America’s First Cardinal

Born in Brooklyn in 1810, John McCloskey was the first native New Yorker ordained to the priesthood (in 1834). After teaching at the seminary for two years, hew was sent to Rome for advanced studies. When he returned, he was named pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village. In 1841, he was appointed first President of St. John’s College (now Fordham University). After a year at Fordham, he returned to parish work. In 1844, he became first Auxiliary Bishop of New York. In 1847, he was named first Bishop of Albany, a position he held until 1864. That year he returned to New York as Archbishop. For the next 21 years he oversaw the expansion of the Church in New York City. A vast network of churches, schools, convents, orphanages, and hospitals dominated the map of the city. In March 1875, Pope Blessed Pius IX appointed him the first American Cardinal, a long awaited event. One of the high points of McCloskey’s New York tenure was the dedication in 1879 of the present day St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue. McCloskey died on October 10, 1885. (The day after his funeral, a horse named Cardinal McCloskey came in first at the Coney Island racetrack.)