William John McNaughton, M.M. (; December 7, 1926 – February 3, 2020) was an American-born

Catholic 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 ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

and

bishop 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 ...

. As a member of the

Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America Maryknoll is a name shared by a number of related Catholic organizations, including the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers (also known as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America or the Maryknoll Society), the Maryknoll Sisters, and the Mary ...

(Maryknoll) he was assigned to missions in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He served as the first Bishop of Incheon from 1961 to 2002.

Early life and education

William McNaughton was born in

Lawrence, Massachusetts Lawrence is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Merrimack River. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 89,143. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and Nort ...

to William John and Ruth Irene (Howe) McNaughton, the oldest of five children. He was educated at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence and Maryknoll Seminary in

Ossining, New York Ossining may refer to: * Ossining (town), New York, a town in Westchester County, New York state *Ossining (village), New York, a village in the town of Ossining * Ossining High School, a comprehensive public high school in Ossining village * Ossi ...

. He entered the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

for the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, or Maryknoll, and professed

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhism tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of re ...

on August 30, 1949. McNaughton earned a

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus; abbreviated STB), not to be confused with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology, is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacred ...

and a Licentiate in Religious Education from the Maryknoll Major Seminary. He was ordained a priest on June 13, 1953.

Priesthood

After his ordination McNaughton studied the

Korean language Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. He was sent to Korea and was engaged in parish ministry in

Chungbuk North Chungcheong Province ( ko, 충청북도, ''Chungcheongbuk-do''), also known as Chungbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Chungcheong has a population of 1,578,934 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Hoseo region in the s ...

. He served on the College of Consultors in the Diocese of Cheongju. He served as the

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of the same diocese from 1959 to 1960.

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

named McNaughton the

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 ''Thuburbo Minus'' and

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of Incheon on June 6, 1961.

Episcopacy

William McNaughton was consecrated a bishop on August 24, 1961, by Cardinal

Richard Cushing Richard James Cushing (August 24, 1895 – November 2, 1970) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1944 to 1970 and was made a cardinal in 1958. Cushing's main role was as fundraiser and builder ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in St. Mary's Church, Lawrence, Massachusetts. The principal co-consecrators were Bishops

John Comber John Howard Comber (8 January 1861 – 1903) was an English cricketer. Comber's batting and bowling style is unknown. He was born at Brighton, Sussex and died at Lowell, Massachusetts. Comber made his first-class debut for Sussex against ...

, M.M., the Maryknoll Superior General, and Petrus Canisius van Lierde, O.S.A., the Vicar General of the Vatican State. A year later on March 10, McNaughton was named the first bishop of the Diocese of Incheon. He attended all four 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) ...

(1962-1965). In the Diocese of Incheon, McNaughton established schools, hospitals, homes for the sick and aged, and a major seminary. He was instrumental in establishing institutions and associations that ministered to the youth, workers, the poor, infants, and training lay leaders. From 1999 to 2000 a diocesan synod was held. McNaughton held several positions in the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea. He served as the conference secretary from 1965 to 1981 and as the president of the Committee for Liturgy from 1965 to 1970. He was a member of the Ecumenical Committee from 1970 to 1973 and its president from 1973 to 1978. McNaughton served as president of the Committee for Catechesis from 1978 to 1984 and as a member of the Episcopal Commission for Clergy and Religious from 1978 to 2002.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

accepted Bishop McNaughton's resignation as Bishop of Incheon on April 25, 2002.

Later life and death

McNaughton retired to his native United States. He resided with his sister Ruth in

Methuen, Massachusetts Methuen () is a 23 square mile (60 km2) city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 53,059 at the 2020 census. Methuen lies along the northwestern edge of Essex County, just east of Middlesex County and just south of ...

. During his retirement, he assisted in the Archdiocese of Boston and gave talks on the Second Vatican Council. He died on February 3, 2020, in Methuen. At the time of his death, McNaughton was one of four bishops who had attended all four sessions of Vatican II. His funeral was celebrated in St. Theresa's Church (Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish), Methuen, and he was buried in St. Patrick Cemetery,

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNaughton, William John 1926 births 2020 deaths People from Lawrence, Massachusetts Maryknoll bishops Maryknoll Seminary alumni American Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in South Korea 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in South Korea Participants in the Second Vatican Council American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent American expatriates in South Korea Catholics from Massachusetts Maryknoll Fathers Roman Catholic bishops of Incheon 20th-century American clergy