The Most Reverend Stephen Joseph Donahue (December 10, 1893 – August 17, 1982) was an American bishop 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 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 the

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York ...

from 1934 to 1972.

Biography

Stephen Donahue was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the fifth of ten children of Thomas P. and Dorothy (née Rentz) Donahue. His father was born in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to Irish parents, and his mother was born in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He received his early education at the

parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

o
Holy Name Church
run by the Christian Brothers. He was encouraged by one of his teachers to enter the priesthood. After graduating from Holy Name School in 1906, he attended Cathedral College. He received the Cardinal's Medal for general excellence upon his graduation; the award was presented to him by the college's president, Father

Patrick Joseph Hayes Patrick Joseph Hayes (November 20, 1867 – September 4, 1938) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of New York from 1919 until his death. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1924. Early life and education Patrick Ha ...

(who later became Archbishop of New York in 1919). He entered St. Joseph's Seminary in

Yonkers Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

in 1912. A year later, he won a scholarship to the

Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Prie ...

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, ...

, where he studied for five years. While in Rome, Donahue 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 ...

a priest by Cardinal Basilio Pompili on May 22, 1918. Following his return to New York, his first assignment was as an instructor of

Sacred Scripture The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

at Cathedral College, where he also served for a time as prefect of discipline. He was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

at th
Church of the Blessed Sacrament
and a

In 1920, he became assistant secretary to Cardinal Hayes. He was advanced to secretary in 1922, and remained in that position until 1934. In his capacity as the Cardinal's secretary, he traveled extensively with Hayes, including several trips to Rome. He was named a

Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

in 1924. On March 5, 1934, Donahue was appointed

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 New York and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Medea'' by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

. He received his episcopal

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 ( ...

on the following May 1 from Cardinal Hayes, with Bishop Edward Mooney and Archbishop

John Joseph Mitty John Joseph Mitty (January 20, 1884 – October 15, 1961) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the third Bishop of Salt Lake City (1926–1932) and the fourth Archbishop of San Francisco (1935–1961). E ...

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 ...

, at St. Patrick's Cathedral. He selected 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 ...

: ''Monstra te esse matrem'' (

: "Show thyself a mother"). After his consecration, he was made

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 his childhood parish of Holy Name Church, and frequently represented Cardinal Hayes at religious conventions and other events. When Cardinal

Eugenio Pacelli 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 ...

, then-

Vatican Secretary of State The Secretary of State of His Holiness (; ), also known as the Cardinal Secretary of State or the Vatican Secretary of State, presides over the Secretariat of State (Holy See), Secretariat of State of the Holy See, the oldest and most important ...

and future Pope Pius XII, visited New York in 1936, Donahue took a leading role in greeting him. He also took a special interest in the Legion of Decency, and served as a member of the motion picture committee of the

National Catholic Welfare Council The National Catholic Welfare Council (NCWC) was the annual meeting of the American Catholic hierarchy and its standing secretariat; it was established in 1919 as the successor to the emergency organization, the National Catholic War Council. It c ...

. Donahue served as

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of New York between the death of Cardinal Hayes and the appointment of Bishop

Francis Spellman Francis Joseph Spellman (May 4, 1889 – December 2, 1967) was an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Archbishop of New York from 1939 until his death in 1967. F ...

, and celebrated

Requiem Mass A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...

for Hayes. After thirty-eight years as a bishop, he resigned on May 3, 1972. He later died at the Mary Manning Walsh Home in Manhattan, aged 88.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donahue, Stephen Joseph 1892 births 1982 deaths Clergy from New York City Saint Joseph's Seminary (Dunwoodie) alumni 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent