Cardinal James McGuigan : tormented prince of the Church

Abstract

Although largely forgotten by today's secular world, half a century ago the Prince Edward Island born cardinal, James McGuigan, was perhaps the best known Catholic churchman in Canada. A brilliant administrator, he was reputed to have been the youngest archbishop in the Catholic world when he was appointed to Regina, at the age of 35. Five years later he was moved to Toronto, where he became the first cardinal for that minority within a minority--the English Speaking Catholics.

McGuigan was a compassionate priest identified by his charming smile and great booming laugh. He was the heroic archbishop of Regina, the one who suffered a nervous breakdown upon realizing the apparently impossible economic conditions there. This revelation occurred at the beginning of the Great Depression and at the start of another terrible Prairie drought. Fortunately, in a short time he largely recovered and as a "beggar bishop" stabilized the enormous debt of the Archdiocese of Regina that was mounting "at a terrible rate". Transferred to Toronto the prelate was able to take advantage of the war time boom and post war economy to pay off an encumbrance three times that of his former posting, while handling the almost overwhelming multilingual influx that changed that city from the "Belfast of Canada" to one in which Catholics were the largest religious group.

This thesis will not only present a general biography of McGuigan, but will also attempt to understand the sources of his recurring emotional problems, to what extent they were overcome, and how his emotional instability affected his work for the Church.