Bernard Griffin
- Titular Bishop of Appia (1938-1943)
- Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham (1938-1943)
by Thomas Leighton Williams, John Patrick Barrett and William Lee
by Pius XII
(1899-02-21)21 February 1899
New Polzeath, Cornwall, United Kingdom
Styles of Bernard Griffin | |
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Reference style | His Eminence |
Spoken style | Your Eminence |
Informal style | Cardinal |
Bernard William Griffin (21 February 1899 – 19 August 1956) was an English cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.[1] He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1943 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1946 by Pope Pius XII.
Biography
Bernard and his twin brother Basil were born in Birmingham to William and Helen (née Swadkins) Griffin. His father was a bicycle manufacturer, Birmingham City councillor and justice of the peace.[2]
When the First World War broke out in 1914 both Bernard and Basil joined the Royal Naval Air Service, with whom Bernard served as an air-raid warden.[2] During this time he suffered a heart attack but concealed it from physicians in order to avoid a discharge which he feared would prevent his acceptance for the priesthood.[3]
After the war Bernard went to Oscott College in Birmingham to train to be a priest. Ordained to the priesthood on 1 November 1924, he finished his studies at the Venerable English College in Rome in 1927. Griffin then worked as private secretary to John McIntyre, the Archbishop of Birmingham, until 1937. From 1929 to 1938, he served as diocesan chancellor of Birmingham, director of studies of the Catholic Evidence Guild, Catholic representative on the BBC's religious advisory committee, and administrator of diocesan charitable homes.
On 26 May 1938, Griffin was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham and Titular Bishop of Appia. He received his episcopal consecration on 30 June from Thomas Williams (Archbishop of Birmingham), with John Barrett, Bishop of Plymouth, and William Lee (Bishop of Clifton), serving as co-consecrators, in the Cathedral of Saint Chad, Birmingham. Pius XII raised Griffin to Archbishop of Westminster, and thus ranking prelate in the Catholic Church in England and Wales, on 18 December 1943. At his installation Mass in Westminster Cathedral, he defended the sanctity of marriage.[4]
Griffin was created Cardinal-Priest of San Gregorio Magno al Celio by Pius XII in the consistory of 18 February 1946. At age 46, he was the youngest cardinal to be appointed at the ceremony, to which he wore the tailored cappa magna of his deceased predecessor cardinal, Arthur Hinsley.[5] He acted as papal legate to the centennial celebration of the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England in 1950.
As cardinal, Griffin took a keen interest in the rebuilding of post-war Britain arguing especially for the provision of Catholic schools. He was seen by some as liberal in areas of social principles. He also supported Sir William Beveridge.[2]
Griffin upheld the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary,[6] and was once a president on the Council of Christians and Jews.[7]
Griffin died from a heart attack in New Polzeath, at age 57,[8] and was buried at Westminster Cathedral.
His coat of arms is blazoned Gules issuant from a barrulet enarched in base a sweet william plant in pale Or supported by a Saint Bernard dog dexter and a griffin wings addorsed sinister Or, thus representing his full name.
On the 22 October 1960, Bernard's twin brother, Basil, laid the foundation stone of Cardinal Griffin Catholic College in Cannock, Staffordshire.
Assessment
Adrian Hastings, an historian of English Catholicism, considered Griffin to be "the least important Archbishop of Westminster of the century, a nice, hard-working non-entity", and another English Catholic writer, Peter Stanford, in his book on Cardinal Hume, calls Griffin "an obscure but talented provincial auxiliary."
References
- ^ Miranda, Salvador. "Bernard William Griffin". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ a b c "Surprise". Time. (3 January 1944).
- ^ "New Archbishop". Time. (18 February 1957).
- ^ "Pretty Pass". Time. (18 February 1946).
- ^ "On the Roads to Rome". Time. (31 January 1944).
- ^ "Jesus & His Brethren". Time. (23 May 1955).
- ^ "The Catholics Leave". Time. (10 January 1955).
- ^ "Milestones". Time. (3 September 1956).
