James Joseph Sweeney (June 19, 1898 – June 19, 1968) 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 'pref ...

of the

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. He was the first Bishop of Honolulu, serving from 1941 until his death in 1968.

Biography

Sweeney was born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, to John Joseph and Catherine (née McCarrick) Sweeney. He received his early education at St. James Boys School from 1907 to 1913. He later attended Saint Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park. He was ordained a priest for the

Archdiocese of San Francisco The Archdiocese of San Francisco (Latin language, Latin: ''Archdiœcesis Sancti Francisci''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Archidiócesis de San Francisco'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the north ...

on June 24, 1925 by Archbishop Edward Hanna at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco. He served as assistant pastor until 1931 when he was appointed the archdiocesan director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. On November 22, 1929,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

conferred the title of "Right Reverend Monsignor" on Father Sweeney. On May 20, 1941, he was appointed the first bishop of the newly erected Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu. He was consecrated on July 25 of that year. Bishop Sweeney saw the Honolulu see through

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 ...

, and statehood. He died on his 70th birthday in 1968 in San Francisco. His funeral liturgy was held at his home parish of Saint Paul in San Francisco. At his request, he was buried with his parents in a family crypt in Holy Cross Cemetery in

Colma, California Colma (Ohlone for "Springs") is a small incorporated List of municipalities in California, town in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,507 at the 2020 census. The town w ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, James Joseph 1898 births 1968 deaths Catholics from California Roman Catholic bishops of Honolulu Participants in the Second Vatican Council People from San Francisco 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States