Cornelius Michael Power (December 18, 1913 – May 22, 1997) 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 'pref ...

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 archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon from 1974 to 1986. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Yakima in Washington State from 1969 until 1974.

Biography

Early life

Cornelius Power was born on December `8, 1913, to Irish

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

William and Katherine (Kate) (née Dougherty) Power in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. He had five siblings. After receiving a public education in the

Beacon Hill Beacon Hill may refer to: Places Canada * Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood * Beacon Hill Park, a park in Victoria, British Columbia * Beacon Hill, Saskatchewan * Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, Quebec United ...

section of Seattle from 1919 to 1923, Power attended St. Mary Parochial School. Power started in 1927 at

O'Dea High School O'Dea High School is a Catholic all boys high school founded in 1923 and is located in Seattle's First Hill neighborhood. The school is named after Edward John O'Dea who was bishop of Seattle when the school was built. O'Dea is a part of the Ar ...

in Seattle. In 1928, after a year at O'Dea, Power entered St. Joseph College in Mountain View,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He then went in 1933 to Saint Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, California. In 1935, he entered Saint Edward Seminary in Kenmore, Washington, finishing his preparation for the priesthood in 1939.

Priesthood

Power 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 va ...

to the priesthood for the Diocese of Seattle by Bishop Gerald Shaughnessy on June 3, 1939. After his ordination, Power served as assistant

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

at St. James Cathedral Parish. He travelled to Washington D.C. in 1940 to study

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

at 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. ...

. Power returned to Seattle in 1943 to be appointed

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

Holy Names Academy Holy Names Academy is a Catholic private all-girls college-preparatory high school, founded by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in 1880 and located on the east slope of Seattle's Capitol Hill. It is the oldest continually operatin ...

in that city. He was transferred in 1953 to be chaplain of St. James Cathedral. In 1955, Power left St. James to serve as administrator of Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Seattle, rising to become its pastor in 1956. He remained at Our Lady of the Lake for the next thirteen years, whilst concurrently holding several positions in the

archdiocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...

. Power was promoted to the rank of

domestic prelate of his holiness A Prelate of Honour of His Holiness is a Catholic prelate to whom the Pope has granted this title of honour. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges as regards clerical clothing.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 ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on May 1, 1969, from Archbishop Thomas Connolly, with Bishops Thomas Gill and Joseph Dougherty 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, ...

. Power assumed as his episcopal

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

: ''Servite Domino In Laetitia'', meaning, "I will serve God cheerfully."

Archbishop of Portland

Paul VI appointed Power as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland on January 15, 1974; he was installed on April 17, 1974, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. During his tenure in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Power formed a five-year plan for the archdiocese and created an

endowment fund A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are of ...

. Power founded the Oregon Catholic Conference and held the first clergy and archdiocesan conventions. He reorganized the local curia,

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 spir ...

, and reestablished ''Catholic Truth Society of Oregon'' as the '' Oregon Catholic Press''. He also encouraged ministries to Spanish-speaking and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

n residents.

Retirement and legacy

Pope Paul II accepted Power's resignation as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland on July 1, 1986; he spent his retirement in providing retreats and assistance to

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

. Cornelius Power died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

in Portland on May 22, 1997, at age 83. He is buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery.

References

External links

Archdiocese of Portland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Cornelius Michael 1913 births 1997 deaths People from Seattle Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Roman Catholic archbishops of Portland in Oregon Roman Catholic bishops of Yakima Catholics from Oregon Oregon clergy Catholic University of America alumni Burials at Mount Calvary Cemetery (Portland, Oregon)