Bernard Joseph Harrington (born September 6, 1933) is an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Winona in Minnesota from 1999 to 2009 and as an auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of Detroit The Archdiocese of Detroit () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church covering the south-east portion of Michigan in the United States. The archdiocese consists counties of Lapeer County, Michigan, Lap ...

in Michigan from 1993 to 1999.

Biography

Early life

Bernard Harrington was born on September 6, 1933, in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, to John and Norah (née Cronin) Harrington; he has two brothers, John and Timothy, and one sister, Irene. His parents were

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

from

Bantry Bay Bantry Bay () is a bay located in County Cork, Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 miles) wide at the head and wide at the entrance. Geograp ...

, County Cork, in the Republic of Ireland. Harrington studied at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit and

St. John's Provincial Seminary St. John's Provincial Seminary was a Catholic major seminary in the Archdiocese of Detroit that operated between 1949 and 1988 in Plymouth, Michigan. Catholic Seminary St. John's was founded in 1949 for the province of the Archdiocese of Detroi ...

in Plymouth, Michigan. He graduated from the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

with a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

degree.

Priesthood

On June 6, 1959, Harrington was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood in the

Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament The Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament is a Neo-Gothic style Roman Catholic cathedral church in the United States. It is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. The metropolitan archdiocese for the Roman Ca ...

in Detroit for the Archdiocese of Detroit. During his priestly ministry, Harrington served as archdiocesan assistant superintendent of

schools A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of ...

and

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of Holy Name Parish in

Birmingham, Michigan Birmingham is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor (M-1 (Michigan highway), M-1). As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 censu ...

. From 1977 to 1985, he was rector of Sacred Heart Seminary. He later became

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of the Department of Formation and pastor of St. Rene Goupil Parish in

Sterling Heights, Michigan Sterling Heights is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Detroit, Sterling Heights is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 134,346, placing Sterl ...

, in 1984.

Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit

On November 23, 1993,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed Harrington as an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Detroit and titular bishop of

Uzalis El Alia is a town and commune in the Bizerte Governorate, Tunisia. It was the ancient Uzalis in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis, which became a Christian bishopric that is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees. It is ...

. He was consecrated on January 6, 1994 by Archbishop

Adam Maida Adam Joseph Maida (born March 18, 1930) is an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Detroit from 1990 to 2009, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1994. He previously served as Bishop of Green Bay from 1984 to 1990. Biogr ...

, with Bishops Dale Melczek and Walter Schoenherr serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. Harrington chose as his episcopal

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

: ''"Have life more abundantly"'' (

John 10 John 10 is the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The author of the book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this Gospel.Holman Ill ...

:10). As auxiliary bishop, Harrington served as

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of the Office of Pastoral Services for Parishes in the archdiocesan

curia Curia (: curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally probably had wider powers, they came to meet ...

, episcopal liaison for the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., and regional bishop for

Macomb County, Michigan Macomb County ( ) is a county on the eastern shore of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the Detroit metropolitan area, bordering Detroit to the north and containing many of its northern suburbs. Its seat of government is Mt. Clemens, ...

and St. Clair County, Michigan.

Bishop of Winona

On November 4, 1998, John Paul II named Harrington as the seventh bishop of Winona. He was installed on January 6, 1999. Within the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic C ...

(USCCB), Harrington

chaired The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

the Committee on Education and sat on the Ad Hoc Committee on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians. He was also a member of the Priestly Life and Ministry Committee and its liaison to the Subcommittee for Lay Ministry. On April 15, 2008, Harrington commented on the plans of Kathy Redig, a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

in the diocese, to undergo an unauthorized ordination. Harrington said that Redig would, in effect, be "self-excommunicating" herself from the Catholic Church by this action. In May 2009, Harrington criticized the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

for inviting President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

to its commencement ceremonies. Harrington stated that Notre Dame:

...is choosing to defy the bishops of the United States and turn its back on the Catholic community in its continual defense of the right-to-life. The university’s stance is similar to that of Catholic politicians who say that they are pro-life and then support legislation and vote for programs that foster abortion.

Retirement and legacy

On October 15, 2008,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

named Bishop John M. Quinn as

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of Winona. On May 7, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI accepted Harrington's resignation. *

Catholic Church hierarchy The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gif ...

Catholic Church in the United States The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion, communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Pope Leo XIV, Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , t ...

Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

List of Catholic bishops of the United States The following is a list of bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States. The list also includes bishops in the American territories of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Cath ...

Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops This is a directory of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops across various Christian denominations. To find an individual who was a bishop, see the most relevant article linked below or :Bishops. Lists Catholic * Bishops in the Catholic Chu ...

References

External links

*
Diocese of Winona
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, Bernard Joseph 1933 births Living people Clergy from Detroit People from Sterling Heights, Michigan Sacred Heart Major Seminary alumni Catholic University of America alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Winona 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States American people of Irish descent Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Sacred Heart Major Seminary faculty Religious leaders from Michigan Catholics from Michigan