Patrick Joseph Hayes

Patrick Joseph Hayes (November 20, 1867 – September 4, 1938) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of New York from 1919 until his death. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1924.

Early life and education

Patrick Hayes was born in the Five Points section of Manhattan to Daniel Hayes and Mary Gleason.<ref name=cardinals>Template:Cite news</ref> In his own words, Hayes "was born very humble and, I may say, of poor people."<ref name=depression/> Both of his parents were from County Kerry, Ireland, and moved to the United States in 1864.<ref name=gen>Template:Cite news</ref> A younger brother, John, was born in 1870. Hayes' mother died in June 1872, and his father later remarried around 1876; a half-sister, Anastasia, was also born that year.<ref name=gen/> At age 15, he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle, who ran a grocery store where Hayes then worked.<ref name=gen/>

After attending La Salle Academy, Hayes studied at Manhattan College, where he excelled at philosophy and the classics and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with high honors in 1888.<ref name=gen/> At Manhattan, he also befriended George Mundelein, who would later become Archbishop of Chicago.<ref name=cleveland/> Hayes then attended St. Joseph's Seminary in Troy.<ref name=cardinals/>

Priesthood

Hayes was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Michael Corrigan on September 8, 1892.<ref name=cardinals/> He was then sent for further studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., earning a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1894.<ref name=gen/>

Upon his return to New York City, Hayes was appointed Curate at St. Gabriel's Church on the Lower East Side, where he served under its pastor, John Murphy Farley (whom he would later succeed as Archbishop of New York).<ref name=gen/> Hayes, following Farley's elevation to the episcopacy, served as his private secretary from 1895 to 1903, thereafter he was appointed chancellor of the Archdiocese and Rector of the Cathedral College.<ref name=gen/> He was named Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on October 15, 1907.<ref name=cardinals/>

Early episcopal career

Auxiliary Bishop of New York

On July 3, 1914, Hayes was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of New York and Titular Bishop of Thagaste by Pope Pius X.<ref name=hierarchy>Template:Cite news</ref> He received his episcopal consecration on the following October 28 from Cardinal Farley, with Bishops Henry Gabriels and Thomas Cusack serving as co-consecrators, at St. Patrick's Cathedral.<ref name=hierarchy/>

Bishop for the Military Services

Hayes was later named Vicar Apostolic of Military, USA, on November 24, 1917.<ref name=hierarchy/> Serving as head of the American military ordinariate during World War I, he recruited hundreds of priests as commissioned officers or chaplains.<ref name=gen/> He was also one of the four episcopal members of the executive committee of the National Catholic War Council.<ref name=gen/>

Archbishop of New York

Following the death of Cardinal Farley in September 1918, Hayes was appointed by Pope Benedict XV as the fifth Archbishop of New York on March 10, 1919.<ref name=hierarchy/> He was formally installed as Archbishop on the following March 19.<ref name=cleveland>Template:Cite news</ref> He founded the archdiocesan Catholic Charities in 1920, and subsequently became known as "the Cardinal of Charities."<ref name=cleveland/> In a 1921 pastoral letter, Hayes strongly condemned abortion, contraception and divorce.<ref name=christmas>Template:Cite news</ref> He had the first convention of the American Birth Control League raided,<ref name=sanger>Template:Cite news</ref> and later called its members "prophets of decadence".<ref name=league>Template:Cite news</ref> He welcomed the election of Éamon de Valera as President of the Irish Republic and contributed $1,000 to Sinn Féin.<ref name=gen/>

Cardinal

Pope Pius XI created him Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria in Via in the consistory of March 24, 1924. It was speculated that the Pope delayed his elevation to the Sacred College of Cardinals because a group affiliated with New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral had stoned the Union Club for flying a British flag,Template:Clarify but Pius nevertheless warmly greeted Hayes at the consistory as "dear little brother".<ref name=cleveland/><ref name=americans>Template:Cite news</ref>

The cardinal opposed Prohibition, backed legislation to limit indecency on the stage, and endorsed unemployment relief during the Great Depression. Commenting on the Depression in 1931, he stated, "The American people are experiencing a return to religion following a period of carelessness and cynicism marked by the prosperity of the land...Now they are returning when they find they are in need of something greater than the material in facing adversity and stress."<ref name=depression>Template:Cite news</ref>

After the Rev. Charles Coughlin praised the former Mayor Jimmy Walker in New York, Hayes, who had earlier denounced Walker for his perceived lack of morality, ruled that no ecclesiastical visitor might address a religious gathering without the cardinal's permission.<ref name=coughlin>Template:Cite news</ref>

On June 24, 1924, he offered the invocation at the opening of the 1924 Democratic National Convention.<ref>Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention, published by the Democratic National Committee (1924)</ref> He used his Tammany Hall connections to line up Democratic support in Congress for legislation protecting Catholic schools in the Philippines in 1932.<ref name=tammany>Template:Cite news</ref> During the Spanish Civil War, Hayes was outspoken in his support for the fascist-nationalist forces of General Franco, "claiming that 'Loyalists are controlled by radicals and communists'." <ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Hayes had a summer house in the Catskill Mountains, near St. Joseph's camp, maintained by the Amityville Dominican nuns; he once encountered a group of Klansmen there.<ref name=cleveland/>

Death and legacy

In September 1938, Hayes died from a heart attack, caused by coronary thrombosis, in Monticello, New York, at age 70.<ref name=death>Template:Cite news</ref>

Cardinal Hayes High School in The Bronx is named after him.

Images

File:Cardinal Patrick Joseph Hayes.jpg

Hayes as the Archdiocesan Chancellor and President of Cathedral College

File:Patrick Cardinal Hayes.jpg

Cardinal Hayes on the September 30, 1935, cover of Time

See also

• Catholic Church hierarchy
• Catholic Church in the United States
• Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
• Insignia of chaplain schools in the United States military
• International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference
• List of Catholic bishops of the United States
• List of Catholic bishops of the United States: military service
• Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops
• Military chaplain
• Religious symbolism in the United States military
• United States military chaplains

External links

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, official website
• Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, official website
• Archdiocese for the Military Services of the United States. GCatholic.org. Retrieved 2010-08-20.