John E. McCarthy

McCarthy was born in Houston, Texas, to George McCarthy and Grace O'Brien McCarthy. The youngest of four children, he was just 18 months old when his father died.[3] His mother struggled to support her family in the midst of the depression, although money sent by a New York uncle substantially helped to sustain the family.

He suffered a ruptured appendix at the age of 5 and nearly died. That led to three abdominal surgeries the following year and he was kept away from contact sports by his mother following doctor's advice. An avid learner, he picked up world geography and followed the progress of World War II armies at his mother's kitchen table. Although he fell behind in athletics, his brother, Frank, remembers, "in the classroom, he was untouchable, a straight-A student".[3]

During the World War II prices soared and the family faced greater difficulty than during the depression. He and his brothers took jobs to help. During his high school years, he worked in a downtown Houston petroleum statistics office, running a multi-lift printing press.[4] He also started his own janitorial service which had three employees.[3]

McCarthy was the product of lifelong Catholic education, beginning as a first grader at All Saints School in the Houston Heights.[4] He graduated from St. Thomas High School in Houston and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of St. Thomas in Houston in 1956 where he majored in economics and sociology. He began his seminary training at St. Mary Seminary. He was awarded a master's degree in theology from the University of St. Thomas in 1979.[5]

McCarthy was ordained to the priesthood May 25, 1956 for the Diocese of Galveston. His first assignment was St. Pius Parish in Pasadena where he initiated his first parish social ministry program.[1] His next parish was St. Celicia's, located in an affluent section of Houston. His third assignment was his home parish, the "Polish and Czech-infused" All Saints Parish. After non-parish assignments in San Antonio and Washington D.C., he returned to Houston and became pastor of St. Theresa's. It was here that he developed his ideas for the parish social ministry model.[4] This "Sisters in Social Services" program was adopted by Catholic Charities USA.[1]

In 1966 McCarthy went to San Antonio and was appointed executive director of the Bishops' Committee for Spanish-speaking Catholics, where he focused on the plight of underpaid, oppressed migrant farmworkers.

In 1966 he went to Washington, D.C. and worked with the U.S. Catholic Conference. He served as the director of the Social Action Department for one year and director of the Division for Poverty Programs for another year. He also helped found the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, which became the Catholic leadership's primary anti-poverty initiative, hammering out the initial concepts at a weekend retreat.[2] Its mandate included areas such as voter registration, community-run schools, minority-owned and rural cooperatives, and job training programs.[1]

In 1973 the Bishops of Texas asked McCarthy to be the executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference (TCC), the public policy arm of the bishops.[1] At that time Texas had eleven dioceses and was the largest state conference in the nation. He enjoyed the diversity of the role, once contrasting the differences between El Paso and Beaumont. He led the TCC for seven years before he was called to his next assignment, Auxiliary Bishop.[4]

McCarthy was consecrated auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston on March 14, 1979 and served for seven years.

On December 24, 1985, he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Austin[6] and installed on February 26, 1986. He served for 15 years. Pope John Paul II accepted McCarthy's resignation on Jan 2, 2001.[5]

Early in his tenure as Bishop he traveled to the 1987 National Black Catholic Congress. After returning he established the Office of Black Catholics to focus on African American ministry within the Diocese of Austin. He appointed Johnnie D. Dorsey, Sr to lead the office. Dorsey coordinated and directed the Office for the next 30 years.[7]

In Austin McCarthy oversaw substantial population growth. At the beginning of his tenure the diocese had around 115,000. Fourteen years later, when he retired, there were nearly 400,000 Catholics. He was very active establishing Catholic schools and parishes to accommodate the influx of people moving into the Austin area during this period.

He encouraged parishes to focus on their social advocacy and charity work. He also established missionary programs both abroad and at home.

McCarthy established the Diocesan Law Project, which recruited hundreds of attorneys and interpreters to volunteer legal services for those in need.

He issued two notable pastoral letters to Catholics in the Austin Diocese. In 1992 a letter asked Catholics to practice compassion for people living with HIV/AIDS. A second in 1993 called attention to the entertainment industry citing the "tragic collapse of standards of decency, morality and honesty in TV, movie and popular music products." His letter urged Catholics to question themselves, what values were being instilled by the popular media. [1]