Raymond Augustine Kearney

American prelate

Styles of Raymond Augustine Kearney

Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor

Raymond Augustine Kearney (September 25, 1902 – October 1, 1956) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn from 1935 until his death in 1956.

Biography

Raymond Kearney was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, one of seven children of Joseph Peter and Nora Isabelle (née Burke) Kearney.^[1] He and his family moved to Brooklyn, New York, while he was still an infant.^[2] He received his early education at the parochial school of the Church of the Nativity, where he served as an altar boy.^[3]

Kearney attended Brooklyn Preparatory School before studying at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1923.^[4] He studied for the priesthood in Rome at the Pontifical North American College and the Propaganda University, receiving a doctorate in theology in 1927.^[3]

Kearney was ordained a priest at the Basilica of St. John Lateran on March 12, 1927.^[5] Following his return to Brooklyn, he was assigned as a curate at Queen of All Saints Church, where he remained for two months.^[2] He then served at Holy Innocents Church for two years before engaging in diocesan work.^[2] In 1929, he earned a doctorate in canon law from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.^[3] He served as chancellor of the Diocese of Brooklyn from 1930 to 1934.^[3] He was named a papal chamberlain in August 1933.^[2]

On December 22, 1934, Kearney was appointed auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn and titular bishop of Lysinia by Pope Pius XI.^[5] He received his episcopal consecration on February 25, 1935 from Archbishop Thomas Edmund Molloy, with Bishops Moses E. Kiley and Stephen Joseph Donahue serving as co-consecrators, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.^[5] At age 32, he was the youngest Catholic bishop in the world and the first born in the twentieth century.^[6]^[7] In 1950, he was elected chairman of the Bishops' Committee on Motion Pictures, which supervised the work of the Legion of Decency.^[4] He was also recognized as an authority on canon law.^[4]

Kearney died from a heart attack at age 54.^[4]

References

^ "JOSEPH P. KEARNEY; Father of Bishop Kearney Dies at Neponsit, L.I., at 75". The New York Times. 1936-07-04.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "MGR. KEARNEY, 32, IS MADE A BISHOP". The New York Times. 1934-12-30.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "BISHOP KEARNEY OF BROOKLYN DIES; Chancellor of Diocese Was 54—Administrator and an Authority on Canon Law". The New York Times. 1956-10-02.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Bishop Raymond Augustine Kearney". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
^ "KEARNEY ELEVATED TO THE BISHOPRIC". The New York Times. 1935-02-26.
^ "Religion: Youngest Bishop". TIME Magazine. 1935-01-07. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by –	Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn 1935 – 1956	Succeeded by –

Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn

Bishops

Ordinaries: John Loughlin; Charles Edward McDonnell; Thomas Edmund Molloy; Bryan Joseph McEntegart; Francis Mugavero; Thomas Vose Daily; Nicholas Anthony DiMarzio; Robert J. Brennan

Auxiliary bishops: Gerald Barbarito; Anthony Bevilacqua; John Joseph Boardman; Frank Joseph Caggiano; Ignatius Anthony Catanello; Raymond Francis Chappetto; Octavio Cisneros; Joseph Peter Michael Denning; Raymond Augustine Kearney; Charles Richard Mulrooney; George Mundelein; Edmund Joseph Reilly; Paul Robert Sanchez; Guy Sansaricq; John J. Snyder; Joseph Michael Sullivan; René Arnold Valero

Bishops who served as priests in the diocese: Vincent DePaul Breen; Edward Bernard Scharfenberger

Churches

List: List of churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn

Cathedral: Cathedral Basilica of St. James, Brooklyn

Co-cathedral: Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, Brooklyn

Basilicas: Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Brooklyn; Basilica of Regina Pacis, Brooklyn

Parishes: Church of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Blaise, Brooklyn; Church of the Holy Innocents, Brooklyn; Holy Cross Church, Queens; Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Queens; Our Lady of Mount Carmel; Our Lady of Victory Church, Brooklyn; Queen of All Saints Church, Brooklyn; St. Adalbert, Queens; St. Barbara's Church, Brooklyn; Saint Benedict Joseph Labre Church, Queens; Saint Cecilia's Catholic Church, Brooklyn; St. Michael's Church, Brooklyn; St. Sebastian Church, Queens; St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Queens; Transfiguration, Queens; St. Matthias Church, Queens