Monk cardinal

English Catholic prelate (–)

For the 19th-century boxer, see John Camel Heenan.

"Cardinal Heenan" redirects here.

Cardinal heenan biography This fine picture of Cardinal Heenan shows him in the sitting room at Archbishop's House. By this time he had published a biography of Cardinal Hinsley, Archbishop of Westminster, who had recently died. Newer Post Older Post Home. Add to Basket.

For other uses, see Cardinal Heenan (disambiguation).

John Carmel Heenan (26 January – 7 November ) was a senior-ranking English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in ^[1]

Biography

Early life and ordination

John Heenan was born in Ilford, Essex, the youngest of four children of Irish parents John and Anne Heenan (née Pilkington).

He auditioned for Westminster CathedralChoir School at age 9, but Sir Richard Terry rejected him for his "metallic voice".^[2] Heenan studied at St. Ignatius College in Stamford Hill, Ushaw College in Durham, and the Venerable English College in Rome before being ordained to the priesthood on 6 July He then did pastoral work in Brentwood until , at which time he became Superior of the Catholic Missionary Society of England and Wales.

In this position, Heenan criticized the United States for being too concerned about communism, and not enough about spiritual matters.^[3] By this time he had published a biography () of Cardinal Hinsley, Archbishop of Westminster, who had recently died.

Bishop

On 27 January , Heenan was appointed the fifth Bishop of Leeds by Pope Pius XII.

He received his episcopal consecration on the following 12 March from Archbishop William Godfrey, Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain, with Joseph McCormack, Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, and John Petit, Bishop of Menevia, serving as co-consecrators. Named the sixth Archbishop of Liverpool on 2 May , Heenan was later appointed the eighth Archbishop of Westminster on 2 September As Archbishop of Westminster, he served as the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

In , Heenan was elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

Cardinal heenan biography wikipedia As leader of the Catholic community of England and Wales, Heenan assumed a national prominence on a par with his friend Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury. Thursday, 20 December Cardinal Heenan. He then did pastoral work in Brentwood until , at which time he became Superior of the Catholic Missionary Society of England and Wales. By this time he had published a biography of Cardinal Hinsley, Archbishop of Westminster, who had recently died.

Positions during the Second Vatican Council

A participant of the Second Vatican Council (–), Heenan showed himself to be of a conservative mind. He opposed Gaudium et spes, the council's constitution on the church in the modern world, saying that it had been "written by clerics with no knowledge of the world".^[4] He also condemned the periti, or theological experts, who sought to change the church's doctrine on birth control.^[4] Moreover, despite the risks to ecumenism, Heenan later supported the canonization of the forty martyrs.^[5]

Cardinal

He was created Cardinal-Priest of S.

Silvestro in Capite by Pope Paul VI in the consistory of 22 February

He died from a heart attack in London^[6] at age 70, and is buried in Westminster Cathedral, under the twelfth Station of the Cross ("Jesus dies on theCross").

Heenan shared a lengthy correspondence with author Evelyn Waugh regarding the Second Vatican Council.

A compilation of their letters, A Bitter Trial: Evelyn Waugh and John Carmel Cardinal Heenan on the Liturgical Changes, was first published in and reprinted in an expanded edition in ^[7]

Quotes

• "A church that is half empty is half full."^[8]
• "At home it is not only women and children but also fathers of families and young men who come regularly to mass.

  If we were to offer them the kind of ceremony we saw yesterday in the Sistine Chapel we would soon be left with a congregation mostly of women and children."^[9]

See also

References

External links