External links
- [1]
- Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
- Catholic-Hierarchy
- Newspaper clippings about Bernard Griffin in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
Catholic Church titles | ||
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Preceded by | Archbishop of Westminster 1943–1956 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Cardinal priest of SS. Andrea e Gregorio al Monte Celio 1946–1956 | Succeeded by |
- v
- t
- e
- I: Nicholas Wiseman
- II: Henry Manning
- III: Herbert Vaughan
- IV: Francis Bourne
- V: Arthur Hinsley
- VI: Bernard Griffin
- VII: William Godfrey
- VIII: John Heenan
- IX: Basil Hume
- X: Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
- XI: Vincent Nichols
- Auxiliary bishops in Westminster:
- William Weathers
- James Laird Patterson
- Christopher Butler
- Victor Guazzelli
- Philip James Benedict Harvey
- James Joseph O'Brien
- John Sherrington
- Nicholas Hudson
- Paul McAleenan
- James Curry
![Coat of arms of the Diocese of Westminster](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/New_Coat_of_arms_of_the_Archdiocese_of_Westminster.svg/75px-New_Coat_of_arms_of_the_Archdiocese_of_Westminster.svg.png)
- Churches
- Westminster Cathedral – Metropolitan Cathedral of the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
- St Mary of the Angels, Bayswater
- St Casimir, Bethnal Green
- Benson Memorial Church
- Brompton Oratory
- Holy Trinity, Brook Green
- St Mary, Cadogan Street
- Our Lady of Hal, Camden Town
- Our Lady of the Rosary and St Dominic, Camden
- Our Lady of Dolours, Chelsea
- Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More, Chelsea
- Our Lady of Grace and St Edward, Chiswick
- St Peter, Clerkenwell
- St Etheldreda, Ely Place
- Immaculate Conception, Farm Street
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Fulham
- St Thomas of Canterbury, Fulham
- St Andrew Bobola, Hammersmith
- St Augustine, Hammersmith
- St Theodore, Hampton
- St Francis de Sales, Hampton Hill and Upper Teddington
- Our Lady and St Thomas of Canterbury, Harrow
- Our Lady Queen of Apostles, Heston
- St Joseph, Highgate
- St Monica, Hoxton
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Simon Stock, Kensington
- Our Lady of Victories, Kensington
- Sacred Heart, Kilburn
- St Hugh of Lincoln, Letchworth
- St Anselm and St Cecilia, Lincoln's Inn Fields
- Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane
- St Mary Moorfields
- Mary Immaculate and St Peter, New Barnet
- Notre Dame de France
- St Monica, Palmer's Green
- St Alban and St Stephen, St Albans
- St Patrick, Soho Square
- St Anselm, Southall
- St James, Spanish Place
- St Ignatius, Stamford Hill
- St Mary and St Michael, Stepney
- Sacred Heart, Teddington
- English Martyrs, Tower Hill
- St James, Twickenham
- St Margaret of Scotland, Twickenham
- Holy Rood, Watford
- St Mary Magdalen, Whetstone
- St Edmund of Canterbury, Whitton
- Patronal Feasts of the Diocese
- Saint Joseph (March 19)
- Saint Peter (June 29)
- Saint Edward the Confessor (October 13)
- Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (8 December)
- Schools
- Our Lady of Lourdes School, Arnos Grove
- Sacred Heart Primary School, Teddington
- All Saints Catholic College, North Kensington
- St Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School
- Bishop Challoner Catholic School
- Bishop Douglass Catholic School
- Cardinal Pole Catholic School
- Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School
- The Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School, Greenford
- The Douay Martyrs School
- St Augustine's Priory, Ealing
- St Benedict's School, Ealing
- Finchley Catholic High School
- Gumley House Convent School
- Gunnersbury Boys' School
- John F Kennedy Catholic School
- The John Henry Newman School
- La Sainte Union Catholic School
- London Oratory School
- Loreto College, St Albans
- Maria Fidelis Roman Catholic Convent School
- Mount House School
- Newman Catholic College
- Nicholas Breakspear School
- Our Lady's Catholic High School, Stamford Hill
- Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith
- Sacred Heart Language College
- St Anthony's School, Hampstead
- St Aloysius' College, Highgate
- St Angela's Ursuline School
- St Anne's Catholic High School
- St Claudine's Catholic School for Girls
- St Dominic's Sixth Form College
- St George's Catholic School
- St Gregory's Catholic Science College
- St Ignatius College, Enfield
- St James' Catholic High School, Colindale
- St Joan of Arc Catholic School, Rickmansworth
- St Mary's Catholic School, Bishop's Stortford
- St Mark's Catholic School, Hounslow
- St Michael's Catholic Grammar School
- St Michael's Catholic High School
- St Columba's College, St Albans
- St Paul's College, Sunbury-on-Thames
- St Richard Reynolds Catholic College
- Salvatorian College
- St Thomas More Language College
- St Catherine's School, Twickenham
- St Edmund's College, Ware
- Westminster Cathedral Choir School
- St Thomas More Catholic School, Wood Green
- See also
- St Mary's University
- Allen Hall Seminary
- Redemptoris Mater House of Formation
- Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory
- Christ the King, Cockfosters
- Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre
- Ealing Abbey
- London Oratory
- George Errington
- Our Lady of Willesden
- Apostolic Vicariate of the London District
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