Early life Lucey was born in
Los Angeles, California, to John Joseph and Marie Lucey on March 16, 1891. He began his college education at St. Vincent's College and completed the rest at
Saint Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, California, in 1912. Lucey then went to Rome to reside at the
Pontifical North American College. In 1916, he received a
Doctor of Sacred Theology degree at the
University of the Propaganda there.
Priesthood On May 14, 1916, Lucey was ordained a priest for the
Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles in the
Church of St. Apollinaris in Rome by Archbishop
Giuseppe Ceppetelli. During the next five years in Los Angeles, Lucey was assistant pastor of several parishes which included
St. Vibiana's Cathedral, Immaculate Conception Parish, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, and was pastor at St. Anthony's in Long Beach from 1929 to 1934. Among the positions that he held were chaplain of the Newman Club at the
University of Los Angeles and diocesan director of
Catholic Charities (1921–1925) of the California Conference of Social Work (1923–24), director of Catholic Hospitals for the diocese (1924–1934), and board member of the
California State Department of Social Welfare (1924–1930). On March 1, 1934, Archbishop
Amleto Giovanni Cicognani consecrated Lucey at
St. Vibiana's Cathedral in Los Angeles. Furey cofounded the juvenile rehabilitation program the Patrician Movement and created the equal play advocacy organization Project Equality in 1965. In September 1968, while dedicating a new church rectory in
Stonewall, Texas, with US President
Lyndon B. Johnson in attendance, Lucey praised the American involvement in the
Vietnam War. Lucey contented that our military intervention reflected the peace efforts of
Pope Paul VI. However, the pope had previously called on Johnson to stop the bombing of
North Vietnam. Lucey later took a trip to
Saigon in what was then
South Vietnam to serve as an observer to the 1967 presidential election. == References ==