America’s First Cardinal

Today in 1875 marks the day that John McCloskey (1810-1885) became the first American Cardinal. Born in Brooklyn, he studied for the priesthood in Maryland, and in 1834 he became the first native New Yorker to be ordained a priest. In 1841 he became the first president of St. John’s College (now Fordham University) and in 1844 he was named a coadjutor bishop to New York’s Bishop John Hughes. From 1847 to 1864, McCloskey was Bishop of Albany. When Hughes died, he returned to New York as Archbishop. In May 1879 he would dedicate the present St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Unfortunately , he arrived in Rome too late to participate in the papal conclave that elected Leo XIII.