On March 3, 1868, McQuaid was appointed the first bishop of the newly created Diocese of Rochester by
Pope Pius IX. McQuaid received his episcopal consecration on July 12, 1868, from McCloskey, with Bayley and Bishop
Louis de Goesbriand serving as co-consecrators, at
St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in Manhattan. At the beginning of McQuaid's tenure in 1868, the diocese contained 54,500 Catholics, 39 priests, 35 parishes, and 29 missions. In his final year as bishop in 1909, there were 121,000 Catholics, 164 priests, 93 parishes, and 36 missions.
Conflicts with priests Thomas O'Flaherty McQuaid's disputes with other clergymen began early in his tenure. In February 1869, he tried to remove Reverend Thomas O'Flaherty from his position as pastor of Holy Family Parish in
Auburn, New York. Concerned about the financial mismanagement of the parish, McQuaid demanded a financial statement from O'Flaherty. When the priest refused to provide it, McQuaid removed him from Holy Family. However, O'Flaherty refused his new assignment, prompting McQuaid to suspend him from ministry. The case received wide media coverage, especially from the ''
New York Freeman's Journal'' in Manhattan. McQuaid blamed its editor,
James McMaster, "for a great deal of the wrong judgment towards myself entertained by many Priests in distant parts of the U.S. with regard to my action in O'Flaherty's case." Flaherty remained suspended until 1892.
Louis Lambert Another prominent conflict involved Reverend
Louis Lambert, pastor of St. Mary's Parish in
Waterloo, New York. In addition to his pastoral work, Lambert had begun editing the Waterloo
Catholic Times in 1877. McQuaid originally approved of Lambert's work at the newspaper. However, his opinion soured after the
Catholic Times began to criticize him and other priests in the diocese. In April 1881, McQuaid restricted Lambert's ministry to his own parish, forced him to resign as editor of the
Catholic Times. Lambert appealed McQuaid's ruling twice to the Vatican, but lost both times. In 1888, McQuaid tried to expel Lambert from the diocese. Lambert appealed again to the Vatican, forcing both him and McQuaid to travel to Rome for a hearing.
Edward McGlynn During the late 1880s, McQuaid advised Corrigan, now archbishop of New York, during his high-profile conflict with Reverend
Edward McGlynn, a priest in the archdiocese. McGlynn was a
social reformer who actively supported the economist
Henry George and his "
Single Tax" movement. McQuaid and Corrigan believed this philosophy contradicted Catholic teaching on the right to private property. McQuaid encouraged Corrigan to be "clear, strong and bold, and not afraid" when dealing with McGlynn and to prohibit Catholics in the archdiocese from attending meetings of McGlynn's Anti-Poverty Society. While visiting Rome in late 1878, McQuaid vowed to "use all judicious efforts with all suitable persons from the Pope down to put a stop to this Delegate arrangement." His efforts delayed the appointment of an apostolic delegate for 14 years. However, in 1892, Pope Leo XIII finally appointed Archbishop
Francesco Satolli as the first apostolic delegate to the United States. That same year, McQuaid lifted O'Flaherty's suspension at Satolli's request. The only condition was that O'Flaherty could not resume ministry in Rochester.
First Vatican Council In late 1869, McQuaid arrived in Rome to participate in the
First Vatican Council (1869-1870). The most important decree at the Council was that of
papal infallibility. The doctrine stated that the pope was incapable of making a mistake on doctrine when speaking
ex cathedra. On April 24, 1870, McQuaid wrote to the rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral: At the opening session of the Council, McQuaid and a minority of bishops petitioned
Pope Pius IX to withdraw the infallibility decree; it was denied. The Council held a preliminary vote on the decree on July 13, 1870. McQuaid and 87 other bishops voted no, 451 voted yes, and 62 voted yes with conditions. After receiving permission to leave the Council, McQuaid left Rome the same day the decree passed. Back in Rochester at St. Patrick's Cathedral, McQuaid declared on August 28th, "I have now no difficulty in accepting the dogma, although to the last I opposed it." However, despite his public acceptance of papal infallibility, his previous opposition was not forgotten by all. In June 1880, McQuaid mentioned to Corrigan:"Two letters from
Cardinal Simeoni indicated clearly that my adhesion to the Vatican Council can be questioned...My last letter to the Cardinal showed him plainly how I stood, but that I would not submit gracefully to the calling in question of my faith and honor at the instigation of unknown assailants."
