Terence Cooke

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox Christian leader Template:Infobox cardinal styles Terence James Cooke (March 1, 1921 – October 6, 1983) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of New York from 1968 until his death, quietly battling leukemia throughout his tenure. He was named a cardinal in 1969. Cooke previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York from 1965 to 1967.

Nine years after his death, Cooke was designated a Servant of God, the first step in the process that may lead to beatification and then canonization as a saint.

Biography

Early life

The youngest of three children, Terence Cooke was born in New York City to Michael and Margaret (née Gannon) Cooke.<ref name=cardinals>Template:Cite web</ref> His parents were both from County Galway, Ireland, and named their son after Terence MacSwiney, the Lord Mayor of Cork who died on a hunger strike during the Irish War of Independence.<ref name=saints>Template:Cite news</ref> Michael Cooke worked as a chauffeur and construction worker.<ref name=succession>Template:Cite news</ref> At age five, Terence and his family moved from Morningside Heights, Manhattan, to the northeast Bronx. Following his mother's death in 1930, his aunt Mary Gannon helped raise him and his siblings.<ref name=saints/>

After expressing an early interest in the priesthood, in 1934 Cooke entered Manhattan's Cathedral College, the minor seminary of the Archdiocese of New York. In 1940, he entered St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York.<ref name=saints/>

Ministry

Cooke was ordained a priest by Archbishop Francis Spellman on December 1, 1945.<ref name=cardinals/> Cooke then served as chaplain for St. Agatha's Home for Children in Nanuet, New York,<ref name=canonization>Template:Cite news</ref> until 1947, when he moved to Washington, D.C., to pursue graduate studies at The Catholic University of America. He obtained a Master of Social Work degree in 1949.<ref name=saints/>

When he returned to New York, Cooke was assigned to serve as a curate at St. Athanasius Parish in the Bronx, while working with the Catholic Youth Organization.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1954 he was appointed executive director of the Youth Division of Catholic Charities and procurator of St. Joseph's Seminary. In 1957 he was appointed by Cardinal Spellman to be his secretary, a position he held until 1965. Cooke was named a monsignor on August 13, 1957, and vice-chancellor for the archdiocese in 1958, rising to full chancellor in 1961.<ref name=cardinals/>

Auxiliary Bishop of New York

On September 15, 1965, Pope Paul VI appointed Cooke as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York and titular bishop of Summa. He received his episcopal consecration on December 13, 1965, from Cardinal Spellman at St. Patrick's Cathedral, with Archbishops Joseph McGucken and John Maguire serving as co-consecrators.<ref name=hierarchy/> Cooke selected as his episcopal motto: Fiat Voluntas Tua, meaning, "Thy Will Be Done" from Luke 1:38.<ref name=canonization/>

Cooke played a prominent role in arranging Pope Paul's visit to New York in October 1965,<ref name=succession/> and became Vicar General of the Archdiocese two days after his consecration, on December 15, 1965. He was diagnosed with acute myelomonocytic leukemia, a form of cancer, that year as well.<ref name=canonization/><ref name=cancer/>

Archbishop of New York

Following Spellman's death in December 1967, Pope Paul named Cooke as the seventh Archbishop of New York on March 2, 1968.<ref name=hierarchy>Template:Cite news</ref>

Pope Paul's selection of Cooke came as a surprise; likely contenders for the post included Fulton J. Sheen, a television personality and Bishop of Rochester; and Archbishop Maguire, who had been Spellman's coadjutor.<ref name=succession/> In addition to his duties in New York, Cooke was named Vicar Apostolic for the U.S. Military on April 4, 1968, and was installed in both positions at St. Patrick's Cathedral.<ref name=hierarchy/>

That same day as Cooke's installation, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, leading to a nationwide wave of riots in more than 100 cities. Cooke went to Harlem that evening to plead for racial peace<ref name=saints/> and later attended King's funeral.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After the assassination of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy on June 6, 1968, Cooke led the funeral at St. Patrick's Cathedral; months later, he baptized Kennedy's youngest child, Rory Kennedy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On January 20, 1969, Cooke delivered the benediction at the inauguration of President Richard Nixon.

After the first meeting between Church and Freemasonry, which had been held on April 11, 1969, at the convent of the Divine Master in Ariccia, he was the protagonist of a series of public handshakes between high prelates of the Roman Catholic Church and the heads of Freemasonry.<ref name="Magister, 1999">Template:Cite web</ref>

Cooke helped implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the archdiocese, and adopted a more collegial management style than his predecessor Spellman.<ref name=death/> Pope Paul VI appointed him as Cardinal-Priest of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Rome (the traditional titular church of the New York archbishops starting in 1946) in the consistory of April 28, 1969.<ref name=hierarchy/> At the time of his elevation, Cooke was the second-youngest member of the College of Cardinals after Cardinal Alfred Bengsch, who was six months younger. Cooke was theologically conservative but described himself as progressive in secular matters.<ref name=succession/>

During his tenure as archbishop, Cooke founded the Birthright organization, which provides counseling and other support for pregnant women; the Inner-City Scholarship Fund, which provides financial aid for Catholic-school students; an Archdiocesan Housing Development Program, providing housing to New York's disadvantaged; Catholic New York, the archdiocesan newspaper; and nine nursing homes.<ref name=canonization/> In 1974, Cooke went to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he attended lectures on the Second Vatican Council given by his future successor, Father Edward Egan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Cooke was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the conclaves of August and October 1978, which selected Popes John Paul I and John Paul II, respectively. In 1979, Cooke separately hosted the Dalai Lama<ref name=lama>Template:Cite news</ref> and Pope John Paul II at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Death

