Cardinal John M. Farley (1842-1918)

Last updated on: September 17, 2009 at 7:07 am by Pat McNamara

Cardinal John M. Farley (1842-1918) 2009-09-17T07:07:00-06:00 Pat McNamara

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John Murphy Farley (April 20, 1842—September 17, 1918) was an Irish American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of New York from 1902 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911. John Farley was born in Newtownhamilton, County Armagh, Ireland, to Philip and Catherine (née Murphy) Farley. Farley, whose father was an innkeeper, was orphaned at age 7 upon the death of both of his parents. He attended St. Macartan’s College in Monaghan from 1859 to 1864. Under the auspices of his uncle, he relocated to the United States and entered St. John’s College in New York in 1864. He studied at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Troy from 1865 to 1866, and at the Pontifical North American College in Rome from 1866 to 1870. Farley was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Costantino Patrizi Naro on June 11, 1870. Upon his return to the States, he served as an assistant rector at St. Peter’s Church in New Brighton, Staten Island until 1872. From 1872 to 1884, he was secretary to Archbishop John McCloskey, who later became the first American cardinal in 1875. He accompanied Cardinal McCloskey to the 1878 papal conclave, but they arrived after the election of Pope Leo XIII had already taken place. In 1884, Farley was named a Privy Chamberlain and pastor of St. Gabriel’s Church in the Lower East Side. He also attended the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore that year. After becoming vicar general for the Archdiocese in 1891, he was named a Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on April 8, 1892, and a protonotary apostolic in 1895. On November 18, 1895, Farley was appointed an Auxiliary Bishop of New York and Titular Bishop of Zeugma in Syria by Leo XIII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following December 21 from Archbishop Michael Corrigan, with Bishops Charles Edward McDonnell and Henry Gabriels serving as co-consecrators. Farley became Apostolic Administrator of the archdiocese upon the death of Archbishop Corrigan on May 5, 1902, and was himself named the fourth Archbishop of New York on September 15 of that year. He was honored as an Assistant at the Pontifical Throne in 1905. Pope Pius X created him Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in the consistory of November 27, 1911. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1914 papal conclave, which selected Pope Benedict XV. Following the outbreak of World War I, Farley stated, “I would that peace could come by arbitration and diplomacy. It seems, however, that no permanent peace can be hoped for except through the defeat of German arms in the field or the repudiation of the Prussian autocracy by the German people themselves. Criticism of the government irritates me. I would consider it treason.” He also said, “As Catholics in America, we owe unswerving allegiance to the Government of the United States, and it is our sacred duty to answer with alacrity every demand our country makes upon our loyalty and devotion.” His dedication to victory in the war angered the Sinn Féin element of the New York clergy, who believed the Cardinal was bowing to anti-Irish bigots. He made progress in Catholic education in the archdiocese the keynote of his tenure as Archbishop, and established nearly fifty new parochial schools within his first eight years; he also founded the Cathedral Preparatory Seminary. He was known to take daily walks with one of his priests down Madison or Fifth Avenue, noting, “A man never collects his thoughts so well as when he walks alone or with a congenial spirit.” Farley died in Mamaroneck, at age 76. He is buried in the crypt under the altar of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

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