Patrick Francis Moran (16 September 183016 August 1911) was a prelate of the

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 ...

and the third Archbishop of Sydney and the first

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

appointed from

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Early life

Moran was born at

Leighlinbridge Leighlinbridge (; ) is a small town on the River Barrow in County Carlow, Ireland. It is 11 km south of Carlow town, on the R705 road. The N9 national primary route once passed through the village, but was by-passed in the 1980s. It c ...

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county located in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region of Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Carlow is the List of Irish counties by area, second smallest and t ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, on 16 September 1830. His parents were Patrick and Alicia Cullen Moran. Of his three sisters, two became nuns, one of whom died nursing cholera patients. Accessed 6 November 2014 His parents died by the time he was 11 years old. In 1842, at the age of twelve, he left Ireland in the company of his uncle, Paul Cullen, rector of the

Irish College Irish Colleges is the collective name used for approximately 34 centres of education for Irish Catholic clergy and lay people opened on continental Europe in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. History The Colleges were set up to educate Rom ...

in Rome. There Moran studied for the priesthood, first at the

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

and then at the major

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

."Patrick Francis Cardinal Moran", Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
/ref> Moran was considered so intellectually bright that he gained his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

acclamation An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts. Voting Voice vot ...

. By twenty-five he spoke ten languages, ancient and modern."Patrick F. Moran", National Portrait Gallery
/ref> He focused on finding and editing important documents and manuscripts related to Irish ecclesiastical history. Some editions of his works remain important source materials to this day. He was appointed vice-rector at the Irish College and also took the chair of Hebrew at

Propaganda Fide The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is also known by its former title, the Sacred Congregati ...

. He was also some-time vice-rector of the Scots College in Rome. In 1866 Moran was appointed secretary to his mother's half-brother, Cardinal Paul Cullen of Dublin. Moran was also appointed professor of scripture at

Clonliffe College Holy Cross College (also known as Clonliffe College), located on Clonliffe Road, Drumcondra, was founded in 1854 as the Catholic diocesan seminary for Dublin by Paul Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin (later created, in 1866, a cardinal). History ...

, Dublin. He founded the "

Irish Ecclesiastical Record ''Irish Ecclesiastical Record'' was an Irish Roman Catholic monthly journal founded by Archbishop later Cardinal Paul Cullen in 1864. ''The Record'' contained articles on theology, liturgy, domestic and international church affairs, catholic so ...

" (on which he later modelled the "

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"). In 1869 he accompanied Cardinal Cullen to the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

, a council also attended by Melbourne's then-first archbishop,

James Alipius Goold James Alipius Goold (4 November 1812 – 11 June 1886) was an Australian Augustinian friar and the founding Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne in Australia. Life Early years Goold was born in Cork, Ireland. He attended a school established by ...

. According to Michael Daniel, it is generally agreed that the definition of the Catholic doctrine of papal infallibility was based on Cullen's proposal, and Ayres suggests that there is strong evidence that Cullen's proposal was largely drafted by Moran. While in Rome and Ireland he was very active politically in opposing English Benedictine plans for monastic foundations undergirding the Catholic Church in Australia.

Bishop of Ossory

Moran was appointed

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 ...

Ossory Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home of t ...

on 22 December 1871 and was consecrated on 5 March 1872 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

by his uncle, Paul Cardinal Cullen. On the death of Bishop Edward Walsh, he succeeded as

Bishop of Ossory . The Bishop of Ossory () is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Provinces of Ireland, Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but i ...

on 11 August 1872. He championed

Home Rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...

and was consulted by

W. E. Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he was Prime Minister ...

prior to the introduction of his Home Rule Bills.

Cardinal

Moran was personally chosen and promoted by Pope Leo XIII to head the Archdiocese of Sydney – a clear policy departure from the previous English

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

incumbents (Polding and Vaughan) who were experiencing tension leading the predominantly Irish-Australian Catholics. In the archbishop's farewell audience with Leo XIII, it was evident that the intrigues of parties, the interference of government agencies and the influence of high ecclesiastics had made the matter almost impossible to decide by Propaganda. In the presence of others, the Pope said clearly: "We took the selection into our own hands. You are our personal appointment." Moran was appointed to Australia on 25 January 1884 and arrived on 8 September 1884. He was created

cardinal-priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...

