Apostolic delegate East Indies On January 21, 1926, after having made a favorable impression on Cardinal Gasparri, Mooney was appointed
apostolic delegate to the East Indies and
titular archbishop of Irenopolis in Isauria by
Pope Pius XI. He received his
episcopal consecration at the chapel of the North American College on January 31, 1926. Cardinal
Willem van Rossum was the principal consecrator, with Archbishop
Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani and Bishop
Giulio Serafini serving as
co-consecrators. Japan Mooney was named apostolic delegate to
Japan by Pius XI on March 30, 1931. Mooney was elected chair in 1935 of the
National Catholic Welfare Conference, maintaining that post until 1945.
Archbishop of Detroit Mooney was named the first archbishop of Detroit on May 31, 1937. Arriving by train in Detroit on August 2nd, he was greeted by Michigan Governor
Frank Murphy and a representative of Detroit Mayor
Frank Couzens, along with a large crowd. Mooney soon became engaged in a contentious relationship with Reverend
Charles Coughlin, a priest in the archdiocese. A popular radio broadcaster who reached millions of listeners across the country, Coughlin's
antisemitic tirades and fierce attacks against US President
Franklin Roosevelt angered many in the
Catholic hierarchy and American public. In October 1937, Mooney publicly rebuked Coughlin for calling Roosevelt stupid over his nomination of Senator
Hugo Black to the
US Supreme Court. This reprimand from Mooney led Coughlin to cancel his contract for 26 radio broadcasts. In a January 1939 meeting of all the archdiocesan priests, Mooney proposed the establishment of labor schools in the parishes to help "Christian workers to train themselves in principle and technique to assume the leadership in the unions which their numbers justify". An avid
golfer, Mooney once remarked to his priests "If your score is over 100, you are neglecting your golf—if it falls below 90, you're neglecting your parish". Every year, he would take a group of
altar boys to the opening game of the
baseball season. In October 1942, the
US Department of Justice was planning to indict Coughlin on charges of
sedition. As part of a deal to avoid Coughlin's prosecution, Mooney ordered him to end his political activities and work solely as a parish priest. Commenting on his order, Mooney stated, "My understanding with him is sufficiently broad and firm to exclude effectively the recurrence of any such unpleasant situation."
Pope Pius XII created Mooney as
cardinal priest of the
Church of Santa Susanna in Rome during the
consistory of February 18, 1946. In 1957, Mooney delivered the
benediction in Washington at the second term inauguration ceremony of US President
Dwight D. Eisenhower. == Death and legacy ==