James Aloysius Hickey was born in Midland, Michigan on Oct. 11, 1920 and grew up attending
St. Brigid of Kildare parish and school. He entered the seminary at age 13, studying at St. Joseph Seminary in Grand Rapids
and Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit.
While still in the seminary, he was assigned to provide
pastoral care to migrant workers, starting a lifetime of commitment to better the plight of immigrants. After receiving his
license in theology from The Catholic University of America, James Hickey, then 25, was ordained a priest for the Diocese
of Saginaw on June 15, 1946.
Saginaw to Rome
He served briefly as an associate pastor at St. Joseph
Parish in Saginaw before earning a doctorate in canon law from tje Pontifical Lateran University in 1950 and a doctorate in
moral theology at the Pontifical Angelicum University in 1951. Both universities are in Rome, Italy.
Father Hickey then became priest-secretary to Bishop Stephen S. Woznicki and rector of St. Paul Seminary in Saginaw. He
attended the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965 in the role of theological expert. In 1967, Pope Paul VI named him
Auxiliary Bishop of Saginaw. In 1969, Bishop Hickey, who had a lifelong interest in vocations, became rector of the Pontifical
North American College in Rome, Italy, where he oversaw the formation of seminarians from 80 U.S. dioceses.
Cleveland and El Salvador
In 1974, Bishop Hickey was named the Bishop of Cleveland, with pastoral care for nearly one
million Catholics. He chose the motto, “Veritatem in caritate,” or “truth in charity” for
his coat of arms, a phrase that would well describe how he served the Catholic Church and broader community. In Cleveland,
he became a leading advocate of racial unity in that city and became active in justice issues involving El Salvador. Just
before Pope John Paul II named him Archbishop of Washington in 1980, he traveled to El Salvador to attend the funeral of the
martyred Archbishop Oscar Romero. Later that year, two lay women whom Bishop Hickey had commissioned to serve as missionaries
in El Salvador were murdered. He kept their photographs on the wall of his private chapel for the rest of his life, and called
for an end to military aid to that nation.
Archdiocese of Washington: 1980-2000
James Hickey was installed as Archbishop on Aug. 5, 1980 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew. Eight years later, on June 28,
1988, Pope John Paul II elevated him to the College of Cardinals.
During his two decades
as archbishop, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington became the region’s largest private social service
agency, serving 80,000 people each year, while the Spanish Catholic Center provided social services and legal and medical
assistance to 36,000 people annually by the time the Cardinal stepped down. Programs started under his leadership included
the Archdiocesan Health Care Network and Archdiocesan Legal Network, which provide millions of dollars in pro bono
care for the region’s low income residents; Birthing and Care, which provides pre-natal, delivery and post-natal medical
care and other support to women in financial need; and Faith in the City, an initiative to revitalize inner-city Catholic
elementary schools through new resources and partnerships with the business community.
To serve the region’s growing elderly population, Victory Housing, a non-profit agency that develops assisted and
independent living for senior citizens and affordable family housing, was started. With Mother Teresa, he dedicated the Gift
of Peace Convent, where the Missionaries of Charity care for the homeless and terminally ill, including those with AIDS.
In addition, adult religious education and faith formation flourished; Catholic schools grew stronger and new parishes spung
up under his leadership
How He will be Remembered
When asked more than15 years ago by a Washington Post reporter how he would like to
be remembered, Cardinal Hickey told her, “First, I’d like them to say he was always loyal to his church. Second,
that he was a friend to Catholic education. And third, if they don’t want to say the first two, at least I would hope
they would chisel on the stone, ‘He served the poor.’”
James Cardinal Hickey will be remembered for all of this and more.
- The article was edited from information provided by the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.
