{{Short description|Canadian prelate}} {{other people|James McGuigan}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Cardinal | honorific_prefix = [[Eminence (style)|His Eminence]] | name = James Charles McGuigan | title = [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]],<br />[[List of Roman Catholic archbishops of Toronto|Archbishop Emeritus of Toronto]] | image = James Charles McGuigan.jpg | church = [[Catholic Church]] | archdiocese = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto|Archdiocese of Toronto]] | appointed = December 22, 1934 | retired = March 30, 1971 | predecessor = [[Neil McNeil]] | successor = [[Philip Pocock]] | other_post = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina|Archbishop of Regina]] (1930-1934) <!---------- Orders ----------> | ordination = May 26, 1918 | ordained_by = [[Henry Joseph O'Leary]] | consecration = May 15, 1930 | consecrated_by = Henry Joseph O'Leary | cardinal = February 18, 1946 | created_cardinal_by = [[Pope Pius XII]] | rank = [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal-Priest]] <!---------- Personal details ----------> | birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|11|26}} | birth_place = [[Hunter River, Prince Edward Island|Hunter River]], [[Prince Edward Island]], Canada | death_date = {{Death date and age|1974|04|08|1894|11|26}} | death_place = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada | coat_of_arms = Coat of arms of James Charles McGuigan.svg | coat_of_arms_alt = }} '''James Charles McGuigan''' (November 26, 1894 &ndash; April 8, 1974) was a Canadian prelate of the [[Catholic Church]]. He was the longest-serving [[List of Roman Catholic archbishops of Toronto|Archbishop of Toronto]], serving for almost 37 years from 1934 to 1971. He became the first English-speaking [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] from Canada in 1946.<ref name=obit>{{cite news|date=April 9, 1974|title=James Cardinal McGuigan Dies; Retired Archbishop of Toronto|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/09/archives/james-cardinal-mcguigan-dies-retired-archbishop-of-toronto-elevated.html|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

==Early life== James Charles McGuigan was born on November 26, 1894, in [[Hunter River, Prince Edward Island|Hunter River]], [[Prince Edward Island]], the third of eight children of George Hugh McGuigan and Annie Monaghan.<ref name=cardinal>{{cite web|url=https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios1946.htm#McGuigan|title=MCGUIGAN, James Charles|website=The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church}}</ref> When McGuigan was five years old, he allegedly told his mother, "When I get big I shall preach big."<ref name=roads>{{cite magazine|date=January 7, 1946|title=The Roads to Rome|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,797770-2,00.html|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> He received his early education at the local public school in Hunter River, where his uncle was the schoolmaster.<ref name=mcguigan>{{cite thesis|last=McGuigan|first=Peter T.|date=1995|title=Cardinal James McGuigan: Tormented Prince of the Church|url=https://library2.smu.ca/handle/01/22170|publisher=[[Saint Mary's University (Halifax)|Saint Mary's University]]}}</ref>

McGuigan attended [[Prince of Wales College]] in [[Charlottetown]] from 1908 to 1911, winning the [[Governor General's Academic Medal]] in his final year.<ref name=obit/> While studying there he supported himself by taking teaching posts at Covehead, Tenmile House, and Stanley Bridge.<ref name=mcguigan/> He studied at [[Saint Dunstan's University]] for two years and received a bachelor's degree in 1914.<ref name=who>{{cite book|date=1964|title=Who's Who in Canada|volume=54|location=Toronto|publisher=International Press}}</ref> He prepared for the priesthood at the [[Séminaire de Québec|Grand Seminary of Quebec]], earning a doctorate in theology in 1918.<ref name=cardinal/>

==Priesthood== McGuigan was ordained a priest on May 26, 1918, by Bishop [[Henry Joseph O'Leary]], at his childhood parish of St. Augustine's Church in [[South Rustico, Prince Edward Island|South Rustico]].<ref name=cardinal/> He was then appointed to the faculty of Saint Dunstan's University, serving as a professor of mathematics, chemistry and physics.<ref name=mcguigan/> However, the [[Spanish flu|1918 influenza pandemic]] forced the school to temporarily close in October 1918 and McGuigan himself fell ill, eventually recovering but losing much of his hearing.<ref name=mcguigan/>

In 1919, McGuigan became secretary to Bishop O'Leary, who had ordained him.<ref name=toronto>{{cite web|url=https://www.archtoronto.org/pl/offices-and-ministries/administrative-offices-1/archives/home/our-history/past-ordinaries/mcguigan/|title=His Eminence, James Charles Cardinal McGuigan|website=[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto]]}}</ref> He retained this position when O'Leary was promoted to [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton|Archbishop of Edmonton]] the following year.<ref name=who/> He was later named [[Chancellor (ecclesiastical)|chancellor]] (1922) and [[vicar general]] (1923) of the Archdiocese of Edmonton.<ref name=cardinal/>

