English 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
External links
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster
Churches
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
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
International National Other