Cooke's leukemia, first diagnosed in 1965, was deemed terminal in 1975,<ref name=canonization/> and he was on almost constant chemotherapy for the last five years of his life.<ref name=close>Template:Cite news</ref> In late August 1983, he announced his illness to the public, saying that he was expected to live for a few more months but would not resign his post.<ref name=cancer>Template:Cite news</ref> In an open letter completed only days before his death, he wrote, "The gift of life, God's special gift, is no less beautiful when it is accompanied by illness or weakness, hunger or poverty, mental or physical handicaps, loneliness or old age."<ref name=death>Template:Cite news</ref>

On October 6, 1983, Cooke died from leukemia at age 62 at his episcopal residence in Manhattan, New York City. He is interred in the crypt under the altar of St. Patrick's Cathedral.<ref name=cardinals/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Legacy

On April 5, 1984, President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Cooke the Presidential Medal of Freedom.<ref>Presidential Medal of Freedom Template:Webarchive, The White House, p. 52.</ref> In 1988, he posthumously received the F. Sadlier Dinger Award from the publisher William H. Sadlier, Inc., for his contributions to religious education.<ref>The F. Sadlier Dinger Award, William H. Sadlier, Inc.</ref>

Recognition

During his years as archbishop, Cooke received honorary degrees from at least four Catholic colleges: College of New Rochelle (1968),<ref>Honorary Degree Recipients Template:Webarchive, College of New Rochelle.</ref> College of Mount Saint Vincent (1968),<ref>Honorary Degree Recipients, College of Mount Saint Vincent.</ref> Boston College (1969),<ref>Honorary Degrees Awarded Template:Webarchive, Boston College.</ref> and Marymount Manhattan College (1978).<ref>Honorary Degree Recipients, Marymount Manhattan College.</ref> He also received the James Cardinal Gibbons Medal (1979) from his alma mater, Catholic University of America.<ref>James Cardinal Gibbons Medalists, Catholic University of America.</ref>

At least seven buildings in the Archdiocese of New York have been named in his honor:

• Terence Cardinal Cooke Catholic Center (archdiocesan headquarters, in Manhattan)<ref>Terence Cardinal Cooke Catholic Center Template:Webarchive, Archdiocese of New York.</ref>
• Terence Cardinal Cooke–Cathedral Library (now part of New York Public Library, Manhattan)<ref>Terence Cardinal Cooke–Cathedral Library, New York Public Library.</ref>
• Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center (Manhattan)<ref>Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center Template:Webarchive, ArchCare.</ref>
• Cooke School and Institute (special needs, Manhattan)<ref>Cooke: Special Education School & Services, Cooke School & Institute.</ref>
• Cardinal Cooke Residence (special needs, Bronx)<ref>Beacon of Hope House: Terence Cardinal Cooke Residence, East Bronx, Perceptions For People With Disabilities.</ref>
• Cardinal Cooke Residence (emergency home for mothers, Spring Valley)<ref>Cardinal Cooke Residence, Spring Valley, Manta Media.</ref>
• Cardinal Cooke Center (parish hall, Staten Island)<ref>Dedication of the Cardinal Cooke CentreTemplate:Dead link, Church of Saint Clare.</ref>

Cause for canonization

Soon after Cooke died in 1983, a movement emerged to canonize him as a saint. In 1984, with the support of Cooke's successor, Archbishop (and future cardinal) John O'Connor, the Cardinal Cooke Guild was established. In 1992, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints officially designated Cooke as a Servant of God, the first step in the process that leads to beatification and then canonization as a saint. On April 14, 2010, the Guild and senior American clergy presented Pope Benedict XVI with the positio, the documentation of the cardinal's life, work, and virtues. The document was then filed with the Congregation for Causes, to be examined by theologians.<ref>"Who was Terence Cardinal Cooke?", Catholic New York</ref> If the document is approved, Cooke will receive the title of Venerable, the second step leading to sainthood.

Father Benedict Groeschel was the postulator for the cause while it was in its initial stages in New York. After the process was accepted by the Holy See, Andrea Ambrosi served as postulator until his retirement in 2021.<ref name="canonization" /> He was replaced by Dr. Angelica Ambrosi.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of January 22, 2022, the canonization process is still ongoing.

Views

Foreign relations

An anti-Communist, Cooke opposed the majority of his fellow bishops when he spoke out against nuclear disarmament in 1982.<ref name="death" /> He once stated that deterrence was not satisfactory or safe, but could be considered morally "tolerable".<ref name="deterrence">Template:Cite news</ref> During a 1968 Central Park anti-war rally by Coretta Scott King he organized a small counter demonstration in support of the Vietnam War.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Cooke, opposed to the militant policies of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, remained inside St. Patrick's Cathedral during the 1983 St. Patrick's Day Parade, until the grand marshal, Irish activist Michael Flannery, had passed by. Flannery was an outspoken supporter of the IRA.<ref>Byrne, James, Philip Coleman, and Jason King. Ireland and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2008. 826. Print.</ref>

Abortion

Cooke was an outspoken opponent of abortion, which he called the "slaughter of the innocent unborn",<ref name="abortion">Template:Cite news</ref> and once served as chairman of the USCCB's Pro-Life Committee.

LGBT rights

Cooke initiated the formation of Courage International, a ministry that promotes chastity for gay and lesbian Catholics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Traditional values

Cooke supported the Cursillo Movement, Christian Family Movement, and Charismatic Renewal, and was instrumental in bringing the Missionaries of Charity to New York.<ref name="canonization" /> Cooke once described actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly as "a lesson in Catholic motherhood".<ref name="grace">Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Terence Cardinal Cooke – Cause for Canonization Template:Webarchive, official website
• Template:Find a Grave
• Cardinal Cooke Guild, official website
• 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