Which Bishop Kearney?

Today in 1935 marks the day that Raymond A. Kearney (1902-1956) was consecrated an Auxiliary Bishop for the Brooklyn Diocese. Born in Jersey City, his family moved to Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant section when he was a child. He was a parishioner at Nativity of Our Blessed Lord Church, where he attended the parochial school. He then attended the Jesuits’ Brooklyn Preparatory School and went on to Holy Cross in Worcester. He was assigned to the North American College in Rome, where he was ordained on March 12, 1927. Immediately after ordination, Father Kearney was assigned for Canon Law studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. After receiving a doctorate in Canon Law, he was named Vice-Chancellor in 1929. The following year he was named Chancellor, a position he held until his death in 1956. In the same year, he was named a Monsignor and a Bishop. His Mass of consecration was held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church (now Basilica) in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge section. During his homily, Catholic University’s rector, Bishop James H. Ryan, preached. Noting the rise of totalitarianism, he declared: “Tomorrow we in America may be called to battle this terrible monster!” At age 32, he was reputed to have been the youngest bishop in the world at the time. Bishop Kearney’s cousin was Bishop James E. Kearney (1884-1977) who was longtime Bishop of Rochester (1937-1966). In their correspondence they referred to each other as “Most Reverend Cousin Jim” and “Most Reverend Cousin Ray.” They both have high schools named after them, so if you ever meet anyone who tells you they went to Bishop Kearney High School in New York, ask them, Rochester or Bensonhurst?