Thomas Joseph Brosnahan

Thomas Joseph Brosnahan
C.S.Sp.
Archbishop of the Diocese of Freetown and Bo
Church Sacred Heart Cathedral, Freetown
Diocese Roman Catholic Diocese of Freetown and Bo
See Roman Catholic Diocese of Freetown and Bo
Elected 4 June 1984
In office 2 December 1984
Retired 26 April 2002
Predecessor Ambrose Kelly
Successor Joseph Henry Ganda
Other posts President of Inter-territorial Catholic Bishops' Conference of The Gambia and Sierra Leone
Orders
Ordination 16 June 1929
Consecration by 7 March 1953
Personal details
Birth name Thomas Joseph Brosnahan
Born (1905-03-30)30 March 1905
Whitegate, County Clare, Ireland
Died 26 January 1996(1996-01-26) (aged 90)
Nationality Irish
Denomination Roman Catholic Church
Profession Catholic priest
Styles of
Thomas Joseph Brosnahan
Reference style
Spoken style Your Excellency
Religious style Bishop

The Most Reverend Thomas Joseph Brosnahan, Archbishop Emeritus, C.S.Sp. (30 March 1905 – 26 January 1996) was Archbishop of Freetown and Bo in Sierra Leone.[1]

Early life

Born in Whitegate, Ireland, on 30 March 1905.[2]

Priestly life

He entered the Holy Ghost Fathers and his ordination took place on 16 June 1929.[1][2]

Ministry in Nigeria

His ministry in East Nigeria began in 1933 where he remained for 20 years.[1]

Bishop of Freetown and Bo

He arrived in Freetown in 1953 to succeed Archbishop Ambrose Kelly who had died the previous year.[1] He was appointed Bishop of Freetown and Bo and began his ministry in Sierra Leone.[1][2]

The main focus of his work was education and he made tremendous progress in this area.[1] He founded Christ the King College in Bo the year of his arrival.[1]

On 9 April 1961, he made history when he performed the first ordination of a diocesan priest, Joseph Ganda, at the Immaculate Heart Church in Bo.[1]

Second Vatican Council

He was a council father in Sessions 1 (11 October 1962 to 8 December 1962), Session 2 (29 September 1963 to 4 December 1963), Session 3 (14 September 1964 to 21 November 1964) and Session 4 (14 September 1965 to 8 December 1965) of the Second Vatican Council.[2]

First archbishop of Freetown and Bo

Bishop Brosnahan achieved another career milestone when he became the first Archbishop of Freetown and Bo in 1971.[1] From 1971 to 1975, he was president of the Inter-territorial Catholic Bishops' Conference of The Gambia and Sierra Leone.[1] In 1975, he erected the Archdiocesan Secretariat Santanno House on Howe Street.[1] He retired in 1980 and was succeeded by Joseph Ganda.[1]

Legacy

Christ the King College, which he founded in 1953, went on to become one of the biggest and most popular colleges in Sierra Leone. Today it is a technical college that is a subsidiary of the University of Sierra Leone and has many prominent figures among its alumni among them politician Charles Margai and former vice president of Sierra Leone Solomon Berewa. A number of international students from Liberia, Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria attend the college.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "A Brief History of the Catholic Church in Sierra Leone". Catholic Bishop's Conference of Sierra Leone. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Archbishop Thomas Joseph Brosnahan". David M. Cheney. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Ambrose Kelly		 Archbishop of Freetown and Bo
1952–1980		 Succeeded by
Joseph Henry Ganda
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