Frederick Anthony Donaghy, M.M. (January 13, 1903 – February 5, 1988) was an American-born

Catholic 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 ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

and

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. As a member of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (Maryknoll), he was assigned to missions in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He served as the Bishop of Wuzhou from 1956-1975.

Early life and education

Frederick Donaghy was born in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...

, to James and Rose (King) Donaghy and was one of six children. His brother William became a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

and served as president of the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. Frederick Donaghy graduated from Holy Cross in 1925 and started his studies for the priesthood at St. Mary's Seminary in

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. He professed

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in the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America in 1928 and was ordained a priest on January 27, 1929.

Priesthood

His first mission assignment was to

Kaying Meizhou (, Hakka Chinese: Mòichû) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangdong province, China. It has an area of , and a population of 3,873,239 million as of the 2020 census. It comprises Meijiang District, Meixian District, Xingning City ...

and he became fluent in the

Hakka dialect Hakka (, , ) forms a language group of varieties of Chinese, spoken natively by the Hakka people throughout Southern China and Taiwan and throughout the diaspora areas of East Asia, Southeast Asia and in overseas Chinese communities ar ...

. He was engaged in pastoral work and taught in the

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Catholic priests. They are generally Catholic institutions, and ...

. He was then assigned to Tsungow where he spent seven years. On July 20, 1939

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 ...

appointed him as the

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 an ...

of ''Setea'' and

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Wuzhou Wuzhou (, postal: Wuchow; za, Ngouzcouh / Ŋouƨcouƅ), formerly Ngchow, is a prefecture-level city in the east of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. Geography and climate Wuzhou is located in eastern Guangxi border ...

Episcopacy

Donaghy was consecrated by Bishop

James Cassidy James Cassidy may refer to: * James Cassidy (musician), American bass and keyboard player * James Edwin Cassidy (1869–1951), American Roman Catholic bishop in Massachusetts * James H. Cassidy (1869–1926), United States Representative from Oh ...

Fall River Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

on September 21, 1939. The principal co-consecrators were Bishop James Walsh, M.M., the Superior General of Maryknoll, and Auxiliary Bishop

Richard Cushing Richard James Cushing (August 24, 1895 – November 2, 1970) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1944 to 1970 and was made a cardinal in 1958. Cushing's main role was as fundraiser and builder ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Donaghy remained in Wuchow and was involved with relief work. Donaghy was appointed the first bishop of Wuzhou by Pope Pius XII on April 11, 1946. The Communists took over Wuchow three years later. He was interned for six months and then placed under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

before he was expelled from China in 1955. Donaghy was then named Dean of Miaoli and Group Superior for Maryknoll in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and the

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. He served as Regional Superior of the Formosa-Hong Kong Region for two terms. Donaghy established the Congregation of the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. They are the first local congregation of religious sisters that were founded in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

. 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 Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

. He continued to be recognized as the diocesan bishop of Wuchow until his resignation was accepted by

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 ...

in 1983.

Later life and death

Donaghy continued to live and work in Taiwan until 1987 when his decline in health forced his retirement to the St. Teresa Residence at Maryknoll in New York. He died there on February 5, 1988, at the age of 85. His funeral was celebrated at Maryknoll and he was buried, as he had wished, in the West Mountain Cemetery in

Miaoli Miaoli City (Wade–Giles: ''Miao²-li⁴''; Hakka PFS: ''Mèu-li̍t-sṳ''; Hokkien POJ: ''Biâu-le̍k-chhī'' or ''Miâu-le̍k-chhī'') is a county-administered city and the county seat of Miaoli County, Taiwan. Miaoli has a relatively h ...

, Taiwan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaghy, Frederick Anthony 1903 births 1988 deaths People from New Bedford, Massachusetts College of the Holy Cross alumni American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent Maryknoll bishops American Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in China 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in China 20th-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops Participants in the Second Vatican Council American expatriates in China Catholics from Massachusetts