John Bernard MacGinley
Catholic bishop

John Bernard MacGinley

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Catholic bishop
Gender:
Male
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Birth:
1 January 1871
Death:
1 January 1969
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The details
Biography

Introduction

John Bernard MacGinley (August 19, 1871 – October 18, 1969) was an Irish-born clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Nueva Caceres (1910–24) and Bishop of Monterey-Fresno (1924-32).

Biography

John MacGinley was born in County Donegal, the sixth of thirteen children of Thomas Colin and Margaret Theresa (née Sinnott) MacGinley. His father served as principal of Croagh National School, and was author of General Biology and several works on folklore and scenery of western Donegal. He was educated at St. Eunan's Seminary, Letterkenny and Blackrock College, Dublin, in his native country, and at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

While in Rome, MacGinley was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Edmund Stonor on June 8, 1895. He earned a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1896, and came to the United States that same year. He then served as a curate at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until 1898, when he became professor of Latin and moral theology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He remained at St. Charles for five years, and was made rector of the seminary at Vigan City in the Philippines in 1905. In 1910, he returned to Philadelphia, where he became a curate at St. Charles Church.

On April 2, 1910, MacGinley was appointed Bishop of Nueva Caceres in the Philippines by Pope Pius X. He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 10 from Archbishop Diomede Falconio, with Bishops John Edmund Fitzmaurice and Edmond Francis Prendergast serving as co-consecrators. Recalled to the United States, he was named Bishop of Monterey-Fresno, California, on March 24, 1924. He later resigned due to ill health on September 26, 1932; he was appointed Titular Bishop of Croae on the same date. He retired to Killybegs, in his native County Donegal, where he died at age 98.

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Jorge Barlin Imperial
Bishop of Nueva Caceres
1910–1924
Succeeded by
Francisco Javier Reyes
Preceded by
John Joseph Cantwell
Bishop of Monterey-Fresno
1924–1932
Succeeded by
Philip George Scher