on 27 July 1885 with the title of St Susanna. The new Irish-Australian

made it his business to make his presence and leadership felt. Moran began transforming the Sydney St Patrick's Day festivities by inaugurating the celebration of a solemn High Mass at St Mary's Cathedral on St Patrick's Day 1885. Over time the day's events changed from an Irish nationalist and political day into an occasion "for the demonstration of Irish Catholic power and respectable assimilation" as well as "for the affirmation of Irish Catholic solidarity". In the year 1886, it is estimated that Moran travelled 2,500 miles over land and sea, visiting all the dioceses of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. In 1887 he travelled 6,000 miles to consecrate fellow Irishman

Matthew Gibney Matthew Gibney (1 November 1835 – 22 June 1925) was an Irish-born metropolitan bishop in Australia and the third Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth, serving from 1886 until 1910. Gibney is perhaps best known for giving notorious bushranger Ned K ...

at Perth. He also travelled to

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

Bathurst Bathurst may refer to: People * Bathurst (surname) * Bathurst Bellers Mann (1858–1948), Irish-born rugby union player in Wales * Bathurst Peachy (1893–1953), American college head baseball coach Places and jurisdictions Australia * Bat ...

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Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

, Lismore,

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and

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for the consecration of their cathedrals. Following the 1891 encyclical ''Rerum Novarum'', he supported the right of labourers to better their conditions. During his episcopate, Moran consecrated 14 bishops (he was the principal consecrator of William Walsh, Michael Verdon,

Patrick Vincent Dwyer Patrick Vincent Dwyer (1858-1931) was the first Australian born Roman Catholic Bishop. Life Patrick Vincent Dwyer was born on 21 August 1858 at Albury, New South Wales, to William Dwyer, schoolteacher, and his wife, Anastasia, née Dermody, both ...

, Armand Olier and also assisted in consecrating

Patrick Clune Patrick Joseph Clune CSsR (6 January 1864 in Ruan, County Clare, Ireland – 24 May 1935 in Perth), an Australian metropolitan bishop, was the fourth Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth and first Archbishop of Perth. Clune served continuously in t ...

, among others). He ordained nearly 500 priests, dedicated more than 5,000 churches and professed more than 500 nuns. He made five journeys to Rome on church business between 1885 and 1903, but did not participate in the papal conclave of 1903 because of the relatively short notice and the distance, making it impossible for him to reach Rome within 10 days of the death of Pope Leo. Moran was a strong supporter of Federation, and in November 1896 attended the People's Federal Convention in Bathurst. In March 1897 Moran stood as a candidate election of ten delegates from New South Wales to the Australasian Federal Convention. Although he stated he would not attend the Convention in any official capacity, but in a solely individual one, his candidacy sparked a sectarian reaction. 29 per cent of voters gave one of their ten votes to Moran, but he came only thirteenth in number of total votes and was not elected. From 1900 to 1901, Moran's leadership survived a crisis when his personal secretary, Denis O'Haran, was named as co-respondent in the divorce case of the cricketer Arthur Coningham. Moran vigorously defended O'Haran and a jury found in his favour. Moran died in Manly, Sydney, in August 1911, aged 80. A quarter of a million people (the largest crowd ever to gather in Australia until that date) witnessed his funeral procession through the centre of Sydney. He is buried in

St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians, locally known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, is a Catholic basilica and the seat of the Archdiocese of Sydney. The cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Vi ...

Publications

*"Memoir of the Most Rev. Oliver Plunkett" (1861) *"Essays on the Origin, etc., of the Early Irish Church" (1864) *"History of the Catholic Archbishops of Dublin" (1864) *"Historical Sketch of the Persecutions, etc., under Cromwell and the Puritans" (1866) *"Acta S. Brendani" (1872) *"Monasticon Hibernicum" 2 vols. by Mervyn Archdall, as editor (1873) *"Spicilegium Ossoriense, being a Collection of Documents to illustrate the History of the Irish Church from the Reformation to the Year 1800" (3 vols., 4to, 1879) *"Irish Saints in Great Britain" (1879) *"a volume of poems entitled "Fragmentary Thoughts" *"The Federal Government of Australasia," *"Letters on the Anglican Reformation" (1890). *''History of the Catholic Church in Australasia'' (1895), 2 volumes * "St. Patrick", ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1911) Accessed 6 November 2014

References

External links