George Patrick Dwyer (25 September 1908 – 17 September 1987) was an English

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 ...

and the Archbishop Emeritus of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham The Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. The archdiocese covers an area of , encompassing Staffordshire, the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and much of ...

, England. Dwyer served as the sixth

Archbishop of Birmingham The Archbishop of Birmingham heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham in England. As such he is the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Birmingham. The archdiocese covers an area of and spans of the counties of Oxfordshire, ...

from 1965 to 1981, succeeding

Francis Grimshaw Francis Edward Joseph Grimshaw (6 October 1901 – 22 March 1965) was a British Roman Catholic bishop, who served as Archbishop of Birmingham from 1954 until his death. Early life Born in Bridgwater, Somerset on 6 October 1901, the eldest of th ...

. Before that, Dwyer had served as the sixth

Roman Catholic Bishop of Leeds The Bishop of Leeds is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds in the Province of Liverpool, England. The Vicariate Apostolic of the Yorkshire District was elevated to diocese status as the Diocese of Beverley on 29 September 1850 ...

, between 1957 and 1965, being succeeded by William Wheeler.

Early life and ministry

The son of John William Dwyer, a wholesale egg and potato merchant, and his wife Jemima, he was also a cousin by marriage of

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, dy ...

, he was educated at

St Bede's College, Manchester St Bede's College is an Independent Roman Catholic co-educational day school for pupils between 3 and 18 years located on Alexandra Road South in Whalley Range, Manchester, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Confe ...

(1919–1926), then at the

Venerable English College, Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College ...

after being accepted by the Salford Diocese as a candidate for the priesthood. Dwyer proved an outstanding student, and was awarded

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 ...

s in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

from the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

. He 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 ...

priest for the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds The Diocese of Leeds () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church centred on Leeds Cathedral in the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It was founded on 20 December 1878, with the splitting of the Diocese of Beverley, which had ...

on 1 November 1932, and returned to England to study languages at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

. Following postgraduate studies in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

from 1932 to 1937, he returned to St Bede's as a member of the teaching staff before joining the Catholic Missionary Society as vice-superior in 1947. He also edited the ''Catholic Gazette'' for four years until his appointment as

Superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

of the Catholic Missionary Society in 1951.

Episcopal career

He was ordained bishop on 24 September 1957 by

John Carmel Heenan John Carmel Heenan (26 January 1905 – 7 November 1975) was a senior-ranking English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1963 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965. Biography Ea ...

(then the

Archbishop of Liverpool The Metropolitan Archbishop of Liverpool is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool and Metropolitan bishop, metropolitan of the Province of Liverpool (also known as the Northern Province) in England. Th ...

) following his appointment as Bishop of Leeds where he succeeded Heenan who had previously served a term of eight years in Leeds. During his time in this diocese, Dwyer served as a Council Father for the first three 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 ...

. In October 1965, Dwyer was translated to the

to serve as the sixth

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, named 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 ...

. In his new role he also took part in the fourth session of the

. After the death of

(who was Dwyer's close friend) in 1975, Dwyer was seen by some as a natural successor as

Archbishop of Westminster The archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...

. However, Dwyer informed the

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

he felt that at sixty-seven his age was too great for him to be considered for the post. He was, however, elected president of the

Bishops' Conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the Bishop (Catholic Church), bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as i ...

during the first three years of

Basil Hume George Basil Hume (born George Haliburton Hume; 2 March 1923 – 17 June 1999) was an English Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1976 until his death in 1999. A member of the Benedictines, he was made a cardinal i ...

's episcopate, becoming the first bishop to hold that position who was not also

. His coat of arms is blazoned, 'Argent on a saltire Gules a jousting spear Or' thus incorporating the names of St Patrick and St George. His motto was ''Spe Gaudentes'' ("Rejoicing in Hope").

Later life and death

Dwyer retired as

, his resignation was accepted by

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 ...

on 1 September 1981, taking up the title Archbishop Emeritus of Birmingham. Dwyer died on 17 September 1987 at the age of 78. He was subsequently buried at

St Mary's College, Oscott St Mary's College in New Oscott, Birmingham, sometimes called Oscott College, is the Roman Catholic seminary of the Archdiocese of Birmingham in England and one of two seminaries of the Catholic Church in England and Wales in England, with All ...

on 24 September 1987.

References

External links

*
Diocese of Leeds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwyer, George Patrick 1908 births 1987 deaths Participants in the Second Vatican Council Clergy from Manchester People educated at St Bede's College, Manchester Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Roman Catholic archbishops of Birmingham 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic bishops of Leeds English College, Rome alumni