Terence Cooke

Terence James Cooke (March 1, 1921 – October 6, 1983) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

Following his mother's death in 1930, his aunt Mary Gannon helped raise him and his siblings.

After expressing an early interest in the priesthood, in 1934 Cooke entered Manhattan's Cathedral College, the minor seminary of the Archdiocese of New York.

In 1940, he entered St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York.

Cooke was ordained a priest by Archbishop Francis Spellman on December 1, 1945.

Cooke then served as chaplain for St. Agatha's Home for Children in Nanuet, New York, until 1947, when he moved to Washington, D.C., to pursue graduate studies at The Catholic University of America.

He obtained a Master of Social Work degree in 1949.

When he returned to New York, Cooke was assigned to serve as a curate at St. Athanasius Parish in the Bronx, while working with the Catholic Youth Organization.

In 1954 he was appointed executive director of the Youth Division of Catholic Charities and procurator of St. Joseph's Seminary.

In 1957 he was appointed by Cardinal Spellman to be his secretary, a position he held until 1965.

Cooke was named a monsignor on August 13, 1957, and vice-chancellor for the archdiocese in 1958, rising to full chancellor in 1961.

Cooke previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York from 1965 to 1967.

Nine years after his death, Cooke was designated a Servant of God, the first step in the process that may lead to beatification and then canonization as a saint.

The youngest of three children, Terence Cooke was born in New York City to Michael and Margaret (née Gannon) Cooke.

His parents were both from County Galway, Ireland, and named their son after Terence MacSwiney, the Lord Mayor of Cork who died on a hunger strike during the Irish War of Independence.

Michael Cooke worked as a chauffeur and construction worker.

At age five, Terence and his family moved from Morningside Heights, Manhattan, to the northeast Bronx.

On September 15, 1965, Pope Paul VI appointed Cooke as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York and titular bishop of Summa.

He received his episcopal consecration on December 13 1965 from Cardinal Spellman at St. Patrick's Cathedral, with Archbishops Joseph McGucken and John Maguire serving as co-consecrators.

Cooke selected as his episcopal motto: Fiat Voluntas Tua, meaning, "Thy Will Be Done" from Luke 1:38.

Cooke played a prominent role in arranging Pope Paul's visit to New York in October 1965, and became Vicar General of the Archdiocese two days after his consecration, on December 15, 1965.

He was diagnosed with acute myelomonocytic leukemia, a form of cancer, that year as well.

He served as Archbishop of New York from 1968 until his death, quietly battling leukemia throughout his tenure.

Following Spellman's death in December 1967, Pope Paul named Cooke as the seventh Archbishop of New York on March 2, 1968.

Pope Paul's selection of Cooke came as a surprise; likely contenders for the post included Fulton J. Sheen, a television personality and Bishop of Rochester; and Archbishop Maguire, who had been Spellman's coadjutor but did not hold the right to succession.

In addition to his duties in New York, Cooke was named Vicar Apostolic for the U.S. Military on April 4 1968 and was installed in both positions at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

That same day as Cooke's installation, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, leading to a nationwide wave of riots in more than 100 cities.

Cooke went to Harlem that evening to plead for racial peace and later attended King's funeral.

After the assassination of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy on June 6, 1968, Cooke led the funeral at St. Patrick's Cathedral; months later, he baptized Kennedy's youngest child, Rory Kennedy.

He was named a cardinal in 1969.

On January 20, 1969, Cooke delivered the benediction at the inauguration of President Richard Nixon.

After the first meeting between Church and Freemasonry which had been held on 11 April 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.

Cooke helped implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the archdiocese, and adopted a more collegial management style than his predecessor Spellman.

Pope Paul VI appointed him as Cardinal-Priest of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Rome (the traditional titular church of the New York archbishops starting in 1946) in the consistory of April 28, 1969.

At the time of his elevation, Cooke was the second-youngest member of the College of Cardinals after Cardinal Alfred Bengsch, who was six months younger.

Cooke was theologically conservative but described himself as progressive in secular matters.

During his tenure as archbishop, Cooke founded the Birthright organization, which provides counseling and other support for pregnant women; the Inner-City Scholarship Fund, which provides financial aid for Catholic-school students; an Archdiocesan Housing Development Program, providing housing to New York's disadvantaged; Catholic New York, the archdiocesan newspaper; and nine nursing homes.

In 1974, Cooke went to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he attended lectures on the Second Vatican Council given by his future successor, Father Edward Egan.

Cooke was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the conclaves of August and October 1978, which selected Popes John Paul I and John Paul II, respectively.

In 1979, Cooke separately hosted the Dalai Lama and Pope John Paul II at St. Patrick's Cathedral.