John Baptist Cahill (1841–1910) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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

Roman Catholic Church 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 ...

. He served as the second Roman Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth from 1900 to 1910.

Life

Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 2 September 1841, he was a student at St. Edmund's College, Ware between 1855 and 1863. 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 ...

a priest for the

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...

on 4 October 1864. Cahill had been Rector of Ryde since 1868, and vicar-general of the diocese since its foundation. King, John Henry. "Diocese of Portsmouth." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 1 March 2020 He was appointed an Auxiliary Bishop of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and

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 ''Thagora'' on 21 March 1900.Larsen, Chris. ''Catholic Bishops of Great Britain'', Sacristy Press, 2016, p. 152
/ref> His

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

to the

Episcopate 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 ...

took place on 1 May 1900, the principal

consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

was

Francis Bourne Francis Alphonsus Bourne (1861–1935) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the fourth Archbishop of Westminster from 1903 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911. Biography Early life Francis Bo ...

, Bishop of Southwark (later Archbishop of Westminster), and the principal co-consecrators were

John Cuthbert Hedley John Cuthbert Hedley (15 April 1837 – 11 November 1915) was a British Benedictine and writer who held high offices in the Roman Catholic Church. Born in Morpeth, Northumberland, he was the son of Dr. Edward Astley Hedley and Mary Ann ( Davison ...

, Bishop of Newport and Menevia and

Charles Maurice Graham Charles Maurice Graham (1834–1912) was a British clergyman who held high office in the Roman Catholic Church. Life Graham was born 5 April 1834 at Mhow, India. He was educated at Sacred Heart College at Prior Park and the English College, R ...

, Coadjutor Bishop of Plymouth. Bishop Vertue died three weeks later. Three months later, Cahill was appointed Bishop of Portsmouth on 30 August 1900. Cahill completed the cathedral by adding the west front, and carried out several important changes in the interior. Cahill's ten year episcopate was marked by the influx of religious communities, owing to the French persecutions. It was thus that the diocese was enriched by the presence of such congregations as the Benedictines of Solesmes, both monks and nuns. Five Abbeys (

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, D ...

, Quarr, Farnborough,

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

, and East Cowes) were founded in the diocese. Bishop Cahill died at Portsmouth on 2 August 1910, aged 68.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cahill, John Baptist 1841 births 1910 deaths Roman Catholic clergy from London Roman Catholic bishops of Portsmouth 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England