When [[St. Joseph's Basilica (Edmonton)|St. Joseph's Cathedral]] was opened in 1925, McGuigan was appointed rector in additions to his duties as vicar general.<ref name=who/> In the first half of 1927, he took doctoral courses in [[Canon law of the Catholic Church|canon law]] at the [[Catholic University of America]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], but did not complete a degree.<ref name=mcguigan/> When he returned to Edmonton that year, he was made rector of the new [[St. Joseph Seminary (Edmonton)|St. Joseph Seminary]] and named a [[protonotary apostolic]] on the following September 13.<ref name=cardinal/>

==Archbishop of Regina== On January 30, 1930, McGuigan was appointed the second [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina|Archbishop of Regina]] by [[Pope Pius XI]].<ref name=hierarchy>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmcguigan.html|title=James Charles Cardinal McGuigan|work=[[Catholic-Hierarchy.org]]}}</ref> He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 15 from Archbishop O'Leary, with Archbishop [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Boniface|Arthur Béliveau]] and Bishop [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary|John Kidd]] serving as co-consecrators, at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Edmonton. At age 35, he was the youngest Catholic archbishop in the world.<ref name=youngest>{{cite magazine|date=January 7, 1935|title=Youngest Archbishop|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,748292,00.html|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref>

At Regina, McGuigan was confronted with a bleak situation: [[James Thomas Milton Anderson|James Anderson]] had been elected [[Premier of Saskatchewan]] the previous year with the support of the anti-Catholic [[Ku Klux Klan in Canada|Ku Klux Klan]];<ref name=Kyba>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Kyba|first=Patrick|title=ANDERSON, JAMES THOMAS MILTON (1878-1946)|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan|publisher=Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina|date=2006|url=https://esask.uregina.ca/entry/anderson_james_thomas_milton_1878-1946.jsp|access-date=2022-07-11|archive-date=2023-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601145630/https://esask.uregina.ca/entry/anderson_james_thomas_milton_1878-1946.jsp|url-status=dead}}</ref> the [[Great Depression in Canada|Great Depression]] had left two-thirds of the Saskatchewan population on welfare;<ref name=Mooney>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Mooney|first=Elizabeth|title=Great Depression|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan|publisher=Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina|date=2006|url=https://esask.uregina.ca/entry/great_depression.jsp|access-date=2022-07-11|archive-date=2023-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330200129/https://esask.uregina.ca/entry/great_depression.jsp|url-status=dead}}</ref> and McGuigan's predecessor as Archbishop, the late [[Olivier Elzéar Mathieu]], had left the Archdiocese with $1.2 million in debt.<ref name=mcguigan/> This led him to suffer a nervous breakdown in September 1930, from which he recovered in February 1931.<ref name=mcguigan/>

To reduce the Archdiocese's debt, McGuigan sold his official residence to the [[Franciscans]], who later turned the building into a seminary in 1932.<ref name=milestones>{{cite magazine|date=April 22, 1974|title=Milestones|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,943638,00.html|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref><ref name=seminary>{{cite web|url=https://archives.franciscanfriars.ca/regina-cleri-major-seminary|title=Regina Cleri Major Seminary, Regina|website=Franciscan Archives of Western Canada}}</ref> Through this, and also soliciting funds from wealthier Canadian dioceses, he was able to stabilize the debt.<ref name=mcguigan/> During his four years in Regina, McGuigan also held the first [[Eucharistic congress]] in western Canada, organized religious vacation schools, and established the Catholic Federated Charities.<ref name=youngest/>

==Archbishop of Toronto== Following the death of Archbishop [[Neil McNeil]], McGuigan was appointed [[List of Roman Catholic archbishops of Toronto|Archbishop of Toronto]] on December 22, 1934.<ref name=hierarchy/> He took formal charge of the Archdiocese on March 20, 1935, when he was installed at [[St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica (Toronto)|St. Michael's Cathedral]].<ref name=toronto/>

McGuigan faced a similar, if not worse, situation in Toronto as he did in Regina: the Archdiocese was $4 million in debt.<ref name=mcguigan/> In 1935, he was helped by a gift of $500,000 from [[Frank Patrick O'Connor]], a Catholic businessman and member of the [[Senate of Canada]].<ref name=oconnor>{{cite news|last=Bradburn|first=Jamie|date=April 13, 2013|title=Historicist: A Box of Laura Secord|url=https://torontoist.com/2013/04/historicist-a-box-of-laura-secord/|work=Torontoist}}</ref> By his eighth year in office, he managed to cut the debt in half.<ref name=toronto/>

