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Bishops and Benedictines: The Case of Father Richard O'Halloran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2011

Rene Kollar
Rene Kollar
Affiliation:
Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, Pennsylvania 15650, USA
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Extract

Ecclesiastical rogues, misfits and outcasts often possess some magnetic or magical quality. The lives and activities of these men and women may provide comic relief for scholars bored by research into spirituality, administrative reform or questions involving the relationship of Church and State. On the other hand, they may exemplify some novelty or pioneering effort; as a consequence, their insights might have been blackened by more cautious contemporaries who resorted to mockery or accusations of heresy. Some of these people may be prophets who had the courage to point the boney finger at scandal or abuse, whom officialdom was quick to brand as deviants. Finally, they may be people caught in the ecclesiastical maelstrom of change. Unable to adapt, they lash out against the structure. These streams converge in the life of the Revd Richard O'Halloran (i 856-1925). During his stormy career, he publicly attacked the alleged misuse of power by archbishops and bishops. Always proclaiming his loyalty to Rome, O'Halloran threatened schism several times. He also believed that the religious orders throughout England were involved in a grand conspiracy to destroy the rights of the secular clergy. Fr O'Halloran's experiences with the Benedictine monks in the London suburb of Ealing confirmed his suspicions.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History , Volume 38 , Issue 3 , July 1987 , pp. 362 - 385
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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References

1 Chadwick, O., The Victorian Church, London 1970, i. 278.Google Scholar

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9 Founded by Archbishop Herbert Vaughan in 1866, the Mill Hill Fathers opened St Joseph's College in London to train its members for future work in the missions. The archives contain a file on Richard O'Halloran.

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14 O'Halloran to Vaughan, 28 Jan. 1882, MHA.

15 Bagshawe to Vaughan, 3 Feb. 1882, MHA.

16 Bagshawe to O'Halloran, 8 May 1882, MHA. O'Halloran later complained to Vaughan that his mission was a ‘most immoral place’, and that he had to denounce this public wickedness. He also admitted that he had allowed the school mistress to sleep in his house but claimed he knew of no law forbidding this. Finally, he denied the charges of sexual impropriety, O'Halloran to Vaughan, 11 May 1882, MHA.

17 O'Halloran to Vaughan, 13 May 1882, MHA.

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19 MCT, 27 July 1897.

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25 Cardinal Miecislas Ledochowski to Vaughan, 4 May 1894, Vaughan Papers, AAW.

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34 For an early history of Ealing Abbey and Cardinal Vaughan's plans for the Benedictine monies at his new cathedral see R. Kollar, ‘The arrival of the Benedictines in London’, Tjurunga (forthcoming).

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45 Ford to O'Halloran, 2 Apr. 1897, printed in MCT, 30 Sept. 1899.

46 Barry to O'Halloran, 8 Apr. 1897, Ford Papers, EAA. This document is a copy of the original sent to O'Halloran.

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49 Snow to Ford, 20 Apr. 1897, Ford Papers, EAA. Snow was the titular abbot of Glastonbury.

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66 Dolan to Ford, 18 Aug. 1906, Dolan Papers, EAA.

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72 Ibid. 8 Oct. 1897.

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74 MCT, 7 Aug. 1897.

75 Ibid. 3 Sept. 1897.

76 Ibid. 22 Oct. 1897.

77 Ibid. 19 Nov. 1897.

78 O'Halloran to Ford, 20 Dec. 1898, Ford Papers, EAA.

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97 Dolan to Ford, 27 Feb. 1899, Dolan Papers, EAA. I n his invitation to the Benedictines, Cardinal Vaughan had stipulated that the monks could not begin a secondary school without his permission. By 1902, he had reconsidered the situation and gave his permission to establish one at Ealing. The uncertain future of St Charles Bayswater probably influenced the cardinal's change of mind.

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102 O'Halloran to Gasquet, 16 Sept. 1903, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

103 Gasquet to O'Halloran, 29 Oct. 1903, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

104 Quoted in O'Halloran to Gasquet, 18 Oct. 1903, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

105 O'Halloran to Fenton, 17 Oct. 1903, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

106 Dolan to Ford, 22 Mar. 1904, Ford Papers, EAA.

107 O'Halloran to Merry del Val, 21 Mar. 1904, printed in MCT, 26 Mar. IQ04.

108 MCT, 26 Mar. 1904.

109 Dolan to Ford, 27 Mar. 1904, Dolan Papers, EAA.

110 Bourne to Dolan, 28 Mar. 1904, Dolan Papers, EAA.

111 MCT, 2 Apr. 1904.

112 O'Halloran to (?), 10 Apr. 1904, Dolan Papers, EAA. This letter is part of the Dolan Papers, and there is no hint of the identity of the priest who eventually sent it to Dolan.

113 S. Congregazione de Propaganda Fide to Bourne, 2 Apr. 1907, Roman Letters vii, AAW.

114 O'Halloran to Gasquet, 27 May 1905, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

115 MCT, 5 Feb. 1910.

116 Ibid. 5 Nov. 1910.

117 Ibid. 12 Nov. 1910. The spokesman later admitted that Ford was the chairman of this organisation, but he also maintained ‘that Catholic parents cannot in conscience send their children to any school over which the Rev. Mr. O'Halloran exercises any sort of control’, ibid. 26 Nov. 1910.

118 Tablet, 12 Nov. 1910.

119 CH, 28 Jan. 1911.

120 Ibid. 4 Feb. 1911.

121 Sacred Congregation of the Council to Bourne, 6 Dec. 1910, Roman Letters vii, AAW.

122 MCT, 30 Sept. 1911.

123 Ibid. 7 Oct. 1911.

124 Ealing Gazette, 26 Oct. 1913.

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126 Notificatio, 16 Apr. 1914, Roman Letters viii, AAW.

127 MCT, 17 Oct. 1925.

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