Bryan Joseph McEntegart (January 5, 1893 – September 30, 1968) was an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg in Northern New York (1943–1953), rector of the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

in Washington, D.C. (1953–1957), and as bishop of the

Diocese of Brooklyn The Diocese of Brooklyn is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the U.S. state of New York. It is headquartered in Brooklyn and its territory encompasses the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. ...

in New York City (1957–1968).

Biography

Early life and education

Bryan McEntegart was born on January 5, 1893, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to Patrick and Katherine (née Roe) McEntegart. He studied at

Manhattan College Manhattan College is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university in the Bronx, New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Christian Brothers) as an academy for day students, it was la ...

in New York City, obtaining a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in 1913. McEntegart then entered St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York.

Ordination and ministry

McEntegart was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of New York by Cardinal John Farley on September 8, 1917. In 1918, he earned a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from Catholic University of America with a

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144 ...

entitled: "The Care of the Poor in New York in the 17th Century." McEntegart then served as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...

at Sacred Heart Parish in New York City until 1923, when he was transferred to St. Patrick's Cathedral. After pursuing his graduate studies at the New York School of Social Work (1919-1920), McEntegart was named the first director of the Children's Division in the

Catholic Charities The Catholic Church operates numerous charitable organizations. Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel, while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and s ...

of the

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the State of New York. It encompasses the boroug ...

. During his tenure as director, he also taught courses in child welfare at Fordham Graduate School of Social Service (1920-1930), served on the White House Committee on Child Welfare under Presidents

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gre ...

and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and was director of the Child Welfare League of America (1931-1937). McEntegart was a curate at St. Frances de Sales Parish in Manhattan from 1938 to 1941. In 1941, he was elected

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the National Conference of Catholic Charities. From 1941 to 1943, McEntegart served as national secretary of the

Catholic Near East Welfare Association The Catholic Near East Welfare Association (abbreviated CNEWA, pronounced "k-NAY-wah" ) is a papal agency established in 1926 and dedicated to giving pastoral and humanitarian support to Northeast Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and India. ...

. He became the first executive director of

Catholic Relief Services Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 ...

in 1943. He also served on the board of the

United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

for fourteen years.

Bishop of Ogdensburg

On June 5, 1943, McEntegart was appointed the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

. He received his episcopal

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on August 3, 1943, from Archbishop Amleto Cicognani, with Bishops

Edmund Gibbons Edmund Francis Gibbons (September 16, 1868 – June 19, 1964) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Albany from 1919 to 1954. Biography Edmund Gibbons was born in White Plains, New York, to James and J ...

and Stephen Joseph Donahue serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches ...

, at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Shortly after his installation, the Cathedral of Ogdensburg was destroyed by fire; however, McEntegart constructed a new edifice within months.

Rector of Catholic University

From 1953 to 1957, McEntegart served as rector of the Catholic University of America. He was assigned the

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

of Aradi on August 19, 1953. During his administration, he embarked on a large fund-raising campaign to expand all phases of the university's work.

Bishop of Brooklyn

Pope Pius XII appointed McEntegart as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn on April 16, 1957, the largest diocese in the United States in terms of Catholic population. He was installed by Cardinal

Francis Spellman Francis Joseph Spellman (May 4, 1889 – December 2, 1967) was an American bishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 1939 until his death in 1967, he served as the sixth Archbishop of New York; he had previously served as an auxiliary ...

on June 13, 1957. During his tenure he launched a multimillion-dollar building program, which included six

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s, Cathedral Preparatory Seminary in Queens, New York, a hospital, a college for training

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

's priests, and a four-year theological

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

. He promoted outreach to the growing

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

population, sending priests and

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

to study

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the ...

and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

. He attended all four sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

between 1962 and 1965; he implemented the reforms of the council, becoming a pioneer in the

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

movement and establishing the Pastoral Institute in 1967. He was given the personal title of

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

on April 15, 1966.

Retirement

In early 1968, McEntegart tendered his resignation as Bishop of the Diocese Brooklyn because of poor health, and Pope Paul VI accepted it on July 17, 1968. Two months later, after suffering a stroke, Bryan McEntegart died at his residence in the

Fort Greene Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Flushing Avenue and the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north, Flatbush Avenue Extension and Downtown Brooklyn to the wes ...

section of Brooklyn at age 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McEntegart, Bryan Joseph 1893 births 1968 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Columbia University School of Social Work alumni Fordham University faculty Manhattan College alumni Participants in the Second Vatican Council Roman Catholic bishops of Ogdensburg Roman Catholic bishops of Brooklyn Saint Joseph's Seminary (Dunwoodie) alumni Catholic University of America alumni Catholic University of America faculty Religious leaders from New York (state) Presidents of the Catholic University of America People from Fort Greene, Brooklyn American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent 20th-century American academics