Edward Aloysius McGurkin, M.M. (June 22, 1905 – August 28, 1983) was an American-born

Catholic 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 ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

and

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. As a member of the

Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America The Maryknoll Society (also known as the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers and officially as Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America; Latin: ''Societas de Maryknoll pro missionibus exteris'') is a Catholic society of apostolic life for men fou ...

(Maryknoll), he was assigned to missions in

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. He served as the Bishop of Shinyanga from 1956-1975.

Early life and education

Edward McGurkin was born in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, to Michael and Katherine (Gleason) McGurkin. He was educated in the Hartford public schools before enrolling at St. Thomas Preparatory Seminary. He was ordained a priest on September 14, 1930.

Priesthood

After his ordination McGurkin served as the English Editor of the Fides News Service and personal secretary to Cardinal

Pietro Fumasoni Biondi Pietro Fumasoni Biondi (4 September 1872 – 12 July 1960) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in the Roman Curia from 1933 until his death in 196 ...

, the

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of the Sacred Congregation of the Evangelization of Peoples. In 1935 he became the Procurator General. He was assigned as a missionary in

Fushun Fushun ( zh, s=, t=, p=Fǔshùn, historically Fuxi ()) is a prefecture level city in Liaoning province, China, about east of Shenyang, with a total area of , of which is the city proper. Situated on the Hun River ("muddy river"), it is one o ...

, Manchuria in 1938. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was interned by the Japanese. He returned to the United States in 1946 and became a spiritual director at Maryknoll and two years later the local superior. He went to

Bedford, Massachusetts Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Bedford was 14,161 at th2022 United States census History ''The following compilation comes from Ellen Abrams (1999) based on information from Abram Engl ...

, as

novice master In the Christian Church, a novice master or master of novices (), is a member of an institute of consecrated life who is responsible for the training and government of the novitiate in that institute. In religious institutes for women, the novice ...

before being sent to

Shinyanga Shinyanga, also known as Mji wa Shinyanga in the national language, is a city in northern Tanzania. The city is the location of the regional headquarters of Shinyanga Region as well as the district headquarters of Shinyanga Urban District. The r ...

, Tanzania in 1954 as Group Superior to Maryknoll’s new mission there. On July 4, 1956

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

appointed McGurkin as the first bishop of Shinyanga.

Episcopacy

Edward McGurkin was consecrated a bishop on October 3, 1956, in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in

, by Archbishop Henry O'Brien. The principal co-consecrators were Bishops Frederick Donaghy, M.M. of Wuchow and

Lawrence Shehan Lawrence Joseph Shehan (March 18, 1898 – August 26, 1984) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Baltimore from 1961 to 1974. He was made a cardinal in 1965. Shehan previously served as an Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore ...

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

. McGurkin attended all four sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

. He served as the diocesan bishop until his resignation was accepted by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

on January 30, 1975.

Later life and death

Bishop McGurkin retired to Maryknoll where he was engaged as a spiritual director with

Cursillo ''Cursillos in Christianity'' (, "Short courses of Christianity") is an apostolic movement of the Catholic Church. It was conceived in Spain between 1940 and 1949 and began with the celebration of the so-called "first course" from January 7 to 10, ...

and involved with Charismatic renewal and other pastoral work. He died on August 28, 1983, at the age of 78. His funeral Mass was celebrated in the Queen of Apostles Chapel on August 31, 1983, by Bishop

John Comber John Howard Comber (8 January 1861 – 1903) was an English cricketer. Comber's batting and bowling style is unknown. He was born at Brighton, Sussex and died at Lowell, Massachusetts. Comber made his first-class debut for Sussex against ...

, M.M. He was buried in the Maryknoll Center Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGurkin, Edward Aloysius 1905 births 1983 deaths Religious leaders from Hartford, Connecticut Maryknoll bishops American Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in China American missionaries in China Roman Catholic missionaries in Tanzania 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Tanzania Participants in the Second Vatican Council American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent American expatriates in Tanzania Roman Catholic bishops of Shinyanga 20th-century American clergy