Catholic education Since his time as a pastor and college president, McQuaid was particularly dedicated to the cause of Catholic education. In August 1872, he stated: "I have ever said that I would rather see the school house without the church than the church without the school house." In his view, the
parochial school was a spiritual necessity because "unless children are trained, nurtured, [and] schooled under Catholic influences and teachings, they will be lost to God's Church." The public schools, he believed, was dominated by "the Protestant or the godless." When McQuaid arrived in Rochester in 1868, the only true parochial schools were attached to five German parishes, which at that time educated 2,000 students. On his return from the First Vatican Council in 1870, McQuaid opened a
minor seminary in Rochester to educated teenagers with an interest in the priesthood. In 1871, McQuaid announced his plan to create a system of tuition-free parochial schools in the diocese, staffed by the
Sisters of St. Joseph. At the time of his death in 1909, 53 of the diocese's 93 parishes had their own parochial school, with 18,000 total students. Also beginning in 1874, McQuaid directed the diocesan high schools to administer the
New York Regents Examinations to its students. At that time, a passing score on the Regents exams was a graduation requirement in the public high schools. Quaid said that he wanted to "show to our own people and to others that our schools are as good and better than the state schools, even by their own tests." McQuaid in 1879 began planning a major seminary in the diocese for men ready to prepare for the priesthood. McQuaid taught
homiletics at the seminary. Saint Bernard's became a national model and by 1910 had 233 seminarians, second in enrollment only to
St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore.
Archbishop John Ireland In the late 19th century, the conservative wing of American Catholic bishops was led by McQuaid, Corrigan, and Archbishop
Frederick Katzer. This group favored strong adherence to Vatican policies and traditions. Leaders of the liberal faction, meanwhile, included Archbishop
John Ireland, Archbishop
John J. Keane, and Cardinal
James Gibbons.The liberal group was considered proponents of reform and adapting the church to American conditions. In 1884, the bishops attending the
Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland, authorized its establishment. While there, Ireland gave his support for the
Poughkeepsie Plan, a local sharing of public and parochial school facilities, based on an arrangement in
Poughkeepsie, New York. Under the plan, the school board in a community would control parochial schools during school hours while religious instruction occurred at the schools outside those hours. McQuaid opposed the Poughkeepsie Plan, believing that it compromised Catholic values. He said that it "weakens and deadens the Catholicity of our schoolrooms." After Ireland tested the plan in
Faribault and
Stillwater, Minnesota, McQuaid described Ireland as "the head and front of the new liberalistic party in the American Church." McQuaid believed that both Lambert and Malone were too liberal to be on the SUNY board, so he announced announced his own candidacy. He told Corrigan, "All I care about is to defeat these two." At this point, Ireland intervened to oppose McQuaid. Ireland convinced Lambert to withdraw his candidacy and successfully lobbied the legislature to appoint Malone to the SUNY board. On November 25, 1894, McQuaid denounced Ireland during a sermon at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Rochester. McQuaid described Ireland's actions as "undignified, disgraceful to his episcopal office" and saying "this scandal deserves rebuke as public as the offense committed." After this public condemnation, McQuaid proudly told Corrigan, "It seems that Ireland and Keane were at
Atlantic City the Sunday my sermon was delivered. They were hopping mad, and took no pains to conceal their anger." In response, Ireland and his fellow liberals claimed that they held no such views. In June 1899, during a sermon in Rochester, McQuaid rebutted the liberals. He stated that "there was a species of Americanism which the Holy Father had condemned prior to his encyclical."
Reconciliation After Corrigan's death in 1902, McQuaid sought a reconciliation with Ireland. By 1905, the winery was producing 20,000 gallons of wine annually McQuaid made the farm his second home and hosted guests such as Archbishop
John Joseph Williams of Boston. When the City of Rochester acquired Hemlock Lake and the surrounding properties for use as a
reservoir, it demolished McQuaid's cottage along with other structures around the lake. However, the city allowed the continued operation of O-Neh-Da. In February 1904, McQuaid wrote to the Vatican, asking them to appoint Monsignor
Thomas F. Hickey, his vicar general, as auxiliary bishop of Rochester. Instead, Pope Pius X named Hickey as
coadjutor bishop of the Rochester, with the right of succession. Hickey was consecrated on May 24, 1905. McQuaid defended Hanna to Gotti, saying: "If this charge had any foundation, it would implicate St. Bernard's Seminary and myself. I know my professors well, as I am constantly with them, and I am sure that there is no tinge of unsoundness in their speech and thoughts." In McQuaid's last months, Ireland sent him a
telegram, offering his "most sincere sympathy" to "the old hero". Reverend Louis Lambert, whom McQuaid had opposed in 1894 for the seat on the SUNY board, paid a visit to McQuaid.
Death and legacy , Rochester, New York (2010) McQuaid died at his residence in Rochester on January 18, 1909, two days after the 61st anniversary of his priestly ordination. McQuaid is buried at
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester, which he founded in 1871. ==References==