George Patrick Dwyer (25 September 1908 – 17 September 1987) was an English

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 ...

and the

Archbishop Emeritus In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the Chu ...

of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, England. Dwyer served as the sixth Archbishop of Birmingham from 1965 to 1981, succeeding Francis Grimshaw. Before that, Dwyer had served as the sixth

Roman Catholic Bishop of Leeds The Bishop of Leeds is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds in the Province of Liverpool, England. The Vicariate Apostolic of the Yorkshire District was elevated to diocese status as the Diocese of Beverley on 29 September 185 ...

, between 1957 and 1965, being succeeded by William Wheeler.

Early life and ministry

The son of John William Dwyer, a wholesale egg and potato merchant, and his wife Jemima, he was also a cousin by marriage of

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, d ...

,"Liana Burgess", ''Daily Telegraph'', 6 December 2007 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1571513/Liana-Burgess.html . he was educated at St Bede's College, Manchester (1919–26), then at the

Venerable English College, Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College ...

after being accepted by the Salford Diocese as a candidate for the priesthood. Dwyer proved an outstanding student, and was awarded

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

s in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

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 ...

. He 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 ...

priest for the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds The Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds is a Catholic diocese of the Latin Rite centred on Leeds Cathedral in the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It was founded on 20 December 1878, with the splitting of the Diocese of Beverley, which h ...

on 1 November 1932, and returned to England to study languages at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

. Following postgraduate studies in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

from 1932 to 1937, he returned to St Bede's as a member of the teaching staff before joining the Catholic Missionary Society as vice-superior in 1947. He also edited the ''Catholic Gazette'' for four years until his appointment as Superior of the Catholic Missionary Society in 1951.

Episcopal career

He was ordained bishop on 24 September 1957 by

John Carmel Heenan John Carmel Heenan (26 January 1905 – 7 November 1975) was a senior-ranking English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1963 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965. Biography E ...

(then the Archbishop of Liverpool) following his appointment as Bishop of Leeds where he succeeded Heenan who had previously served a term of eight years in Leeds. During his time in this diocese, Dwyer served as a Council Father for the first three 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) ...

. In October 1965, Dwyer was translated to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham to serve as the sixth

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 archdi ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. In his new role he also took part in the fourth session of the

. After the death of

(who was a close friend of Dwyer's) in 1975, Dwyer was seen by some as a natural successor as Archbishop of Westminster. However, Dwyer informed the

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international o ...

he felt that at sixty-seven his age was too great for him to be considered for the post. He was, however, elected president of the

Bishops' Conference An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...

during the first three years of Basil Hume's episcopate, becoming the first bishop to hold that position who was not also Archbishop of Westminster. His coat of arms is blazoned, 'Argent on a saltire Gules a jousting spear Or' thus incorporating the names of St Patrick and St George. His motto was ''Spe Gaudentes'' (Rejoicing in Hope).

Later life and death

Dwyer retired as Archbishop of Birmingham on 1 September 1981, taking up the title Archbishop Emeritus of Birmingham Dwyer died on 17 September 1987 at the age of 78. He was subsequently buried at

St Mary's College, Oscott St Mary's College in New Oscott, Birmingham, often called Oscott College, is the Roman Catholic seminary of the Archdiocese of Birmingham in England and one of the three seminaries of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Purpose Oscott Co ...

on 24 September 1987.

References

External links

*
Diocese of Leeds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwyer, George Patrick 1908 births 1987 deaths Participants in the Second Vatican Council Clergy from Manchester People educated at St Bede's College, Manchester Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Roman Catholic archbishops of Birmingham 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic bishops of Leeds English College, Rome alumni