John Heenan (cardinal)

Not to be confused with John Camel Heenan.

His Eminence John Carmel Heenan
Cardinal, Archbishop of Westminster
Cardinal John Heenan
Archdiocese	Westminster
Province	Westminster
Appointed	2 September 1963
Term ended	7 November 1975
Predecessor	William Godfrey
Successor	George Basil Hume
Other posts	Cardinal-Priest of San Silvestro in Capite
Orders
Ordination	6 July 1930
Consecration	27 January 1951 by William Godfrey
Created Cardinal	22 February 1965
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born	(1905-01-26)26 January 1905 Ilford, Essex
Died	London, England
Buried	Westminster Cathedral
Nationality	British
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Parents	James Carmel Heenan and Anne Pilkington
Previous post	Bishop of Leeds (1951–1957) Archbishop of Liverpool (1957–1963)

John Carmel Heenan (26 January 1905 – 7 November 1975) was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1963 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965.

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 Cathedral Choir School at age 9, but Sir Richard Terry rejected him for his "metallic voice". 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 1930. He then did pastoral work in Brentwood until 1947, 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. By this time he had published a biography (1943) of Arthur Cardinal Hinsley, Archbishop of Westminster, who had recently died.

Bishop

On 27 January 1951, 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, with Bishops Joseph McCormack and John Petit serving as co-consecrators. Named the sixth Archbishop of Liverpool on 2 May 1957, Heenan was later appointed the eighth Archbishop of Westminster on 2 September 1963. As Archbishop of Westminster, he served as the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Positions during the Second Vatican Council

A participant of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), 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". The English prelate also condemned the periti, or theological experts, who sought to change the Church's doctrine on birth control. Moreover, despite the risks to ecumenism, Heenan later supported the canonization of the forty martyrs.

Cardinal

He was created Cardinal-Priest of S. Silvestro in Capite by Pope Paul VI in the consistory of 22 February 1965. In 1968, Heenan was named President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

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

Quotes

• "A church that is half empty is half full."
• "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."

External links

• Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church profile

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Henry Poskitt	Bishop of Leeds 1951–1957	Succeeded by George Patrick Dwyer
Preceded by William Godfrey	Archbishop of Liverpool 1957–1963	Succeeded by George Andrew Beck
Preceded by William Godfrey	Archbishop of Westminster 1963–1975	Succeeded by Basil Hume
Preceded by Valerio Valeri	Cardinal Priest of S. Silvestro in Capite 1965–1975	Succeeded by Basil Hume