Richard Cushing
Richard James Cushing was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of Boston from 1944 to 1970 and was made a cardinal in 1958. Cushing's main role was as fundraiser and builder of new churches, schools, and institutions. Unlike his predecessor, he was on good terms with practically the entire Boston elite, as he softened the traditional confrontation between the Catholic Irish and the Protestant upper-class. He built useful relationships with Jews, Protestants, and institutions outside the usual Catholic community. He helped presidential candidate John F. Kennedy deflect fears of papal interference in American government if a Catholic became president.
Cushing's high energy level allowed him to meet with many people all day, often giving lengthy speeches at night. He was not efficient at business affairs, and when expenses built up he counted on his fundraising skills instead of cost-cutting. Cushing, says Nasaw, was "fun-loving, informal, and outgoing. He looked rather like a tough, handsome, Irish cop and behaved more like a ward politician than a high church cleric." His major weakness in retrospect was overexpansion, adding new institutions that could not be sustained in the long run and had to be cut back by his successors.
Early life and education
Richard Cushing was born in City Point in the South Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, on August 24, 1895. The third of five children, he was the son of Patrick and Mary Cushing. His father came from Glanworth, County Cork, and his mother from Touraneena, County Waterford, both in Ireland. Patrick Cushing arrived in Boston in 1880. He worked as a blacksmith, earning $18 per week in the trolley repair pits of the Boston Elevated Railway, the public transit system.Cushing received his early education at Perry Public Grammar School in South Boston, as there was no parochial school for boys in Gate of Heaven Parish. A compulsive truant, Cushing dropped out of high school in his freshman year. He subsequently entered Boston College High School, a Jesuit college preparatory school. His cousin, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, paid Cushing's tuition. He graduated from Boston College High School in 1913, receiving honors for Latin and Greek. Cushing was torn for a time between careers in religion and politics. He originally aspired to be a politician, even earning money by speaking for politicians from the back of wagons. He twice considered joining the Jesuits, but came to the conclusion he "was cut out more for the active life and not the teaching apostolate."
Cushing entered Boston College in 1913 He participated in the Marquette Debating Society and was elected vice-president of his sophomore class. During World War I, the RMS Lusitania was sunk in May 1915 by a German U-boat, killing over 100 Americans. After the sinking, Cushing enlisted in the United States Army. However, due to his asthma, he was medically discharged after a few weeks.
After his rejection by the Army, Cushing finally decided to become a priest. He began his studies for the priesthood at St. John's Seminary in the Brighton section of Boston in September 1915. The archdiocese wanted to sent Cushing to Rome to continue his studies at the Pontifical North American College, but the escalation of U-boat activity in the Atlantic Ocean made the trip too dangerous.
Priesthood
On May 26, 1921, Cushing was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Boston by Cardinal William Henry O'Connell at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. After his ordination, the archdiocese assigned Cushing as a curate at St. Patrick's Parish in the Roxbury neighborhood, where he remained for two months. He was then transferred to St. Benedict's Parish in Somerville, Massachusetts.In 1922, Cushing appeared unannounced at O'Connell' residence to request an assignment as a missionary. Cushing told O'Connell that he wanted to "take heaven by storm." O'Connell denied his request. Instead, he appointed Cushing as assistant director of the diocesan chapter of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, an organization dedicated to raising funds for missions. Cushing was promoted to director in 1929. The Vatican elevated Cushing to the rank of monsignor on May 14, 1939.
Episcopal career
Auxiliary Bishop of Boston
On June 10, 1939, after Auxiliary Bishop Francis Spellman of Boston was named archbishop of New York, Cushing recommended to the Vatican that Cushing replace him. He was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of Boston and titular bishop of Mela by Pope Pius XII. Cushing received his episcopal consecration on June 29, 1939, from O'Connell at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, with bishops John Bertram Peterson and Thomas Addis Emmet, SJ, serving as co-consecrators. Cushing took as his episcopal motto: Ut Cognoscant Te.As an auxiliary bishop, Cushing continued to serve as director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. He was also named pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. Following O'Connell's death in April 1944, Cushing was elected as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese.
