Thomas Andrew Donnellan (January 24, 1914 – October 15, 1987) was an American

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

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 ...

who served as the ninth bishop of the

Diocese of Ogdensburg The Diocese of Ogdensburg () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the North Country region of New York State in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Archd ...

in New York from 1964 to 1968, and as the second

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 ...

of the

Archdiocese of Atlanta The Archdiocese of Atlanta () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in northern Georgia in United States. The archdiocese is led by a prelate archbishop, who also serves as pastor of the mother chu ...

in Georgia from 1968 until his death.

Biography

Early life

The eldest of two children, Thomas Donnellan was born on January 24, 1914, in

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, to Andrew and Margaret (née Egan) Donnellan. After graduating from Regis High School in the Bronx in 1931, Donnellan entered St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York, in 1933.

Priesthood

Donnellan was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of New York at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan by Archbishop

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 ...

on June 3, 1939. In 1942, Donnellan received a doctorate in

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

from the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

in Washington, D.C. Upon graduation, Donnellan was appointed as assistant pastor of St. Patrick's Cathedral, becoming Spellman's secretary in 1954. Donnellan was named chancellor in 1958. In 1962, Donnellan became the rector of St. Joseph's Seminary in

Yonkers, New York 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 June 1954,

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 ...

named Donnellan as

papal chamberlain A papal gentleman, formally a Gentleman of His Holiness, is a lay attendant of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City. Papal gentlemen serve in the Apostolic Palace near St. Peter's Basilica in ceremonial positions, such as escorting d ...

. He was elevated in March 1958 to

domestic prelate Domestic may refer to: In the home * Anything relating to the human home or family ** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication ** A domestic appliance, or home appliance ** A domestic partnership ** Domestic science, sometimes cal ...

. In December 1962,

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

elevated Donnellan to the rank of prothonotary apostolic.

Bishop of Ogdensburg

On February 28, 1964,

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 ...

appointed Donnellan as bishop of Ogdensburg. He was consecrated on April 9, 1964, by Cardinal

in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, and installed on April 13.

Archbishop of Atlanta

On May 29, 1968, following the death of Archbishop Paul Hallinan, Bishop Donnellan was appointed by Paul VI as the second archbishop of Atlanta; he was installed on July 16, 1968. During his 19-year tenure, Donnellan guided the archdiocese through extensive growth, with the number of Catholics in North Georgia nearly tripling from 50,000 in 1968 to over 133,000. In 1968, Donnellan suspended Reverend Conald Foust, the pastor of an African-American parish in Atlanta, from his pastoral duties. An activist priest with prior problems with the archdiocese, Foust was suspended from not wearing

vestment Vestments are Liturgy, liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christianity, Christian religion, especially by Eastern Christianity, Eastern Churches, Catholic Church, Catholics (of all rites), Lutherans, and Anglicans. ...

s during mass and giving communion to non-Catholics. There were reports that Foust later married. In January 1970, Donnellan barred new enrollments in the archdiocese's Catholic schools as a gesture of support to the

racial integration Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of Race (classification of human beings), race, and t ...

of local public school systems.

Death and legacy

In May 1987, Donnellan suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. He died on October 15, 1987, in Atlanta. His funeral was held at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta. It was attended by over 1,000 mourners, with the apostolic pro-nuncio in the United States, Archbishop

Pio Laghi Pio Laghi (21 May 1922 – 10 January 2009) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. His service was primarily in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and the Roman Curia. He served as Apostolic nuncio to several countries and as the ...

, serving as the principal celebrant. Donnellan is buried at Arlington Cemetery in

Sandy Springs, Georgia Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and a suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's 7th most populous city. It is the site of several corporate headquar ...

. The Archbishop Donnellan School in Atlanta opened in 1996.

Viewpoints

Poverty

In 1984, Donnellan was one of the co-authors of ''Economic Justice For All: Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy'', which was unveiled at a meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. The document urged a moral perspective in viewing the economy from the vantage point of the nation's poor."Archbishop Guided Extraordinary Church Growth", ''Georgia Bulletin'', October 22, 198

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Footnotes

External links

Biography of Archbishop Donnellan from the Archdiocese of AtlantaRoman Catholic Archdiocese of AtlantaRoman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnellan, Thomas Andrew 1914 births 1987 deaths Roman Catholic archbishops of Atlanta Participants in the Second Vatican Council Roman Catholic bishops of Ogdensburg Saint Joseph's Seminary (Dunwoodie) alumni Catholic University of America alumni 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States