Bernard William Griffin took the reigns of the archdiocese of Westminster as the city was still in the throws of the Second World War.
It was however, during the Great War that Griffin gained his first post, as an airman and also where he realised a problem with his heart. After the war, he entered Oscott seminary as a student for the Birmingham archdiocese, but was later transferred to Rome for personal reasons, and studied under the Rector Arthur Hinsley.
He worked in his archdiocese for 11 years before he was appointed an auxiliary of Birmingham. This was no ordinary bishop, however, for he was also an air raid warden during the earlier years of the war.
Towards the end of 1943, just before the course of the war was about to shift, Griffin succeeded his former rector in Westminster, to the surprise of everyone, though was only elevated to the Sacred College when the war had concluded. At 46, he was the youngest Cardinal; Hinsley’s Cappa Magna just fit the new pastor at the consistory.
He went to work quickly in the nation’s capital, for this was the time of unprecedented social upheaval. He worked hard to gain many exemptions for Catholic institutions in the face of regularisation and nationalisation, particularly in the realm of education, conscription and the new National Health Service. As well as this, he presided over a period of post-war reconstruction of Churches and rolled back some of Hinsley’s ecumenical adventures.
Even by the end of this decade, his health was failing quickly, and struggled to attend engagements, and when he did, he suffered much pain. His illnesses kept him away from the public eye and pastoral activity for a long period, though he was the quasi-primate who reigned in England during the Marian celebrations of the 1950s.
It was however, during the Great War that Griffin gained his first post, as an airman and also where he realised a problem with his heart. After the war, he entered Oscott seminary as a student for the Birmingham archdiocese, but was later transferred to Rome for personal reasons, and studied under the Rector Arthur Hinsley.
He worked in his archdiocese for 11 years before he was appointed an auxiliary of Birmingham. This was no ordinary bishop, however, for he was also an air raid warden during the earlier years of the war.
Towards the end of 1943, just before the course of the war was about to shift, Griffin succeeded his former rector in Westminster, to the surprise of everyone, though was only elevated to the Sacred College when the war had concluded. At 46, he was the youngest Cardinal; Hinsley’s Cappa Magna just fit the new pastor at the consistory.
He went to work quickly in the nation’s capital, for this was the time of unprecedented social upheaval. He worked hard to gain many exemptions for Catholic institutions in the face of regularisation and nationalisation, particularly in the realm of education, conscription and the new National Health Service. As well as this, he presided over a period of post-war reconstruction of Churches and rolled back some of Hinsley’s ecumenical adventures.
Even by the end of this decade, his health was failing quickly, and struggled to attend engagements, and when he did, he suffered much pain. His illnesses kept him away from the public eye and pastoral activity for a long period, though he was the quasi-primate who reigned in England during the Marian celebrations of the 1950s.
In 1956, ten years after he received the red hat, he suffered another heart attack during Mass for war veterans, though amazingly kept composure. While recovering in Cornwall, he passed from this life on the feast of St Bernard.
0 comments:
Post a Comment