Daniel Anthony Cronin

Daniel Anthony Cronin (born November 14, 1927) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Fall River from 1970 to 1992, and Archbishop of Hartford from 1992 to 2003.

His Excellency, The Most Reverend Daniel Anthony Cronin
Archbishop Emeritus of Hartford
Archdiocese	Hartford
Appointed	December 10, 1991
Installed	January 28, 1992
Term ended	October 20, 2003
Predecessor	John Francis Whealon
Successor	Henry J. Mansell
Orders
Ordination	December 20, 1952 by Clemente Micara
Consecration	September 12, 1968 by Richard Cushing, Jeremiah Francis Minihan, and Thomas Joseph Riley
Personal details
Born	(1927-09-14) September 14, 1927 Boston, Massachusetts
Previous post	Auxiliary Bishop of Boston Bishop of Fall River
Motto	Ad obœdiendum fidei

Styles of Daniel Anthony Cronin
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Archbishop

Early life and priesthood

Daniel Cronin was born in Newton, Massachusetts eldest son of Daniel G. and Emily (Joyce) Cronin. He and attended St. Peter School in Cambridge and graduated from Boston College High School in 1945. He studied at St. John's Seminary in Brighton from 1945 to 1949, and then furthered his studied at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where Cronin was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Clemente Micara on December 20, 1952. He then earned a Licentiate of Sacred Theology (1953) and Doctorate of Sacred Theology (1956) from the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Cronin did pastoral work in Salisbury, Lynn, and Waltham before becoming an attaché of the Apostolic Internunciature to Ethiopia in 1957. He was made an attaché of the Vatican Secretariat of State in 1961, and a Papal Chamberlain in 1962.

Episcopal career

On June 10, 1968, Cronin was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Boston and Titular Bishop of Egnatia by Pope Paul VI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following September 12 from Richard Cardinal Cushing, with Bishops Jeremiah Minihan and Thomas Riley serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. He selected as his episcopal motto: "Ad Oboediendum Fidei", meaning, "For Obedience of Faith" (Romans 1:5).[1] As an auxiliary bishop, he served as pastor of St. Raphael Church in Medford.

Cronin was later named the fifth Bishop of Fall River on October 30, 1970. He succeeded James Louis Connolly, and was installed at St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral on December 16, 1970. In 1975, he publicly denounced U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) when Kennedy declared that he would not vote to outlaw abortion, although Kennedy did not personally support it.[2]

On December 10, 1991, Cronin was appointed the third Archbishop of Hartford, Connecticut, by Pope John Paul II. He succeeded the late John Francis Whealon, and was installed at the Cathedral of St. Joseph on January 28, 1992. He received the pallium, a vestment worn by metropolitan bishops, from John Paul II at St. Peter's Basilica on the following June 29. Upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, he retired as Archbishop on October 20, 2003.

Lawsuit

In 2018, a judge ruled that a lawsuit against Cronin, which alleged that Cronin protected a priest who sexually abused two altar boys in the 1970s and 1980s during while serving as Bishop of fall River, could proceed.[3]

Views

Considered theologically conservative. He once stated "The dominion of human life is in the hands of God. The gift of life starts from the time of conception and ends at the time of natural death."[4]

See also

• Catholic Church hierarchy
• Catholic Church in the United States
• Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
• List of Catholic bishops of the United States
• Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops

References

1. "Archbishop Cronin's Coat of Arms". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford. Archived from the original on 2007-07-08.
2. Miller, Lisa (2008-08-27). "The Believer". Newsweek.
3. https://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20180329/judge-lawsuit-against-former-fall-river-diocese-bishop-cronin-can-proceed
4. Goldman, Ari L. (1991-12-11). "Pope Names Conservative New England Prelate to Be Archbishop of Hartford". The New York Times.

External links

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by John Francis Whealon	Archbishop of Hartford 1992–2003	Succeeded by Henry J. Mansell
Preceded by James Louis Connolly	Bishop of Fall River 1970–1992	Succeeded by Seán Patrick O'Malley, O.F.M.
Preceded by -	Auxiliary Bishop of Boston 1968–1970	Succeeded by -