Michael Joseph McGrath (24 March 1882 – 28 February 1961) was an Irish-born

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 first as the

bishop of Menevia The Bishop of Menevia was the ordinary of the Diocese of Menevia in the Province of Cardiff in the Catholic Church in Wales. The Diocese of Menevia covered an area of roughly consisting of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, ...

from 1935 to 1940, then the

archbishop of Cardiff The Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia is the ordinary (Catholic Church), ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia. The position came about after the merger of the Archdiocese of Cardiff and the Diocese of Menevia in 2024, afte ...

from 1940 to 1961.

Personal history

Early life

McGrath was born in

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

, Ireland on 24 March 1882. He was educated at a local Christian Brothers school before attending

Rockwell College Rockwell College (), founded in 1864, is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school near Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. The school has a rugby tradition and has won the Munster Schools Senior Cup 26 times and the Munster ...

. He achieved a BA from the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

in Irish language in 1915, and an MA from its successor the NUI in 1918. His university later awarded him an honorary D.Litt. in 1942.

Religious career

McGrath trained for the priesthood at St. John's College, Waterford, and 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 ...

to the priesthood on 12 July 1908. He initially worked as a priest for the Catholic diocese of Clifton, followed by Bristol's Church of St. Nicholas. In 1918, he was forced take a leave of absence on health grounds. In 1921, he was invited by Bishop Francis Mostyn to work in the Diocese of Menevia. McGrath went on to serve at

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

, Bangor and, in 1928, Aberystywth as parish priest, where he befriended

Thomas Gwynn Jones Professor Thomas Gwynn Jones C.B.E. (10 October 1871 – 7 March 1949), more widely known as T. Gwynn Jones, was a leading Welsh poet, scholar, literary critic, novelist, translator, and journalist who did important work in Welsh literature, ...

. On 10 August 1935 he was appointed the

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 ...

of the Diocese of Menevia in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, south Wales. His

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

to the

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

took place on 24 September 1935, the principal

consecrator 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 Churches ...

was Archbishop Francis Mostyn of Cardiff, and the principal co-consecrators were Bishop William Lee of Clifton and Bishop Ambrose James Moriarty of Shrewsbury. Five years later, McGrath was

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to the Archdiocese of Cardiff as archbishop on 20 June 1940. He died in office on 28 February 1961, aged 78.

Report to Rome

Archbishop McGrath sent a report to

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, ...

on 7 March 1960, summarising his attitude to Wales. He wrote of the future of the Catholic community in Wales, noting that it made largely made up of descendants of

Irish immigrants The Irish diaspora () refers to ethnic Irish people and their descendants who live outside the island of Ireland. The phenomenon of migration from Ireland is recorded since the Early Middle Ages,Flechner, Roy; Meeder, Sven (2017). The Irish ...

, separating it from the cultural life of Wales. McGrath also commented on the decline of the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

since the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. McGrath predicted that this decline would undermine the religious life of the nation and lead to widespread religious indifference, leading to

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

, broken family life and

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

, among other things.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Michael Joseph 1882 births 1961 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Wales People from Kilkenny (city) Roman Catholic bishops of Menevia Alumni of the Royal University of Ireland Alumni of St John's College, Waterford People educated at Rockwell College Roman Catholic archbishops of Cardiff Irish expatriate Roman Catholic archbishops Christian clergy from County Kilkenny