Peter Muldoon
Encyclopedia
Peter J. Muldoon was born in Columbia, California
to Irish immigrants John and Catherine (Coughlin) Muldoon. He was educated at St. Mary's College in St. Mary, Kentucky and St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Maryland and ordained a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1886. Muldoon served as chancellor and secretary from 1888 to 1895 to Archbishop P. A. Feehan and was appointed titular bishop of Tamassus, auxiliary of Chicago, and vicar-general in 1901. In 1908 he was appointed bishop of the new Diocese of Rockford
which had just been separated from the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Muldoon played a prominent role in the social reform movement and served as Chairman of the National Catholic War Council; in this role, he became a nationally known figure. He worked closely with members of other religious groups and government agencies; his forcefulness and diplomacy are considered to have contributed to the success of the council.
After the war, Muldoon induced Cardinal James Gibbons to propose creation of a peacetime organization comparable to the National Catholic War Council]. When the National Catholic Welfare Council was created in 1919, Muldoon was appointed as the episcopal chairman of its Social Action Department. When some American bishops complained to the pope in 1922 about the National Catholic Welfare Council, the original approbation for the council was revoked. Muldoon as well as Bishop Joseph Shrembs of Cleveland were among the most vigorous defenders of the NCWC. After the American hierarchy sent a delegation headed by Shrembs to Rome, the Vatican finally agreed to restore the approbation providing, among other things, that the organization be renamed the National Catholic Welfare Conference. Muldoon died in 1927 after a long illness.
Columbia, California
Columbia is a former California Gold Rush boomtown located in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The central portion of the town is preserved as a California state historic park and a National Historic Landmark that preserves the original, gold-rush-town flavor of the town, once dubbed the "Gem of the...
to Irish immigrants John and Catherine (Coughlin) Muldoon. He was educated at St. Mary's College in St. Mary, Kentucky and St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Maryland and ordained a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1886. Muldoon served as chancellor and secretary from 1888 to 1895 to Archbishop P. A. Feehan and was appointed titular bishop of Tamassus, auxiliary of Chicago, and vicar-general in 1901. In 1908 he was appointed bishop of the new Diocese of Rockford
Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the northern Illinois region of the United States. The prelate is a bishop serving as pastor of the motherchurch, the Cathedral of Saint Peter in the City of Rockford...
which had just been separated from the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Muldoon played a prominent role in the social reform movement and served as Chairman of the National Catholic War Council; in this role, he became a nationally known figure. He worked closely with members of other religious groups and government agencies; his forcefulness and diplomacy are considered to have contributed to the success of the council.
After the war, Muldoon induced Cardinal James Gibbons to propose creation of a peacetime organization comparable to the National Catholic War Council]. When the National Catholic Welfare Council was created in 1919, Muldoon was appointed as the episcopal chairman of its Social Action Department. When some American bishops complained to the pope in 1922 about the National Catholic Welfare Council, the original approbation for the council was revoked. Muldoon as well as Bishop Joseph Shrembs of Cleveland were among the most vigorous defenders of the NCWC. After the American hierarchy sent a delegation headed by Shrembs to Rome, the Vatican finally agreed to restore the approbation providing, among other things, that the organization be renamed the National Catholic Welfare Conference. Muldoon died in 1927 after a long illness.