David Monas Maloney (March 15, 1912 – February 15, 1995) 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 Wichita in Kansas from 1967 to 1982. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of what was then the Diocese of Denver in Colorado from 1960 to 1967.

Biography

Early life

One of eight children, David Maloney was born on March 15, 1912, in

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...

, to James Edward and Margaret (née Flynn) Maloney. James Maloney was an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

who twice served as mayor of LittletonAfter graduating from Littleton High School, Maloney studied at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

(1929–1930) and at St. Thomas Seminary in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 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 year ...

degree in 1933. He then earned a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

in Rome in 1937. Maloney 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 Diocese of Denver by Cardinal Francesco Selvaggiani on December 8, 1936. In 1940, he earned a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum ''S. Apollinare''. Upon his return to Colorado in 1940, he served as a curate at St. Philomena Parish in Denver. In 1943, Maloney was appointed secretary to Bishop Urban Vehr and assistant chancellor of the diocese. He became chancellor in 1954.

Auxiliary Bishop of Denver

On November 5, 1960, Maloney was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Denver and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

of Ruspae by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on January 4, 1961, from Archbishop

Egidio Vagnozzi Egidio Vagnozzi (26 February 1906 – 26 December 1980) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as the second president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See from 1968 until his death, and was elevated to ...

, with Bishops Urban Vehr and Hubert Newell serving as co-consecrators. Representing the ailing Archbishop Vehr, Maloney 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 ...

in Rome between 1962 and 1965.

Bishop of Wichita

Maloney was named the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Wichita by

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 State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

on December 2, 1967. In 1969, he joined other Catholic bishops in Kansas in opposing changes in state law that proposed allowing

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

s to perform

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

s in licensed and accredited hospitals. In 1977, he publicly declared that he would defy a

city ordinance A local ordinance is a law issued by a local government. such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, or the like. China In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () af ...

that prohibited discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

. On July 16, 1982,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

accepted Maloney's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Wichita. David Maloney died at St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Wichita on February 15, 1995, at age 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maloney, David Monas 1912 births 1995 deaths University of Colorado alumni St. Thomas Seminary (Colorado) alumni People from Littleton, Colorado Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver Participants in the Second Vatican Council Roman Catholic bishops of Wichita 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Religious leaders from Colorado Catholics from Colorado