Priesthood
Farley was ordained a priest by Cardinal Costantino Patrizi Naro on June 11, 1870. His first assignment, following his return to New York, was as a curate at St. Peter's Church in New Brighton, Staten Island, where he remained for two years. Following the appointment of Francis McNeirny to the Diocese of Albany, Farley became secretary to Archbishop John McCloskey in 1872. He accompanied McCloskey to the 1878 papal conclave, but they arrived after the election of Pope Leo XIII had already taken place.
From 1884 to 1902, Farley served as pastor of St. Gabriel's Church in Manhattan. During his tenure at St. Gabriel's, he freed the parish from debt, oversaw the consecration of the church, built a parish hall, and instituted parochial visitation by the clergy. He was named a papal chamberlain in 1884, and raised to the rank of domestic prelate in 1892. In addition to his pastoral duties at St. Gabriel's, Farley served as vicar general for the Archdiocese of New York from 1891 to 1902. He also served as president of the Catholic school board, in which position he organized a Catholic school parade in 1892. He later organized a Catholic school exhibit in 1894. He became a protonotary apostolic in 1895.
Read more about this topic: John Murphy Farley
Famous quotes containing the word priesthood:
“The priesthood in many ways is the ultimate closet in Western civilization, where gay people particularly have hidden for the past two thousand years.”
—Bishop John Spong (b. 1931)
“The priesthood is a marriage. People often start by falling in love, and they go on for years without realizing that that love must change into some other love which is so unlike it that it can hardly be recognised as love at all.”
—Iris Murdoch (b. 1919)