Archbishop of Boston
Cushing was named the third archbishop of Boston by Pius XII on September 25, 1944, honoring O'Connell's earlier request to the pope that Cushing succeed him.During his time as archbishop, Cushing oversaw the construction of over 80 chapels and churches in the archdiocese. He saw the need to make it easier for people to worship in different locales. In Boston, he opened the St. Francis Chapel at the Prudential Center for office workers in the Back Bay district and for dock workers the Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel in South Boston. For travelers, he established Our Lady of the Railways Chapel at South Station in downtown and Our Lady of the Airways Chapel at Logan International Airport in the East Boston district. At the 1969 dedication of the St. Francis Chapel, Cushing told the attendees that he wanted St. Francis to be an "ecumenical chapel. We want people of all faiths to come here and speak to God through their own prayers."
Cushing was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis and the national protector of the Third Order in America. While leading the National Pilgrimage to Lourdes and Rome in 1948, he made a side trip to Assisi, Italy, the birthplace of Saint Francis, Prior to embarking on the trip, he joked that the closest he had ever been to Rome was Castle Island in South Boston. While in France, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman awarded Cushing the Legion of Honour.
During Cushing's tenure, Boston would see the excommunication of Reverend Leonard Feeney for repeated refusals to be summoned to Rome. Feeney refused to back down from his position, although it has been reported that he was ultimately reconciled with the Church before his death. Cushing approved the moving of at least two priests into new parishes during the 1960s despite allegations of sexual misconduct.
Cardinal
Cushing was created cardinal-priest of the Church of Santa Susanna in Rome by Pope John XXIII in the consistory of December 15, 1958. Cushing served as a cardinal elector in the 1963 papal conclave that elected Pope Paul VI.Retirement and Death
Due to advanced illnesses, Cushing's resignation as archbishop of Boston was accepted by Paul VI on September 8, 1970. Remarking on Cushing's retirement, US Senator Ted Kennedy stated:For three-quarters of a century life has been a light in a world that cries out for illumination. He will never have to account for his stewardship, for if his goodness is not known to God, no one's ever will be.On November 2, 1970, All Souls Day, Cushing died of cancer while sleeping at his residence in Brighton at age 75. He was surrounded by his brother and sisters, along with his successor, Archbishop Humberto Medeiros. Cushing was buried in Hanover, Massachusetts, at the Portiuncula Chapel on the grounds of the Cardinal Cushing Centers.
Kennedys
A close friend of the Kennedy family, Cushing officiated at the marriage of US Senator John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1953. During the ceremony, Cushing read a special prayer for the couple from Pius XII. Over the coming years, Cushing baptized many of the Kennedy family children. He delivered the prayer invocation at the 1961 inauguration of Kennedy as president of the United States in Washington.After Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, in November 1963, Cushing officiated at his funeral mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington. The day before the funeral, he delivered a televised eulogy for Kennedy. Cushing in 1968 defended Jacqueline Kennedy from criticism after she married shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. As a result, Cushing received a large amount of hate mail and was contradicted by the Vatican.
Viewpoints
Interfaith relations
Cushing's work contributed to making the Catholic Church acceptable to the general population at the time of Kennedy's candidacy in 1960 for the presidency. Part of this work included reaching out to the non-Catholics of Boston after "the muscular style of involved Catholicism that Cardinal O'Connell brought to bear on issues of his day - religious, social, and political - in Boston and Massachusetts".After the first meeting between Church and Freemasonry which had been held on April 11, 1969, at the convent of the Divine Master in Ariccia, he was the protagonist of a series of public handshakes between high prelates of the Roman Catholic Church and the heads of Freemasonry.
In 1964, Cushing praised the Protestant evangelist Reverend Billy Graham and encouraged Catholics to attend his crusades.
Catholic-Jewish relations
From the start of Cushing's tenure as archbishop, he sought closer relations with the Jewish community. The author James Carroll has attributed Cushing's outlook to the marriage between his sister Dolly Cushing and a Jewish man, Dick Pearlstein. According to Carroll, marriages between Jews and Catholics at this time were very uncommon. Cushing made many visits to the couple's house and was on very good terms with Pearlstein.In November 1948, Cushing became the first Catholic archbishop to address the Union of American Hebrew Congregations at their convention in Boston. He acknowledged that a "staggering" number of Americans held racial and religious prejudices. Cushing attacked communism, fascism and all ideologies that threaten the religious freedom of people.
Cushing was honored by B'nai B'rith as it "Man of the Year" in 1956 for "a lifetime of distinguished service to the cause of human brotherhood under God and in further recognition of great leadership in the fields of education and community relations." He was a close correspondent with Robert E. Segal, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Boston, who played a key role in improving Jewish-Catholic relations. Cushing also maintained close contacts with Abram L. Sachar, the historian and president of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.