Page 27 - ROCHESTER

Bishop Hickey carried on his predecessor’s educational efforts, opening 10 new parochial schools in the rst 10 years of his bishopric, inaugurating the construction of Aquinas Institute and Nazareth Academy, and asking the Sisters of St. Joseph to establish Nazareth College. He also pioneered a program that enabled public-school children to be released for one period a week for religious-education classes taught by their denominations. This program was approved by Rochester’s board of education in 1920, and eventually the program was established as part of New York state law.
Many charities also were established by diocesan parishes and religious orders during his years as bishop. In 1912, Bishop Hickey took a step toward organizing these charities under one governing body called the Catholic Charity Guild. He was instrumental in assisting New York’s bishops in creating the State Council of Catholic Charities in 1916 and securing the 1917 passage of state legislation establishing Catholic Charities Aid Associations in each New York diocese.
Near the end of his tenure, an investigation by the apostolic delegate to the U.S. determined that Bishop Hickey’s scrupulosity (excessive anxiety about the possible sinfulness of certain actions) was affecting his ability to make crucial decisions. As a result, the Vatican asked him to resign in 1928. He was promoted to the titular see of Viminacium (an ancient see in modern Serbia) and given the honorary title of archbishop. His resignation was announced to the diocesan faithful on Oct. 31, 1928.
Bishop John
F. O’Hern’s coat of arms.
The Bishops of the Diocese of
Rochester
25
John F. O’Hern, third Bishop of Rochester (1929-1933)
Vicar General Msgr. John F. O’Hern (1929- 33), a native of Rochester, was named apostolic administrator. On Jan. 4, 1929, Msgr. O’Hern was appointed the third bishop of Rochester, and he was consecrated a bishop on March 19 of that year.
Bishop O’Hern took over leadership of the diocese just prior to the 1929 stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression.