Godfrey, William

William Godfrey was born on July 25, 1889 , in Liverpool . The youngest son is from a working-class family of George Godfrey and Maria Garvey. William's father worked as a truck driver and died before his birth. In his own words, William, as a child, he decided that he would become a priest and never seriously considered other options ^[1] .

He studied at a Catholic Jesuit school, then at the Catholic College of Wushow in Durham (1903-1910), at the English Catholic College in Rome (1910-1917). He was ordained a priest on October 28, 1916 (at 25) in Rome . Then he continued his studies and received a doctorate in philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1918 . He took part in the First World War , where, before being ordained a priest, he served in the Air Force of the British Army. During this period, he survived the first heart attack, which he hid from the doctors, because he did not want him to be commissary from the army, since he believed that this could negatively affect the decision on his ordination as priest ^[1] .

He served in Liverpool at St. Michael's Church until 1919 . He taught classical art , philosophy and theology in his alma mater , the Catholic College of Wushow in Durham (1918-1930). On October 28, 1930 (at 41) he was elevated to the prelates of His Holiness with the right to bear the title of Monsignor and was appointed rector of the English College in Rome. I was remembered for its severity. Students called him "Uncle Bill." In 1935, Godfrey was appointed a member of the papal commission in Malta . In 1937 he was officially invited to the coronation of King George VI (father of Queen Elizabeth II ).

Titular Bishop

November 10, 1938 (49 years old) Godfrey becomes the titular bishop of Cius and is appointed papal delegate to the UK , Gibraltar and Malta . Episcopal consecration took place on December 21, 1938 in the chapel of the English College. The ceremony was led by Italian Cardinal Rafaele Rossi , a member of the Carmelite order , who was assisted and served by the titular archbishop of Cesarea in Palestine, Luigi Traglia (later cardinal), and Bishop Arlf Hayes ( English Ralphe Hayes ). Thus Godfrey became the first papal representative in Protestant Britain since the 16th century .

This post is not officially diplomatic, like the nuncio , but serves to establish a connection between the country's Catholic hierarchy and the Vatican. In 1938 , on the eve of the Second World War, the papal delegate also reported to the pope about the development of relations between Great Britain and Germany - the primary, at that time, Catholic region in Europe ^[2] .

In 1943 , at the height of the war, Godfrey was appointed papal representative in Poland (government in exile in London).

Archbishop of Liverpool

On November 10, 1953 (at 64), Godfrey was appointed Archbishop of his native Liverpool , where he succeeded Richard Downey , who served as Archbishop of Liverpool for 24 years. Godfrey spent just over three years as the 4th Archbishop of Liverpool, during which time he managed to make changes to the design of Liverpool Cathedral, although this project was not implemented as a result.

Archbishop of Westminster

On December 3, 1956 (at 66), Pope Pius XII declared Godfrey the 7th Archbishop of Westminster , and meant the primate of the Catholic Church of England and Wales. In this post, he succeeded Bernard Griffin , who died of a heart attack at the age of 57. In his inaugural speech, at the next surge of the Cold War, Godfrey criticized communism and designated his mission as the return of England to Christ's love ^[1] .

Cardinal

He was elevated to the cardinal priests with the title of the church of Santi Nereo ed Achilleo on December 18, 1958 (at 69 years old). Attended the first session of the Second Vatican Council in 1962 .

He asked the parishioners to reduce portions of food, and give less expensive food to pets during the fast , which caused a lot of criticism in their address ^[3] .

He actively opposed artificial birth control .

He was fond of sports and played the piano ^[1] .

He died of a heart attack on January 22, 1963, at the age of 73, on the day of the visit of Michael Ramsey , Archbishop of Canterbury , a primate of the Church of England . He was buried at Westminster Cathedral in London .

The bronze bust of the cardinal, made by the famous English sculptor Arthur Fleishman ( Eng. Arthur Fleischmann ), was put up for auction in 2009 by Christie [1] .

• Biography on the website of the Archdiocese of Westminster ;
• Catholic hierarchy ;
• Biography on the University of Florida website ;
• Coat of arms of William Godfrey .

• Archbishop of Westminster
• Catholicism in England and Wales