At the outbreak of [[World War II]] in 1939, McGuigan condemned "the insatiable desire for power, for domination and ambitious display" and vowed that "Canada will take her place calmly and steadfastly side by side with Great Britain."<ref name=war>{{cite news|date=September 11, 2018|title=The Register Archive: Catholics on edge of war pray for 'fortitude'|url=https://www.catholicregister.org/item/27972-the-register-archive-catholics-on-edge-of-war-pray-for-fortitude|work=[[The Catholic Register]]}}</ref> During the war, he released priests to serve as military chaplains and formed 90 women's societies to send parcels overseas.<ref name=timeline>{{cite web|title=Timeline of the History of the Archdiocese of Toronto|url=https://www.archtoronto.org/pl/offices-and-ministries/administrative-offices-1/archives/home/our-history/timeline/|website=[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto]]}}</ref>

Due in part to the post-war boom, the Catholic population of the Archdiocese soared from 135,000 to 650,000 during McGuigan's tenure.<ref name=obit/> He supported foreign aid to Europe in order to stop the spread of [[communism]], and he condemned the arrest and trial of Cardinal [[József Mindszenty]] in Hungary.<ref name=obit/> He was given the honorary title of [[assistant to the papal throne]] by [[Pope Pius XII]] on August 20, 1943.<ref name=cardinal/>

===Cardinal=== McGuigan was created [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal-Priest]] of ''[[Santa Maria del Popolo]]'' by Pius XII in the [[Papal consistory|consistory]] of February 18, 1946.<ref name=hierarchy/> He thus became the first English-speaking cardinal from Canada, describing his elevation as "the greatest surprise of my life."<ref name=surprised>{{cite news|date=December 24, 1945|title=CANADIAN SURPRISED: Archbishop McGuigan Expresses Astonishment at Honor|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/12/24/88325613.html?pageNumber=3|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Between the death of Cardinal [[Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve]] of Quebec in 1947 and the elevation of Cardinal [[Paul-Émile Léger]] of Montreal in 1953, he was the only cardinal in Canada. He [[Cardinal electors for the 1958 papal conclave|participated]] in the [[1958 papal conclave]] that elected [[Pope John XXIII]].<ref name=cardinal/>

Feeling the toll of his heavy workload, McGuigan requested a [[coadjutor bishop]] to take charge of diocesan affairs and eventually succeed him, and he received Archbishop [[Philip Pocock]] from Winnipeg in 1961.<ref name=toronto/> He disagreed with the more liberal views of Pocock and his advisor [[Gregory Baum]], especially on the issue of [[birth control]].<ref name=mcguigan/> McGuigan attended the [[Second Vatican Council]] from 1962 to 1965, and opposed some of the council's reforms, which he believed would make the Catholic Church "[[Protestantism|Protestant]] within 50 years."<ref name=mcguigan/> Amid the council's sessions, he [[Cardinal electors for the 1963 papal conclave|participated]] in the [[1963 papal conclave]] that elected [[Pope Paul VI]].<ref name=cardinal/>

McGuigan officially retired as Archbishop of Toronto on March 30, 1971, after almost 37 years in office.<ref name=hierarchy/> He died from a heart attack on April 8, 1974, at age 79.<ref name=obit/> He is buried in Regina Cleri Cemetery at [[St. Augustine's Seminary (Toronto)|St. Augustine's Seminary]].<ref name=toronto/>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{S-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{Succession box| before=[[Olivier Elzéar Mathieu]]| title=[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina|Archbishop of Regina]]| after= [[Peter Joseph Monahan]] | years=1930&ndash;1934}} {{Succession box| before=[[Neil McNeil]]| title=[[Roman Catholic Archbishops of Toronto|Archbishop of Toronto]]| after= [[Philip Francis Pocock]] | years=1934&ndash;1971}} {{S-end}}

{{Cardinals created by Pius XII}} {{Ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Toronto}} {{Canadian cardinals}} {{Portal bar|Biography|Canada|Catholicism}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuigan, James Charles}} [[Category:1894 births]] [[Category:1974 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Canada]] [[Category:Roman Catholic archbishops of Toronto]] [[Category:Canadian cardinals]] [[Category:Canadian people of Irish descent]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope Pius XII]] [[Category:Catholic University of America alumni]] [[Category:Participants in the Second Vatican Council]] [[Category:People from Queens County, Prince Edward Island]] [[Category:Université Laval alumni]] [[Category:Roman Catholic archbishops of Regina]]