Henry Joseph Maloney (15 April 1915 – 7 July 1987) was a Canadian priest, a school and college governor, and community leader based in

Bancroft, Ontario Bancroft () is a town located on the York River in Hastings County in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was first settled in the 1850s by United Empire Loyalists and Irish immigrants. From the mid-1950s to about 1982, mining was the primar ...

. Maloney was born in Eaganville in 1915, as the son of physician and politician Martin James Maloney. His three brothers included James Maloney who became a politician and

Arthur Maloney Arthur Edward Martin Maloney QC (26 November 1919 – 20 September 1984) was a Progressive Conservative party member of the House of Commons of Canada and first Ontario Ombudsman from 1975 to 1979. Maloney was born in Eganville, Ontario. He b ...

who became a politician and the

Ontario Ombudsman The Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario is an independent office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. Role The office's jurisdiction includes more than 500 provincial government ministries, agencies, corpor ...

. He was the founder of Our Lady of Mercy Separate School and credited for getting Bancroft connected to the Canadian telephone network. He was the first chair of the board of

Loyalist College Loyalist College (formally Loyalist College of Applied Arts and Technology) is an English-language college in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. History Prior to the 1960s, only trade schools co-existed with universities in the province of Ontario ...

. In the 1960s, Maloney persuaded the Canadian prime minister

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...

to sell uranium mined in Canada to the United Kingdom. As a result of his lobbying and negotiations, the closure of the two mines was postponed. After Maloney's death,

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

and '' The Bancroft Times'' reported on allegations of him perpetuating a sexual assault.

Early life and education

Henry Maloney was born in

Eganville Eganville is a community occupying a deep limestone valley carved at the Fifth Chute of the Bonnechere River in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. Eganville lies within the township of Bonnechere Valley. Eganville is also known as the Ordovician ...

on 15 April 1915 to a politician father, Martin James Maloney. His mother was Mary Margaret Maloney.

Maloney attended Eganville Roman Catholic Continuation school and St. Patrick's College in Ottawa. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in 1937.

Career

Pastoral work

Maloney worked as an religious assistant in Eganville before being ordained as a catholic priest, by Bishop

Charles Leo Nelligan Charles Leo Nelligan was a Canadian bishop. As bishop of the Military Ordinariate of Canada, he praised the Knights of Columbus for their support of Canadian troops during World War II. He was Bishop of Pembroke from 1937 to 1945. His resting p ...

, in 1941. He received his first pastoral assigned to Bancroft on 8 September 1957. In 1961, he directed the first regional conference of the Catholic Woman's League of Canada. The 25 year anniversary of his ordaining was celebrated in 1966. For 29 years, Maloney worked for the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Pembroke The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pembroke ( la, Dioecesis Pembrokensis) (erected 11 July 1882, as the Vicariate Apostolic of Pontiac) is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Ottawa. It was elevated as the Diocese of Pembroke on 4 May 1898. The Cathed ...

, based at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Bancroft. Maloney is credited with being responsible for causing Bancroft to be connected to the Canadian telephone network. He was a member of the Diocesan Committee of

Liturgical music Liturgical music originated as a part of religious ceremony, and includes a number of traditions, both ancient and modern. Liturgical music is well known as a part of Catholic Mass, the Anglican Holy Communion service (or Eucharist) and Evensong ...

, and of the

Barry's Bay Barry's Bay is a community in the township of Madawaska Valley, Ontario, Canada, located two hours west of Ottawa on the shores of Kamaniskeg Lake, with a 2016 population of 1,259. History The Algonquin people named the area Kuaenash Ne-ishi ...

Dennery Committee on

Ecumenism 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 ...

, and an official of the Matrimonial Court of Pembroke Dioceses.

Educational governance

Maloney founded Our Lady of Mercy Separate School in September 1959 and chaired the board of directors that governed

Sir Sandford Fleming College Fleming College, also known as Sir Sandford Fleming College, is an Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology located in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. The college has an enrollment of more than 6,800 full-time and 10,000 part-time student ...

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

. He served on the board of directors of

and was the first chair of the board. While College bylaws required to board members to resign after eight years, his significant popularity at the time influenced the

Government of Ontario The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor� ...

to permit him to stay on for an extra year until 1976, when he was aged 60 years.

Government relations

In the 1960s, the Canadian government cancelled contracts to buy uranium from Faraday Uranium Mines Limited. The company owned and operated

Greyhawk Mine Greyhawk Mine is a decommissioned underground uranium mine located in Faraday Township near Bancroft, Ontario. It operated from 1954 to 1959 and from 1976 to 1982. The mine produced 80,247 tons of uranium ore, of which 0.069% was U3O8 worth $83 ...

, and

Faraday Mine Madawaska Mine (previously known as Faraday Mine) is a decommissioned underground uranium mine in Faraday, near the town of Bancroft, Ontario, which produced 9 million pounds (4,082 tonnes) of U3O8 concentrate, at an average ore grade of 0.1074 ...

, and was the largest producer of uranium in the region, at a time when uranium was Canada's largest mineral export. An industrial commission was set up to deal with the unexpected closure, and Maloney was appointed as the chairman. Maloney led Bancroft's community demands of support from the

and

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

which included a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister

. Prime Minister Diefenbaker was concerned by the rising influence of a catholic priest in a region that was traditionally dominated by protestant Christians. The Prime Minister discovered and enforced a previously-forgotten contract with the United Kingdom obliging the UK to buy uranium from Canada, prolonging the financial viability of Bancroft's uranium mines by eighteen months, giving the Bancroft community time to plan for new economic activities. Maloney resigned from the commission in 1972, but rejoined it in 1976 when

was reopening as Madawaska Mine.

Criminal allegations

In 2015, The Bancroft Times, and in 2016 the

reported allegations made by former student Mike Fitzgerald that Maloney had sexually assaulted Fitzgerald in 1973 while he was 17 years old. The Eganville Leader newspaper also reported the allegations and that the Diocese of Pembroke settled a civil compensation claim. While Diocese of Pembroke publicly rejected these claims, the 2015 financial settlement came with terms prohibiting Fitzgerald from speaking publicly about the details. During legal negotiations, Fitzgerald 's lawyers learned that a second lawsuit alleging abuse by Maloney in the late 1940's had been filed.

Death

Maloney died 7 July 1987, and was buried in St. James Cemetery, Eganville.

Family

Henry Maloney had three brothers: James Anthony Maloney (the Ontario Minister of Mines from 22 December 1958 to 1 October 1961), Patrick J. Maloney and

who was the

Ontario ombudsman The Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario is an independent office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. Role The office's jurisdiction includes more than 500 provincial government ministries, agencies, corpor ...

. His sisters were Margaret Goden, Mary Anthony Bonfield, Elanor and Anna Lyons, and Frances French.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maloney, Henry Joseph 1915 births 1987 deaths University of Toronto alumni 20th-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests People from Renfrew County People from Hastings County History of Hastings County