James Robert Knox GCC (2 March 1914 – 26 June 1983) was an Australian prelate of the Catholic Church. After years as a Vatican diplomat, he served as Archbishop of Melbourne from 1967 to 1974, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 1974 to 1981, and president of the Pontifical Council for the Family from 1981 until his death in 1983. Created a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

in 1973, he was the first Australian to serve in the Roman Curia.

Early years

Knox was born in

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

, Western Australia, the second of three sons of Irish-born parents John and Emily (née Walsh) Knox. His father was a storekeeper and native of

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

, and his mother died when Knox was still a child. He worked as a tailor's apprentice before applying to the

Archdiocese of Perth The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Perth is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Australia covering the Greater Perth, Goldfields-Esperance, Peel and Wheatbelt regions of Western Australia. St Mary's ...

to study for the priesthood. However, he was rejected because the archdiocese did not have a seminary at the time and relied on recruiting priests from Ireland. He was instead accepted at the Benedictine abbey in

New Norcia New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, completing his secondary education at St Ildephonsus' College and entering the abbey's seminary in March 1936. In September that year, Knox was transferred to the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, an institution belonging to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples to train missionaries. He was ordained a priest on 22 December 1941 by Cardinal

Pietro Fumasoni Biondi Pietro Fumasoni Biondi (4 September 1872 – 12 July 1960) was an Italian people, Italian Cardinal (Catholicism), Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Sacred Cong ...

, the congregation's prefect. Unable to return to Australia during World War II, he remained in Rome and served as chaplain and vice-rector at the Pontifical Urban University. He also pursued his postgraduate studies, earning doctorates in theology (1944) and canon law (1949). Knox joined the Vatican diplomatic corps a staff member of the Secretariat of State in 1948, serving under

Giovanni Battista Montini 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 ...

(later Pope Paul VI). He also worked in the English section of Vatican Radio. In 1950, he was sent to Tokyo as secretary to then-Archbishop

Maximilian von Fürstenberg Baron Maximilian Louis Hubert Egon Vincent Marie Joseph von Fürstenberg-Stammheim (also known as Maximilien de Fürstenberg; 23 October 1904 – 22 September 1988) was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and was Prefect of the Congregati ...

, the newly appointed Apostolic Delegate in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. At the same time, he was raised to the rank of

privy chamberlain A Chaplain of His Holiness is a priest to whom the Pope has granted this title. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and vestments.monsignor.

Episcopate

On 20 July 1953, Knox was appointed Apostolic Delegate to British Africa and titular archbishop of '' Melitene'' by

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 ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 8 November in Rome from Cardinal

Celso Costantini Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini (3 April 1876 – 17 October 1958) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and the founder of the Disciples of the Lord who served as the Apostolic Chancellor from 1954 until his death. He became a cardinal in 19 ...

, with Archbishops

Filippo Bernardini Filippo Bernardini (11 November 1884 – 26 August 1954) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. He spent almost his entire career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and was given the rank of archbishop in 1933. He was Apostolic Dele ...

and Antonio Samorè serving as co-consecrators. During his four years stationed in Mombasa, he worked to increase the number of native Africans among the local Catholic clergy. Following the death of Archbishop Martin Lucas, Knox was transferred to New Delhi and named Apostolic Internuncio to India on 14 February 1957. He simultaneously served as the Vatican's top diplomat to

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. During his tenure, he oversaw a significant expansion of the

Catholic Church in India The Catholic Church in India is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope (''Romanus Pontifex''). There are over 20 million Catholics in India,

, including the creation of many new dioceses and the development of religious communities like the Missionaries of Charity founded by Mother Teresa. He participated in the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, and helped organize Pope Paul VI's visit to India in December 1964. On 13 April 1967, Knox was appointed to succeed Justin Simonds as the fifth Archbishop of Melbourne, despite the fact he had not lived in Australia for 30 years and had no direct pastoral experience. Implementing the decrees of the Second Vatican Council was the driving force of his years in Melbourne. In 1970 he approved the extension of St Patrick's Cathedral's sanctuary to provide the space required for the reformed liturgical rites. The new sanctuary worked admirably for the many ceremonies of the 40th International Eucharistic Congress held in Melbourne in February 1973. Knox reorganised the structure of the archdiocese, establishing four regions headed by auxiliary bishops, the creation of 12 archdiocesan departments headed by episcopal vicars, as well as the establishment of a Senate of Priests and other advisory bodies. During his episcopacy as archbishop, Knox was also instrumental in the creation of the

Melbourne College of Divinity The University of Divinity is an Australian collegiate university of specialisation in divinity. It is constituted by eleven theological colleges from eight denominations. The University of Divinity is the direct successor of the second oldest ...

and later, some of the constituent parts which became the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

Cardinal

Knox was created Cardinal-Priest of ''

Santa Maria in Vallicella Santa Maria in Vallicella, also called Chiesa Nuova, is a church in Rome, Italy, which today faces onto the main thoroughfare of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele and the corner of Via della Chiesa Nuova. It is the principal church of the Oratorians, ...

'' by Pope Paul VI in the consistory of 5 March 1973. Less than a year later, on 25 January 1974, he was called to Rome to serve as prefect of two congregations, Discipline of the Sacraments and Divine Worship. These were merged into one body, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, in August 1975. As head of the Vatican office with liturgical oversight, Knox became the first Australian to serve in the Roman Curia. Knox was one of the

cardinal electors A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

who participated in the conclaves of August and October 1978, which selected Popes

John Paul I Pope John Paul I ( la, Ioannes Paulus I}; it, Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani ; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. Hi ...

and John Paul II, respectively. After playing a major role in the 1980 bishops synod on the modern Christian family, he was appointed the first president of the reconstituted Pontifical Council for the Family on 4 August 1981, replacing the Committee for the Family. His health began to decline the following year, and in May 1983 he suffered a stroke and collapsed during a meeting at the Vatican. He laid in coma for two weeks before his death on 26 June at

Gemelli Hospital The Gemelli University Hospital ( it, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli) is a large general hospital in Rome, Italy. With 1575 beds, it is the second-largest hospital in Italy, the largest hospital in Rome and one of the lar ...

, aged 69. He was buried on 6 July in the crypt of St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne. A 1974 portrait of Knox by Melbourne artist Paul Fitzgerald is held by the cathedral.

Honours

Grand-Cross of the Order of Christ, Portugal (2 September 1983)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knox, James 1914 births 1983 deaths Australian cardinals Australian people of Irish descent Participants in the Second Vatican Council Roman Catholic archbishops of Melbourne 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Australia Burials at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne Members of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments Cardinals created by Pope Paul VI Pontifical Urban University alumni Australian Roman Catholic archbishops