Edward Aloysius McGurkin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
by John Dunne
The Most Reverend Edward A. McGurkin, M.M. | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Shinyanga | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Appointed | July 4, 1956 |
| In office | October 3, 1956 - January 30, 1975 |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | September 14, 1930 by John Dunne |
| Consecration | October 3, 1956 by Henry Joseph O'Brien |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 22, 1905 |
| Died | August 28, 1983 (aged 78) |
| Motto | Primum Regnum Dei |
Edward Aloysius McGurkin, M.M. (June 22, 1905 – August 28, 1983) was an American-born Catholic missionary and bishop. As a member of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (Maryknoll), he was assigned to missions in Manchuria and Tanzania. He served as the Bishop of Shinyanga from 1956-1975.
Edward McGurkin was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Michael and Katherine (Gleason) McGurkin. He was educated in the Hartford public schools before enrolling at St. Thomas Preparatory Seminary.[1] He was ordained a priest on September 14, 1930.[2]
Priesthood
After his ordination McGurkin served as the English Editor of the Fides News Service and personal secretary to Cardinal Pietro Fumasoni Biondi, the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Evangelization of Peoples.[1] In 1935 he became the Procurator General. He was assigned as a missionary in Fushun, Manchuria in 1938. During World War II he was interned by the Japanese.[1] He returned to the United States in 1946 and became a spiritual director at Maryknoll and two years later the local superior. He went to Bedford, Massachusetts, as novice master before being sent to Shinyanga, Tanzania in 1954 as Group Superior to Maryknoll’s new mission there. On July 4, 1956 Pope Pius XII appointed McGurkin as the first bishop of Shinyanga.
