrew Beck |
| Archbishop of Westminster 1963–1975 |
Succeeded byBasil Hume | |
| Preceded byValerio Valeri | Cardinal Priest of S. Silvestro in Capite 1965–1975 | |
- 1905 births
- 1975 deaths
- Participants in the Second Vatican Council
- People from Ilford
- People educated at St Ignatius' College, Enfield
- Roman Catholic archbishops of Liverpool
- Roman Catholic archbishops of Westminster
- 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United Kingdom
- Cardinals created by Pope Paul VI
- Alumni of Ushaw College
- 20th-century British cardinals
- Roman Catholic bishops of Leeds
- English College, Rome alumni
- British Roman Catholic archbishops
- English people of Irish descent